Chapter 4

As the moon rose higher in the sky, the Green Faction disappeared with the sun. There was a cool wind and Nathan ended up using the jacket from his backpack. It was light, yet still kept him warm: the perfect travel jacket.

The moon was full and gave him plenty of light. He had no problem seeing the rocks he had to avoid as he walked for hours and hours.

His mind kept flickering to the gun fastened at his belt. He reached down and brushed his fingertips against the cold steel and shuddered a bit at the thought of using it.

All Nathan could hear was the sound of his own feet pounding in the soft sand and the hiss of the wind in his ears. He'd never felt so alone before in all his life. All throughout his childhood, he'd always had Ben to talk to.

When he was a teenager and Ben had gone off to fulfill his destiny of being a silver-badge worker, Nathan had his mom and dad to fill the void. They were loving parents and Nathan was sure that they would turn in their graves if they knew what Lonnie Wolfe was forcing him to do.

But, there was no point in dwelling on the past. He had to think about what was going on at that moment. And all that was going on at that moment was the emptiness swirling inside him. He tried to fill it by softly talking to himself.

"Kinda chilly…I wish I was home right now. My house never got this cold. Sure, it got a bit cool sometimes, but it was never like this. I could be warm in my bed right now. Damn it. I can't believe Lonnie Wolfe sent me on this crazy job. This is insane! I can't handle this."

A puff of air sent a few grains of sand hurdling into Nathan's face. He squinted and brushed them away gently.

"I mean, it's not like I'm the smartest guy around or anything. I'm not a silver-badge worker. My job is to put the same pieces of guns together over and over and over again. It's not that hard. I don't really need to know anything. I don't know why she chose me."

His stomach growled. It had been at least five hours since he had set out and he hadn't eaten in a while. His grip tightened on the strap of his backpack and his other arm wrapped around his waist.

"I guess I should probably stop and eat something. I don't think I'm even halfway there and I have to keep my strength up."

His stomach growled again and he stared off at the horizon.

"Is that light? If that's light, then I'm probably close. It's nowhere near dawn. I can push myself a few miles further before I eat something."

Nathan took a few steps forward and stumbled a bit.

"No, I can't. I need to eat. I'm probably just imagining things too. The Red Faction army wouldn't be positioned only five hours outside of the Green Faction walls." He paused for a minute, smirking to himself. "I have to say, I'm kinda proud of myself. Look at me, being all tactical and stuff."

Nathan crossed his legs and sat in the sand, sinking in a few centimeters. He yanked the backpack off his shoulders and opened it, pulling out a can of food and a tin spoon. He yanked the top of the can off and dug the spoon into the meat inside.

As Nathan ate, he stared at the light on the horizon. The more he looked at it, the farther away it seemed. He decided to walk while he had dinner.

The meat didn't really have a taste. It was pretty much there to only provide sustenance. It had a tough texture and Nathan felt like he was chewing rubber. But it was filling at least.

It took him about half an hour to scrape the last few lumps of meat out of the bottom of the can. As he swallowed the last bite, his eyes began to feel heavy.

"No," he breathed. "I have to stay awake. I have to keep walking."

His legs felt like lead as he trudged through the sand, his eyes now hyper-focused on the light. He didn't let his mind even wander to sleep. But he did let it wander to other things.

"Maybe Lonnie Wolfe chose me for this mission because I don't run out of energy easily. Maybe that's why she brought up the fact that I stayed out late sometimes. Then again, maybe she's doing this as a kind of punishment, making me stay out late because I did it by choice at home. So, maybe there isn't actually a Red Faction army out here. That'd be nice. I don't really want to meet up with any Red Faction soldiers. They must be barbarians or something."

Nathan's legs wobbled beneath him. His eyelids grew heavier and his vision was going out of focus. He rubbed his eyes in an attempt to wake himself up, but it was to no avail.

"It can't be that much further. I can make it. C'mon, Nathan. C'mon. You can do this."

His ankles felt like they were going to slip out from under him. Nathan's eyes slowly closed and for a second, he was walking forward in complete darkness. It felt so good. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears. His eyes snapped open.

"C'mon," he whispered to himself, focusing on each step. "Just a few more miles. I can do this. I walk around at night all the time." He pictured himself rounding the corner on his street and shuffling around his neighborhood.

In his mind's eye, he saw the moon floating in the sky, illuminating the Spire with its silvery light. A cloud leisurely drifted in front of the moon, casting a peaceful shadow.

Nathan's spine shivered and he twitched. His legs ached and every step made his feet flinch with pain. His knees shook and his thighs felt like jelly. Slowly, his eyelids inched closer and closer together.

The last thing he felt was the grainy texture of the sand spread over his cheek and temple as he fell face-first, sprawled out on the ground.