The Two Missing People

Chapter 2~ Town Feria

It felt like I had been walking for days, yet it was only hours since I fell from the helicopter. Every bone, every molecule was driven with pain, and every step made me cringe. Pushing my sawing thirst away, I focused on peeling away the harness. The ropes were still clipped on to the back, and once I got the heavy thing off of my sweating body, I wrenched the ropes off. The suns rays pounded against my back like a fist of balled up heat. My face was wet with the effort to drag my body along, and not collapse against the ground in agony and exhaustion. The sun seemed to drain me of energy, and dignity.
"Keep going," I whispered, my voice like sand paper, "just keep going."
I did not permit failure, I would not. I will survive this, for as long as it takes. The helicopter, which had sped away as soon as I fell, like Pilot Gareth did not even notice I was gone, was no where in sight. Yet I did not let myself panic. He will come back for me.
"Come on, Wol." I urged. "Come on. Keep going.
I forced my thoughts to wonder someplace lighter and happier.
The mission.
The two missing people.
What would become of it? The two missing people needed to be found. I did not know all the details, but these two people, a man and a women, were important.
"They cannot stray from protecting hands. They must be found, immediately!" Were Nichole's words. He seemed worried, angry, and even a little frightened. Of course, when Nichole wanted something, he ought to get it, or there would be chaos far and near. He had claimed that witnesses saw the mans face in someone heading towards the Sahara Desert, and so we flew.

My feet were swollen and sore from walking for seemingly such a long time. It pained to breathe.
My eyes wondered to the sky as I trudged down a sand dune and across more yards of sand. The sun blazed in a ball of white fire. It's rays beamed the sky into a brilliant blue.
Where was I heading?
Where will I go while I wait for the helicopter to rescue me?
Will it rescue me?
I shook my head and pushed away the thought. Of course it will come back. I was the captain of this mission. I was important. They needed me.
The heat came in waves of sweat and blistered skin. I felt dazed and weak as I made my way through acres of land, pondering on what to do.
Should I collapse onto the ground and lie there, waiting for Gareth, or anyone, to show up?
Or keep walking?
My body wanted the first option, but my brain pushed the longing of giving up away, and I walked on.
It was roughly ten minutes after when I gathered the energy to look up.
And my heart lept.
Through the haze of heat and dirt, tiny buildings made the impression of being a small town. New energy pounded through me.
"Civilization." I yelled, joy making my mouth turn up in a grin. "Water! Food! Help!"
Suddenly, a desire to run overwhelmed me, and I fell into a jog, and then a sprint.
I tore through the sand, kicking it up as I went. My legs moved on pure motivation at tasting water again, and not even the pain of my injured body could slow me down. I ran like the years of training I had taken all mattered. My legs, strong, steady, and fit, could take me as far as 20 kilometers before slowing the speed. Years, it took to accomplish it, but I had, and now, this run was like a leisurely jog around the park.
The town grew steadily closer, and the buildings took shape of shacks and houses. Once I was close enough, I noticed distant figures moving around, riding bikes and horses, and general activity expected in a town far from the big city's and modern ways. I neared ever closer, and in a matter of minutes I was just meters away from a road weaving into the town.
Chairs were splayed around a bustling café. People of all ages sat around and ate and drank. My eyes widened as I spotted a glint of a plastic bottle of water. I gazed t the clear liquid that stood on a table, untouched by anyone.
I stepped onto the road and took a ragged and deep breathe. I walked down the road and stood just outside the café. No one looked up, but continued to chat and help themselves to the things on their table. My heart pounded with excitement and nerves and uncertainty. No one was at the table where the bottled water was. Yet people all around were close enough to be the owner of the bottle. I glanced around me, and nodded to myself. My throat told me it was worth the risk.
I stepped carefully onto the porch of the café. One women, slightly older than I, glanced up from her small mug of swirling liquid, and winked at me. I swallowed and looked away, at the water bottle.
I brushed past a table, no one noticing me as I reached the empty table where the water glistened. I stared. And before anyone could react, I snatched the bottle and stuffed it under my baggy uniform shirt. The women who had winked at me earlier stared. She opened her mouth to speak, and I shook my head, looking a her pointedly.
She cocked her head in uncertainty, then nodded. She winked another time, and looked away, back at her friend, who was waving her arms widely and trying to explain something.
Relief washed over me, and I scurried out of the café, and into the town. Shops lined the road, parallel to each other, accompanied with a couple, sometimes bunches, of people. Horses with carriages rattled by, as well as people pedaling on bikes. There were no cars, and as a result, the air was much cleaner and crisp. Compared to the big city of New York, the change was a relief.
"Oi!" A voice yelled, and I snapped my head around to see a chubby man sitting on a plastic chair in front of a café. "Oi, you ain't around here!"
A slight fear rising in my gut, I nodded quickly. "No sir, I'm not. But I have business to attend to." I bit my lip and started to walk. "Good day!"
"Oi, you stay here!"
"I really can't, sir, I have to-"
"STAY PUT!"
I froze in my step, overcome by the sudden yelling. The man stood, nocking over the pathetic plastic chair, which toppled to the ground at my feet. I felt the water bottle press against my skin, cool. I felt desperate to unbottle it and drink as fast as I could, but my hands stilled as I looked up a the red faced man. If it came to the worst, I would run, and my speed would take me far from any harm.
"I work for the mayor, young man, and in charge of the population of this town, and all new comers. I'm the one who can expel you from this town."
Thats it, my mind started to blank as I tore the bottle from under my shirt and nimbly took off the lid. With out hesitation, I tipped the bottle down my throat. As soon as the cold liquid touched my lip, my throat screamed for more. I closed my eyes as I drank, the feeling and mass of water soothing and calming the raging monster inside. Three minutes later, the last of the water drizzled down my throat, and I heaved a loud sigh of pleasure and relief. My body seemed to already be filled and renewed with energy once again.
"You done?" The man said, irritated.
"I'm sorry." Licking my lips, I nodded my head to excuse myself. "My thirst got the better of me, sir."
The mans face contorted into amusement, and he made his way off the café's slightly raised floor, and next to me. He landed a chubby hand on my shoulder, which made me wince. He glanced at me.
"Does it hurt?" He asked, lifting his hand.
"I fell from quite a hight. I have bruises everywhere, sir."
"Please, call me Pablo." Pablo grinned, "come with me."
I squeezed the empty bottle nervously. It crackled. "I don't think I should, sir. I need be off."
Pablo raised his eyebrows. "Tell me, young man, how did you come across this little town in the middle of the Saharan Desert?"
"I..." My eyes skimmed the area where I stood. I did not want to go into detail. I needed to be out and in the open, obvious to prowling eyes in a rescue helicopter. "Sir I really cannot."
Pablo sighed. "A shame, because I have food, and medical treatment."
Food sounded great. And medical treatment was a priority for my batted and bruised body. Miraculously though, no bones felt broken, just a twisted ankle maybe, and cuts on my arms and wrists. There was one gash below my knee, which was swollen and desperately in need of attention. My knee was blue and puffy, and I had ignored the pain so far.
"Well, sir-"
"-It's Pablo."
"Pablo. I am quite, well, hungry, and I do need to clean up my cuts a bit."
Pablo smiled and patted my back, pushing me forward as he did so.
"You will get foot and can have a shower, get treated, if you do one thing for me."
I stood my ground. "And what is that?"
Pablo looked at me strangely. "You tell me your story."
"My story?"
"Where you grew up, what your family is like, how you came to be here." Pablo pushed me forward and I obliged. We started walking down the road. "Your life story. All of it."
"All of it?"
"All of it."
Accepting the deal, we headed towards the end of the street, passing people and cafés, small cabin like houses and horse carriages. Pablo was explaining that most of the people were inside, away from the heat and in the cooled down buildings. The mayor himself had the biggest house of the town, with the strongest air conditioning and the best servers. He was the only one who owned a car. Mayor Willian Oxdor loved his people, and the other way around. He was an easy going fellow, and had been the mayor for 13 years.
"Welcome to Town Feria, a speck amidst the Sahara Desert."
I tried for a smile, but my mood was reluctant to give in. I was impatient to get back to the city, away from the blazing sun and the sand. I felt sticky and dirty, and my ankle pained me to walk. It still amazed me that I had not broken a bone.
"I must of activated the parachute while falling, and it must of blown away before I woke."
"What?" Pablo asked, leaning in to hear.
"Nothing, just thinking."
"Oh, well, we are here."
My eyes drifted up to a wooden house, large in comparison to the shacks all around it. Windows were closed with flowery white curtains, and the door was shut and locked. Pablo was grinning as he drew out a key from his pocket, and he twisted it in the lock. The door swung open.
"Come in, and I'll call for Lilly. She lives in one of the shacks over here. She takes care of cuts and the such."
I nodded and stepped inside. A blast of cool air hit me, and I sighed in pleasure. My sweat seemed to dry up imidietly, and I looked around. There were couches around a square TV, and the sun shining through the curtains gave the room an eery glow. There was a kitchen filled with pots and pans tucked in the corner, and stairs spiraling up to the next floor, where I guessed was were Pablo's room was.
I collapsed on one of the couches, glad to rest my legs, which ached fiercely. As much as I wanted to get back outside and wait for the rescue helicopter, I enjoyed the cool and the peace of the house. My head fell onto the arm wrest of the couch, and in seconds, my eyes were closed, and I drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.