Apocrypha

Chapter 24

"And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
Hebrews 10: 24-25

MUD AND GRIME covered the men's shoes and bottom of their pants. They had been walking through the swampy terrain for hours by this time. The heat of the sun blasted down on them. Gabriel began to feel his neck burn.

"Do we have sunscreen?" He asked.

Lysander set his bag down and searched through it until he found a squeeze bottle. "I've got some aloe vera gel. I'll put it on for you." He said.

Gabriel lowered his hood, showing his neck to Lysander. He squeezed some of the green gel onto his fingers and massaged it onto the burning man's neck.

"Yikes, it looks red back here." Lysander mentioned.

"Just put it on. It's already bad enough." Gabriel said.

Lysander chuckled. He finished his task and put the gel away. Gabriel rolled his shoulders back and cracked his neck. They continued their journey for a bit longer.

At some point, Lysander stopped walking and placed his hand on Gabriel's shoulder. The blonde man stopped walking and became silent. He could tell from Lysander's face that he knew something was wrong.

"Can you hear something?" Gabriel asked.

He watched Lysander scan their surroundings. All he saw was a dense forest and swarms of mosquitoes in the distance.

"Something feels off." Lysander muttered. He watched Lysander begin to reach for his knife. Gabriel also began to reach for his gun.

"Let's walk faster and get out of here." Lysander whispered.

The two continued their walk, but this time went at a faster pace. It was getting difficult for Gabriel to catch up as his boots were getting stuck in the mud and slowing him down.

"Lysander!" Gabriel called out. Lysander turned and ran over to his lover.

"Hold onto me." Lysander said. He hooked Gabriel's arm over his neck and began to pull.

Gabriel's boot was slowly sinking into the mud.

"I might have to take off my boot!" Gabriel said.

"Hang on! I'll... get you out." Lysander said.

Lysander could barely hear the swaying of the water from behind them. As he pulled his knife out, he was tackled onto the mud below as someone pinned him on top.

Gabriel shouted. A man was on top of Lysander and holding his head into the water.

The man on top was ravenous as he only saw two walking meals. He pressed Lysander's head in an attempt to drown him. Gabriel pulled out his gun and managed to shoot the man in the lower chest to incapacitate him.

He turned, the shot not registering to him. Gabriel saw as the man was horribly disfigured. Parts of his head were bulging out and his veins almost burst. His jaw was slacked, brandishing his rotting teeth. One of his eyes was ghostly. That other was just an empty socket.

"Meat!" The disfigured man shouted. Gabriel tugged his leg out of the mud and pointed his gun.

"Get away!" He shouted. The man got off of Lysander and began to slowly walk towards Gabriel.

Gabriel didn't want to shoot. He could tell that this was one of those inbred individuals that Lysander had warned him about. And he knew that the man wasn't right in his head.