David and Sean sat in silence, staring at Jackie at the roadblock. A sound of liquid nearby could be heard. It was David, wetting his pants. The two continued to sit and watch, with their mouths open, barely breathing.
Jackie stood nearby Kirk’s body, and she appeared to pray. She then turned and walked down the road in the same direction of the trucks. Before she rounded the turn in the road, she looked back for one last look at the roadblock area.
David and Sean continued to look at the roadblock area, in silence. Thirty minutes went by, and the two said nothing.
Sean whispered, “I cannot believe … that … just happened.” Sean leaned outside the observation post and tried to throw up, but nothing came out. He was dry heaving.
“No. No. No,” David whispered. “Poor Kirk.” He paused. “I can’t believe it. We asked him and Jackie to join us up here.”
“Huh?” was all Sean could say. There was no answer. The two sat in silence for another 10 minutes, looking at the roadblock and Kirk’s body.
“We are going to have to get up, Sean. Let’s get out of here. I can’t stand this, just sitting here,” David said. He took a deep breath and looked at Sean. “Let’s go back. I know our shift is not up yet. I can’t just sit here. I have to go.”
“OK,” Sean mumbled.
David looked towards the back of their post. “I don’t know if I can even walk.” He crawled out and laid on the ground. A few tears rolled down his cheeks. He wiped his face. “Let’s go, Sean. Just leave everything behind. The guns and the walkie-talkie. Just leave it all here.”
“Wait,” David looked more awake. He looked to a neighboring hillside, then back at Sean. “Hand me that walkie-talkie.” Sean handed it to David, who then turned it on and changed a channel on it.
David looked over to the school bus on the nearby hill. He pressed the button to talk on the walkie-talkie. “Alex, are you over there? Did you see that?”
A reply came back on the walkie-talkie. A man with a distinct southern drawl, whispered “I can’t stop throwing up.”
David answered “Kirk was a good man.”
Alex replied, “Heck yeah he was. He thought we were all jumping the gun up here, but he was a good man.”
“And what got into Jackie, I have no idea. What was she thinking?”
“Yeah, she really blew it.”
“Yeah, she took the Mark. She actually took the Mark. I don’t know. Well, we are going back.”
“Same here. No one’s going to believe this,” Alex said.
David looked at Sean. “I so wish none of that just happened. I still can’t believe it.”
Sean got out of the post and walked towards the dirt road above. “Can you walk?”
“I’ll try.” David turned off the walkie-talkie and put it back into the post.
David stood up, and a clear wet mark was visible on the front of his jeans. He looked down. “And I wet myself.” He sat back down.
“I almost threw up, so don’t feel bad,” Sean tried to reassure David. “Let’s see if we can get back.”
David stood back up and walked with Sean to the dirt road behind their post. David looked back at the roadblock. “I’m just … speechless. This is a nightmare.”
They walked in silence about another hundred yards towards the camp. “Sean, have you ever seen a person get killed? That was a totally new thing for me. A few years ago I was sitting at my mom’s hospital bedside when she died, but that was different. She was sedated and I knew that it was going to happen. She was in pain and I was actually relieved when she died. But this was different. I have never seen a violent death like that. Anytime I watched the news and a film was shown on someone killing someone else, like all the Muslim killings you see nowadays, I would look away. I can’t stand that stuff. I never thought I would ever see someone get killed right in front of me. Have you?”
“Never have. I knew I would eventually have to see that. I was thinking of joining the military, and that was something I figured I would eventually have to see.”
“I have to sit down, Sean. I’m sorry,” David said. “I guess I’m shallow breathing.” The two sat down on the road. Sean sat up while David laid down flat on the road with his knees up.
“I still cannot believe what we saw,” David said. “I’m just numb.” He paused. “I think this is why some soldiers come back from war as basket cases. With PTSD and all.”
“If it will help, you can just talk about it.”
“You’re a good kid, Sean. Thanks.” David’s eyes moistened. He wiped the tears away. “What about you? How are you taking this?”
Sean paused. “It’s a lot to take in, that’s for sure. I guess I keep thinking about how we are going to die someday, and let’s face it, that was pretty quick. It could have been a lot worse.”
“Well I guess that’s true. The actual death itself was fast.”
“Did you know Jackie?”
“Yes. We invited Kirk and Jackie both to join us up here if and when the end came. They don’t live too far from here. Kirk thought we were being silly. They could barely stop laughing at us. They said ‘we are also Christians, and we believe the Bible like you guys, but think about what you are saying. Kind of tin foil hat stuff, don’t you think?’”
“And now she has taken the Mark.”
“Yes, and that is something I would never have believed. Jackie taking the Mark was even more of a shock than Kirk getting killed. She really, really blew it.” David looked at Sean, and sounded like a teacher. “Taking the Mark is a horrible, horrible thing to do. A big mistake. There is no turning back for Jackie.”
“I know.”
“This is horrible. Whenever a Christian friend I knew died, I would always tell myself that I knew someone in heaven, right there with Jesus. Forever. Well, with Jackie, I can now say I know someone who is on their way to Hell. And nothing can ever change that. I know that is harsh thing to say, Sean, but it is true. It is right there in the Bible. Don’t even think of ever taking the Mark.”
David stood up. “I think I can go now.” Sean got up.
Sean said, “I think Kirk and Jackie have several friends up here.”
“Yes, Peter used to work with Kirk, and Kathy used to date Kirk. That’s what I heard.”
Sean stopped and looked at David.
“I mean Kathy used to date Kirk before Kirk married Jackie. I know it’s a little hard to keep straight.”
“Oh, I see.”
The two followed the dirt road uphill, out of sight of the observation post.
****