The Untold Future

Punishment

I woke up to the sound of birds bustling around and chirping. I rolled up my sleeping bag. I looked over to Faith. She was still asleep. I thought I should probably look around. I found the entrance of the wooded area. I heard the pounding of footsteps in unison and ducked into the tree line.

I was now glad that I had chosen this path because it had multiple quad tracks on it. I was even more glad that I had moved the quad off the beaten path because the leader and a couple others had moved to go down the path while the convoy rested. The young soldier I had seen earlier caught my eye and my curiosity. I followed from a safe distance until we came to massive stone building that was still being built. Workers were cutting into a cliff edge to finish the building.

The golden sunlight leaked into the scene of the building, dripping through the trees. There was a square of stone with dried blood in the center along with a wooden pole with chains. The leader got off his horse and a worker came and got the horse leading it away.

The leader walked up to the edge of the cobblestone square and whistled. All the workers put down what they were doing and gathered around the square.

"We got good loot today," the leader said. A cheer followed. "We got good food today," another cheer followed. "But," he said and paused, the tension building, "we have discovered a traitor in our midst." The crowds remained silent. "Collins!" the leader barked. No one moved. "Bring me Collins!" There was a scuffle as the young soldier was brought forward, seized by his arms. He was brought to the front of the crowd and faced the leader. "Have you anything to say in your defense?"

"Nothing that you'll listen to."

"Collins," the commander began, "you realize what is coming."

"I do."

"Very well," the commander said. "He chooses punishment!" There was yelling amongst the crowd. "Take him to the center!" The two men who were restraining his arms turned him around and walked him to the center of the square. They pushed him to his knees. He kneeled on dried blood. He was stripped of his uniform and undershirt. The sunlight that shone through the gap of the pathway soaked his bare back in gold. You could see his strength as his arms were moved to be locked into the chains. His muscles grew tight in the chill morning air. The two men went back to the ranks handing the key to the leader. A worker handed him a whip. He gripped it tightly before walking across the square. He threw the key at the audience. He lifted his whip and... crack! It came down across the boys back. His muscles tightened. There was a little shouting in the audience but it all fell when the leader raised his whip again. Again the whip streaked across the boy's back leaving a red line of blood that began to drip. Again there was a yell. I realized the crowd was yelling a word before falling silent. No one went for the key. In my eyes this was the ultimate power play. He had total control of his men. He raised his whip and struck again. The boy grunted and tried to hold in his pain. Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! The boy was getting weaker. He had number of red x's on his back which dripped with blood at each passing strike. The leader seemed driven in his motions. The boy didn't scream. The leader was getting impatient. He pulled the boy's legs from under him and rolled him over so he lied on his back and began to kick him. The boy was first kicked in the stomach. He curled up instinctively and was then kicked in the back. This cycle repeated a couple times until the leader put him on his knees facing and jammed his heel into the boy's nose. The Collins boy leaned forward with his head looking down and whispered something.

"I'm sorry," the commander said, "I couldn't hear you. What?"

"I said, 'Irene'," the boy said. He straightened his back.

The commander was still. He didn't move. One could even argue that he didn't breath.

"Get me the mark! We are going to brand this traitor as unworthy!"

On the side of the building site. A rod of metal was plunged into the fire. I realized was going to happen and sunk into the bushes. As soon as I got far away enough to not be seen or heard, I ran. I ran back to the campsite. I shoved all the pine needles off the quad and wiped off the seat. I climbed the tree to Faith. I shook her awake. I pulled her out off her hammock and carried her down. I rolled up her entire hammock, tied it, and put it away. I moved her to spot in the brush and told her to wait. I put the key in the quad, flipped the kill switch off, shifted to neutral, and made the engine turn over. It died as expected. I made turn over again and slowly pulled out the choke. I pressed the acceleration button and revved the engine. I pushed the choke in a little bit and revved again. I gestured to Faith to stay and pulled around. I rode to the square just in time. The leader had the steel rod in his hand. It was red hot at the end. His head and the heads of the crowd had turned to the sound of my roaring engine. Parts of the crowd dove at of the way as I drove straight to the center of the square. I noticed that someone had finally got the key to Collins's bindings. I grabbed the middle of the metal rod and pulled it away from the leader. I plunged it into a bucket of water and through it into the woods. I turned around and rode over to the man with the keys and snatched them from his hands. I tossed the key the key towards Collins. He used his feet to get the keys towards him. He grabbed them with his right hand and was able to unlock his left cuff. I rode to the leader quickly. I made him back off. He had his pistol pulled and was staring at me. He was having an internal war. He questioned whether or not he should shoot me. I looked down to Collins he had undone his second cuff and was standing behind me. He threw the keys to the leader and the leader was distracted enough for me to motion Collins to get on. He got on the back holding onto the racks. We had caused a great deal of confusion so it was easy to get out but I knew that wouldn't last. We rode back through the forest where I had come through, stopped, and picked up Faith. Faith looked confused but seemed to know that the situation was urgent and got on the front of the quad. We burst out of the forest onto the rode where the soldiers waited they too looked confused as we rode up the hill. We rode. We rode at fourth gear and we didn't dare to look back but we knew we had narrowly escaped. (Author's note: Before you say it, I'll say it for you, "Plot armor!" But I promise you there's a reason they got away that will be revealed later in the story.)