September 2030

Reckless

We're moving slow, both because of my ankle and his weakened state, and I still have a strong feeling of someone watching us. As soon as the guy woke up, he took started walking deeper into the woods. I got a short and rough thank you after a while, but he hasn't said anything since, and his stubbornness and ego disturbs me, even if it's not supposed to. I noticed that some parts of my training have started to disappeared while others get even more distinguishable. I've started to act out and feel more, and be warmer, but I'm even tenser and more aware than earlier. It also seems like my fighting skills have improved. Most likely because it's all happening for real. Before the war I only trained in very realistic and brutal simulations, but I hadn't even as much as hurt another living being in reality. Being out and fighting for real, it's making me learn things I never would've learned using technology. Things about real life and how things actually work. Now, as I'm out on the field, all the years of training in those simulations have been replaced by something real, and sure, it's making me smarter, but also even more reckless. I don't know if that is good or bad. Probably both, but as long as it helps me stay alive and fulfill my mission I'm not diving into it.

The guy still l haven't told me to leave, so I suppose he finally must have realized that I'm not trying to kill him. Probably because he woke up. Something that he most likely wouldn't have done if I wanted to kill him, since I definitely had a chance as he had collapsed. He seems pretty smart, so I assume that he already thought of that and decided to let me stay. Not that he knows about it, but he doesn't really have a choice. I'm staying, because I've decided that this plan is genius.

"We're stopping here."
His short tone signalizes that it's not a discussion, and I don't mind. It's a good place, on top of a tiny hill, with a pretty okay view of our surroundings. There's two big trees here as well, so we're still protected. Since the sun isn't out there's barely any shadow, so it's impossible to hide from the suffocating heat. My throat is dry and water is nowhere in sight, but it's nothing serious. The guy seems completely unaffected by the entire poisoning situation, and is now circulating around our temporary camp to determine the perfect location to sleep.

His face clearly shows his focus but his feelings are still hard to interpret. He hides behind a mask, but is still obviously very aware of my every move. I can see it in the way he never turns his back against me, and how he never faces completely away from my direction. He's not naive and underestimating me, and I wonder where he might have learned that. Usually people tend to think that they are superior if they are bigger, but I can see in the way he acts how he ignores that difference. Which need to be pretty hard, since I barely reach up to his shoulder and must weight much much less. Then suddenly I realize what he's doing. He's not just making sure to not be dumb and underestimate someone he doesn't know anything about, he's studying me. He's studying me the same way I study people. By absorbing the persons every move to determine their flexibility, strength and capacity. Just by looking at someone walking, it's possible to see if they are a trained solider, and that's exactly what he's doing. I might have managed my acting pretty good, but I'm very sure that he know what happened to the sniper.

He's trying to find out if I'm a threat.