A few hours after the bridge incident it started to get dark.
Brandon and Rikki decided to stop and set up a campfire. After
the fire was lit and they found a few things to eat, they sat
down. It was quiet except for the chirping of nearby birds and an
occasional howl of a monkey. Rikki was not enjoying this. It was hot
and dark and he was sure there was a huge predator hiding in the
forest just waiting to eat him once he fell asleep. He looked
at Brandon. They hadn't spoken since the bridge broke. He sighed.
"There's not a day that I don't regret it." Rikki blinked at Brandon's
sudden statement.
"What?" Brandon kept staring into the fire.
"After years of coming in second, after losing my team, my sponsors,
I couldn't see any other way. I became obsessed." Rikki stared at him,
wondering what the heck he was talking about. Then he remembered their
earlier discussion. He realized that Brandon was finally confiding in
him. Brandon looked at him.
"Have you ever wanted something so bad that you would sacrifice anything
to get it?" Rikki could have easily said no, or nothing at all. After all
he didn't sacrifice everything he had. But he had to be honest, to
both Brandon and himself.
"I didn't give up everything, but it come very close. It was when I
in college, trying to get my business degree. I devoted myself to
studying. I gave up meals, sleep and I even gave my friends, all so
I could the perfect student. When I finally realized what I was doing,
my friends had left. Only one of them forgave me, and everyday I'm
grateful that I still have her." He looked at Brandon.
"You still haven't answered my question." He stated bluntly.
Brandon looked back into the fire. That was a difficult topic, more
difficult then why he had accepted the upgrade in the first place.
He sighed, knowing if he didn't say it now, He probably would never
be able to.
"It' hard to explain, but let's just say I was lead to believe that
Alex had really left me behind to die." Rikki looked curious.
"And you believed that?"
"Not at first, but as time went by I started to." Brandon leaned back,
thinking of the weeks he had spent with Dr. X.
"I began to hate where I was, the monster I sometimes became, and Dr.X
for doing that to me. Soon, all that hatred transferred to Alex."
Brandon laid down in the dirt.
"I hated him." That felt so wrong to say. Rikki stared at the stars above.
That explained why he had done what he did. But there was still something
else. He looked back at Brandon, thinking of how he had tried to stop
the train.
"But you stopped." Brandon sat back up.
"While we were fighting, I realized that even after everything I did,
he was still concerned about me. I started to rethink my position."
Rikki nodded.
"Have you told Alex this?" Brandon looked horrified.
"No. And I have no intention to do so." Then he looked very sad.
"How can I tell him that hated him, especially after what he went through
to save my life?"
"I think he would understand," Rikki said. Brandon didn't say anything.
Rikki laid down. He was starting to relax. The heat didn't bother him
anymore, and he forgot about the 'predator' that wanted to eat him.
He was starting to get sleepy.
"Brandon, just one more question."
"What?"
"Just how did you escape from Dr. X?" Brandon laughed.
"Now that is a funny story..."
******************************************
The jaguar slowly approached it's ignorant victim. It waited until the right moment to attack. Just then a huge plant burst out of the ground, scaring the jaguar's food away. Angrily, the big cat slashed at the unwanted plant. It retaliated by slamming the cat into a tree with one of it's vines. The jaguar tried to run away but then the plant sprayed some sort of poison on it. The jaguar felt itself weaken and collapsed to the ground. The vines came near it. The jaguar couldn't run, it couldn't fight. It could only do one thing: scream in terror.