Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen - The Two who went AWOL

Hearing the steady crunch of snow as firm footsteps paced close by, the two men sitting upon a ten metre high wall naturally glanced back, before returning their gazes towards the outside world.  Neither of the men were particularly taller than the other and due to the numerous layers of clothing creating a protective shield against the icy bite of winter air, neither appeared more robust than the other as well.  Both men happened to have shaded goggles protecting their eyes from the bright reflection of light upon the white landscape, as well as scarves covering their necks and jaws, hats covering their heads and ears, therefore there were no distinguishing features other than the colour of their winter wear; one wore predominantly black and dark green, the other a mix of cream and navy, with a splash of purple due to the striped scarf.

The immediate road and land outside the gate and wall was light of the powdery symbol of winter having been cleared a fair bit in the earlier hours of the morning.  This helped them see any smaller threats to the walls if they approached though they were few, thankfully.  Only the undead not frozen by the bitter temperatures would be able to still wander over the fields and within the scattered trees at this time, but still the majority of those were of larger sizes or formidable of ability.  Dealing with the latter was the priority, putting down one meant that the overall hoard's strength was reduced, even just a tad.

As for mutants, they retained much of their instinct from when they could be considered ordinary, thus sought out warmer locations and shelters in an attempt to ride out the winter for the most part.  No one could ever say any rule of thumb was absolute.  Like a cold virus, both mutants and undead were visibly adapting to circumstance, gaining strength in order to survive this more difficult era.

Mankind could only try do the same or become extinct.

"Try this now," the man in the lighter tones said in a muffled voice to the other.  He handed the other a crossbow bolt, around which was rolled a small piece of parchment.  His comrade inserted the bolt into his weapon, lifting the cold metallic object while thankful he'd grabbed a thick, thermal pair of gloves.  Aiming carefully, he let the bolt fly.  It pierced into the shoulder of a wandering zombie with a thud.

"Well?" The first man asked as he peeked over the battlement part of the wall he'd been leaning against.  He witnessed with his own eyes as the zombie turned until it was facing completely away from the wall and trundled away.

"What was that?" His comrade asked with a surprised tone of voice.

"New spell," beneath the goggles, the man's eyes curved into satisfied crescents.  "Ren Zexian gave it a name... regardless it makes the undead turn away from the person holding the second part of the exorcism talisman." He waved a small piece of parchment at his friend before folding it and tucking it into his pocket.  "Ren said that it was a simple control spell that exorcists use."  He sighed.  "It still took half a day to draw the two talismans though and with my ability, it probably won't last that long."

Sure enough as they were speaking, a bright light shone from the bolt followed by a small stream of smoke and the zombie altered its trajectory, wandering in a curve to the south.

"It would still be useful," his comrade reminded him.  "Think of it.  If we had to face something formidable, if we were losing ground against it, that spell would give us time to regroup, perhaps enough time to turn the tides of battle."  The other thought over this point for a moment and felt his satisfaction return. 

"I'll try to create some more for emergencies!" He stated with renewed vigour.  They stood up feeling that the threats around this east facing wall were minimal already and began to move along the length of the wall towards the southern most facing one.  Of all the walls, the northern one would receive the most attacks for its height created depth of shade during sunny periods, there were also more trees and ground cover in that area.  They had thinned them out (as had one giant monster in the autumn) drying out the wood for winter usage, but the sun couldn't always reach the ground here still.  The sun alone could not kill the undead, but they remained wary of its light.

The two men had drawn the slightly lesser duty of protecting the walls near noon; the zombie numbers had not recovered since Ren Zexian and Chang Min swept away the worst crowds and mounds of snow in the darker hours and the clouds had parted bringing a respite to the dull, overcast skies and bouts of falling snow.  They still remained vigilant, but their conversation wandered away from the matters of guarding and to more mundane things.

"Think we'll be tried for insubordination or something?" The man in the lighter clothes, Zak, asked.  These two men were the soldiers' who had gone AWOL for a few reasons from the army base. 

"What's the worst that can happen?" The other, Theo, sneered.  "They dismissed me as useless, shoving me back on the walls with little reprieve except to interrogate me 'in the name of research' regarding the cultivation method. And what about you? They figured it would be enough if you stood at the gate and 'glowed!'"

Zak sighed. Many had been dismissive about the exorcism as he was still a beginner in the art, couldn't perform immediate results and to them it took too much time, space and effort. Others would badger him for details, taking away his talismans that he had slaved over only to find they were worthless in other's hands. Plus, they were basic, weak spells, they had some use but were not miracle creators. Teaching others was out of the question as well; no others, except Luke, had revealed light abilities and his were not good enough to attempt to learn exorcism. He didn't blame the scepticism, they were too soon out of the age of science, thrust in an era of survival, but not everyone could except that this might mean excepting ideas outside of their understanding. Here, where open mindedness was as natural as breathing, it was far easier to develop and learn.

A small smile crept on Zak's face, a pity it could not be seen by his friend. "You may have broke that little girl's heart though."

Theo almost tripped on his own feet as he heard this sly remark. He shoved Zak's shoulder in reprimand, but not harshly. Accidents on the walls could lead to some deadly results after all. "Behave."

"No regrets?" Zak enquired, curiously. The percentage of women on base was quite low, estimated at most as ten percent. This didn't include the children, which were low in number anyway, but if one counted, there was a nearly equal number of girls and boys under the age of twelve. However, there were many single men who didn't want to wait for them to grow up and tried to woo any single woman they discovered, seldom thinking in terms of compatibility or their own ability either. Therefore women with partners, but a dubious relationship with that partner were also targeted.

The women weren't stupid, though. If they wanted to seek a relationship, they had much more abundant choice and so the ones they considered most eligible in this age (ones generally with power, ability and looks) were the ones they chased after. Naturally, this was not the situation with all women, one couldn't tarnish them all with the same brush, but it was still surprising when the girl, who was a fresh daisy in the dating pool, sought out Theo on frequent occasions.

Using memory, Zak pictured the uncovered face of Theo as he glanced at him. The man was not plain looking, could be considered above average in terms of looks. He had thick, blond locks that lightened in the sun and some what buried beneath the growing bangs were two brown eyes. His skin tone was dark, having retained the tan from working the walls in summer and meditating on the roof, soaking in the full rays of the sun whenever he could. However, he seldom smiled, seeming sullen to people who didn't know him well. He could sometimes be particular about certain matters, for example, he lead an organised life and preferred his own space. He didn't like people touching his stuff without permission; he punched the man who used his towel to dry his hands without thinking and that had been before the end. Shoving him in quarters that were shared with five other men to him was like raking nails down a chalkboard and being forced to listen. They'd understood before, but now space was at a premium and they'd told him there was no choice.

So while it was unexpected that the little flower had approached Theo, it would have been beneficial in many ways had he accepted her advances. Having a partner to potentially share weal and woe, being given a new space for them to share to encourage development of their relationship and therefore birth children, but Theo had rejected her.

"I don't regret it," Theo responded. It was a simple thing to him; it wasn't that he disliked her, he just couldn't picture himself being with her. He felt that it was wrong to give her hope only to dash it when things didn't work out. And deep down, he really didn't think things would. Making relationships work often meant adapting to the other person's idiosyncrasies, but he was stubborn, didn't want people to change for him and he knew that he could not change for others. This little girl saw his strengths, witnessed him fighting with aerial threats using seed and vines, saw him kneeling to help some small children who'd accidentally broken someone's precious thing when they'd run past, but she'd not seen the core of himself. Perhaps if she had not been rushing into a relationship and they'd had the time to learn about each other, things might have been different; they may have become friends. But the situation became as so, she was rejected and he and Zak had left the base without fanfare seeking the place they felt that could be useful and true to themselves in this era.

Maybe that was at this community at this time, perhaps circumstances would force them to seek a new place, perhaps they themselves would part ways in the end. Life was uncertain, but Theo was certain that the young woman would never have a part in his.