Chapter one
Jared rode his horse down the frosty trail by the mountain, listening to the water trickle in the nearby spring.
He never lost the trail of water.
He smacked his lips to get the horse to keep going, urging him to find the few patches of grass that were visible beneath the icy frost. The horse was tired, too skinny and just plain exhausted after a long winter that Jared found himself slightly surprised that both he and the horse had managed to live through.
Somehow he'd lucked out right at the point when he thought it was actually over. Found a hidden stash of expired tin-cans and bags of milk and egg powder in a box buried in the back of an abandoned house in the woods, right under a freshly cut cross marking a grave.
No one ever thought to look in those fresh graves where the latest dead had been put to rest, and neither would Jared if he hadn't found a tin-opener just a yard away from the grave. Someone had probably buried his last rations in a rush and planned to get back and get them when the time presented itself but had somehow got held back.
Jared hadn't eaten anything that he hadn't shot or caught or picked in over a year and the cans that he kept in back-packs over the horse's flank represented a abundance of luxury that he hadn't had in what felt like a lifetime, but the security of carrying his food around scared him, made him paranoid and anxious. Every night he picked the bags of the horse and put as much of the content that he could inside the sleeping bag where he slept so if someone tried to take them they had to go through him first.
He rested in pitiful fits of sleeps, always waking at the smallest sound, and during the days where he sat on the horse he felt like he was inside a numb, grey cloud where nothing really felt real.
He'd felt that way for years.
Sometimes he tried to smile, stretching his lips into something resembling of joy, trying to make it feel normal, like it was something he usually did.
But smiling when you had no one to smile to was scary, and Jared stopped doing it after a while.
It wasn't anything he needed to do anyway.
Need wasn't anything that existed anymore anyway. You didn't need, want or wish for things.
You took what you needed and what you could and that was that.
Jared sat by the campfire he'd made for himself that night and didn't think, didn't dream. He wondered why it was never sunny anymore, why all the colours in the forest seemed to be in shades of grey. One meaningless day fleeting into another, one after one, making time impossible to tell. He was only twentythree but he felt like he was older than sin.
When the world had ended he had only been sixteen.
It hadn't been dramatic, in a way of sorts. There had been a few more nasty occurrences around the world, more material for the talk-show hosts and the news shows. But nothing overly ominious, nothing that stirred the jaded minds of Jared's generation more than necessary. But then a vicious chain of natural disasters had taken its toll of an economy already in downfall and people were slowly waking up from their induced coma of indifference just in time to see bombs raining from the sky. The health system imploded and diseases spread like wildfire. Rotten food, human waste mixing in water, vernacular diseases and plain old chicken pox and the flu almost wiped out the last of the human race as vaccinations and sterile water were almost impossible to find.
Jared had been biking home from school when one of the first missiles fell, and he'd stopped in the middle of the street, numb and strangely cold as he saw people on the street where he lived running around in screaming for their lives.
The sound of the bombs had been so defening that he hadn't heard anything for days. He just walked around in the ashes of his town watching people crying and screaming. He felt like he was was living in a muted film, lost on a filmset in a foreign country.
But that was a long time ago.
Jared stared into the flames of the fire, willing his mind not to think about anything, letting the memories that kept floating up to the surface take the form of old, faded pictures, stuck in a album he barely ever opened. And if he did, they didn't hold any significance, it was just pictures of what had happened to somebody else, another boy, another life.
Jared stirred the fire with a stick, making it crackle and watching fragments of glowing flakes of ember making their way into the sky. Stew from one of the cans was sizzling inside his small pot, making his mouth water. His daily meal. He hadn't wanted to use one of the cans, but he was desperate. If he tried shooting something that would mean he might waste bullets, not hitting a single target. That was a risk he wasn't willing to take. Bullets were too precious. But the traps he had set out hadn't given him anything and he needed to eat.
A rustle of leaves made him straighten sharply, reaching for his gun from the ground before any other coherent thought could make its way through his food-deprived mind. He was ready to shot anyone or anything that might advance through the foliage.
When a kid with dirty-blonde hair came through his first thought was young. The kid looked maybe fifteen years old, body lean like he just got hit by a growth spurth and his body hadn't caught up. Kids were rarely spotted these days, if not up for sale, folks mostly kept their kids hidden. His second thought was dirty. The kid was covered in filth and there was a thick pungent smell of fear, dirt and rain emanating from the pores of his skin. The clothes hung loosely on his body, like they had been borrowed down from somebody bigger than him, and Jared could see a painfully defined collarbone glimpsing from under his shirt, a tell-tale sign of starvation.
Jared cocked his gun and the kid froze.
“Where are your friends?” he asked, clipped and short and the kid looked up at him then, green light forest eyes focused on him and for a second Jared was caught off guard, almost lowering his gun before he checked himself. He hadn't seen eyes like that in years.
“I... I...what?” The kid looked skittish, eyes pleading like he had mentally prepared himself to beg and was forgetting his lines.
“Where are the people that sent you out as bait, and when are they coming out?
The kids eyes grew wider and he shook his head vehemently, bewildered, and Jared saw that he kept glancing at the food by the fire, not really picking up what Jared was saying.
“So you're alone?”
“Please.” the kid said quietly, edging closer and swallowing at the smell of Jared's food. “Please help me. I...I'm hungry.”
Jared snorted. The kid was too unskilled to be bait. “You really think I'm going to give you food for nothing, just like that?”
“I can work” the kid said hopefully, edging on desperate and his voice sounded cracked, unused like he hadn't spoken for days. “I... I don't need to eat much at all. I can help you.”
Jared stared at him in disbelief, unsure if he wanted to laugh or fire his gun.
“You're no good to me. You're a kid.” he said eventually.
The kids eyes were on the food again and his eyelids were heavy. Jared suspected if he forced him to leave he wouldn't get far. The kid was exhausted.
“So who are you running from?” Jared asked slowly.
The kid flinched and darted back a few inches, skittish as a cat. That's a yes on running then.
“You see I'm not real interested in getting killed for taking somebody else's property. “
The kid flinched gain, a small tremor in his shoulder, and Jared felt something close to sympathy edging the surface of his mind before he pinned it down again.
“I'm not owned” the kid said quietly, green eyes darting everywhere beside Jared.
Jared sighed. “Whatever. All I care about is that you get lost, don't really care how”
The kid looked up at him then and his mouth opened and closed, desperate to find any argument that would allow him to stay. “Please” he whispered. “Please”.
Jared felt his insides harden. He hated begging, hated it fervently.“You got nothing to offer. So get lost.”
“I'll do whatever you want. I can do whatever you want.” The kid was raising his voice now, edging closer on his hands and knees, basically crawling.
Jared raised his gun again.
“You stay where you are.”
The kid froze on the spot, fingers trembling minutely in the dirt.
Jared was suddenly unsure what to do. He didn't know what he wanted. For some reason he couldn't stop looking into the kid's eyes. Couldn't stop evaluating what he thought he saw there.
“I can do whatever I want? he asked slowly. Feeling something inside him surfacing that he didn't recognize, old forgotten things slowly floating upwards.
“Yes, yes anything.” The kid looked hopeful now, his eyes shining in the firelight.
“Come here then.” Jared said.
The kid hesitated, looking suddenly unsure, his eyes not meeting Jared's.
“Come on.” Jared said again.
The kid's eyes flew back up again, only to glance back down. “W...what do you want?”
“I'll tell you when you get here” Jared said, surprised at the deep tone of his voice. Surprised at what he was doing.
The kid didn't move, barely seemed to breathe.
“Come on now, I'm not going to hurt you.” Jared said and looked at him closely, evaluating every piece of skin, every possible hidden object beneath the clothes.
The kid looked up and moved closer but not close enough for Jared to touch, looking tense and scared. “P...please tell me what you want.” he whispered, his eyes flickering nervously around the campsite.
“I just want to touch you”
The kid shifted, looking nervous. “H...how...what do you mean?”
“Just come here. You want to eat? Then come here.”
The kid finally edged close enough for Jared to grab, a faint noise leaving his mouth as Jared grabbed his arms tightly, pulling him flush to his chest. It happened almost on reflex. Something told him if he didn't hold on to this one, he'd get away, scramble away like a wild thing.
The kid's breath hitched in surprise and he tensed, squirming in Jared's grip.
“Wha..”
The kid was breathing shallowly against his neck and Jared couldn't remember the last time he'd been close to a body. The boy was a scrawny teenager, hard against Jared, not soft at all.
“What do you want?” the kid whispered against his shoulder, shaking like he was cold.
“How old are you?” Jared asked.
“Fifteen” the kid said and Jared hoped it was true.
“Please...don't...what do you....” the kid asked again, voice barely a whisper like he knew where this was going.
“I want to be with you” Jared said and let the words sink in as the kid tensed even more in his arms.
Firmly he dislodged the unwilling form from his chest and held him about an armslength from himself so he could look him in the eyes. Glad that when the kid struggled he didn't stand a chance against Jared's hold. He was stronger, and that the kid knew it. For some reason that made him feel satisfied. “Do you understand what I am saying?” he asked. There was a good chance that the he didn't understand. A lot of people didn't know a lot about anything these days.
The kid worried his lower lip and looked utterly confused, mouth parting as he tried to think. Too hungry and exhausted to play a part. He squirmed in Jared's hold. “You want to be with me” he repeated but didn't look like the words carried any meaning whatsoever.
“I mean be with you like a man is with a girl” Jared said slowly, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Those words seemed to hit home. The kid shifted nervously in his grip, colour rising in his cheeks. He seemed both mortified and somewhat unbelieving, like Jared was making something up. “W..what?” he stammered, too flustered to produce a sentence.
Jared decided it was time to be realistic about the whole thing. Dragging it out wouldn't do any of them any good. “I mean I'm going to get inside you here” he said and grabbed the kid's behind with one hand, “like you're a girl”.
The kid's eyes grew comically wide as he tried to pull away without success as he was still in Jared's grip. He started stammering again, face flushed and unable to meet Jared's eyes. “B..b..but I..d..don't..”
“You don't what?” Jared asked.
“I...I'm not a girl”
Jared dragged a finger through his hair, exasperated. “I know. But that doesn't mean I can't get inside you.”
The kid wiggled and Jared let him loose from his grip and watched him edging away backwards on his hands. “W..what?” he asked, avoiding Jared's gaze.
Jared just kept watching him as the he looked down, struggling inwardly.
“Are you going to cooperate?” Jared asked, almost wanting to get it over with, feeling anxious and jittery. If he did it quickly he wouldn't have to think about why.
“It's wrong” the kid whispered gravely and Jared felt a small surge of something dark that he quickly pressed down.
“Why?” he asked in return.
The kid licked his lips, looking exasperated. “I...it just not....” his voice trailed off, and it looked like he couldn't get the rest of the words out. It was as though he was choking on them.
Jared felt strange, like the kid was hurting his pride somehow. “Look I'm not forcing you. If you don't want to eat then fine. Get out of here” he said finally, not sure what he would do if he did.
The kid looked at him then, eyes wide and mouth slightly open as he swallowed. Jared knew that it wasn't really a choice but he didn't care. It was the best he had to offer.
The silence dragged on for several minutes. The kid didn't move an inch, just sat and stared blankly in front of him, eyes dazed and confused.“Okay” he whispered finally, voice so low Jared could barely hear it.
“Alright then” Jared said and felt as though someone else had his voice, that someone else had his mind. “Lose the clothes”
The kid's eyes flew up and his hands went to his chest like he wanted to shield himself. Then his arms quickly dropped, like he remembered what he'd agreed to and slowly started taking of his shirt. His skin was frighteningly pale, bones in his shoulders too defined. Jared stood up and took the clothes he shed, and threw them in the clearing.
“You'll get them back. Relax.” Jared said as he saw the anxious expression on the kid's face. Then he went to the fire where some water had been boiling. He'd meant to wash himself later but the kid needed it more. “Come here”
The kid only hesitated for a second before he came a little closer to where Jared was sitting. Then he licked his lips nervously and glanced at the food by the fire. “I...I want to eat first” he said, voice trailing off in a pubescent squeak.
“No.” Jared said. This was his show to run. “You'll eat after.”
The kid flinched and his mouth fell open, conflicting emotions displaying in his features. He hesitated.
“I...I want to eat first” he whispered again, not daring to look directly at Jared.
Jared felt irritated. The kid was taking too long, making him overthink things. “Yeah and I said no. Come here or get lost.”
The kid continued to look at the ground and Jared saw a few dark bruises at his side, almost black like someone had kicked him while he was down.
“Get here.” Jared said and grabbed hold of the kid's neck as he advanced. The kid made a soft noise of distress as Jared dragged him close like a found puppy. When he had him in a tight grip he dipped the rag in the steaming hot water and then squeezed it over the kid's skin. The water was hot and the kid whimpered.
“I..I'm cold...it's too hot I can do it” he babbled nervously, only making Jared tighten his grip.
“No.” he said.
He washed him thoroughly, as the kid tried to keep his composure and keep from squirming as Jared reached parts that he tried to keep hidden.
He placed the rag aside when he was finished, knowing that he wouldn't get entirely clean until they reached a wider stream and watched as the boy shook from being wet and cold, hugging himself with skinny arms. “Please let me eat.” he whispered again like a broken record, still no looking directly at Jared.
“Shut up.” Jared said and took hold of the kid's neck again, preparing to dip his head in the water to wash him.
“W..wha..what no, what are you doing?” The kid struggled, jittery and scared and Jared could almost hear his heart beating.
“Washing your hair. Relax” Jared said.
“I..I can do it. You don't...”
“Don't worry I had a lot of practice.” Jared said and with a firm grip dipped the kid's head and soaked the hair, bringing him back up as the kid coughed and snorted, then started a lather with his other hand and started massaging it into the kid's hair. “Close your eyes” he said and the kid did, scrunching up his whole face as he drew shaky after shaky breath. “Take it easy.” he said then, massaging the kids shoulders feeling the slight tremors there, hushing him like he would a spooked animal. With the dirt washed away Jared could catch his scent, young and ripe and sweet and Jared wanted to touch him, see his own handprints on the kid's skin. Feel something.
After a minute he rose to fetch the leather-oil in the saddle-bag and in the corner of his eyes he saw the kid shifting to get up.
“Stay where you are.” he said and the kid froze again, limbs jittery and eyes darting everywhere.
The kid looked frightened and it made Jared's stomach squirm, but there was a deep-pulsing ache in his groin, an ache that hadn't been there for weeks on end, months. He wanted to feel good. He wanted new memories. He wanted.
Carefully he took a dollop of oil and grabbed the kids neck again to still him, turned him around so that he was standing trembling on all fours like a frightened mare. The he settled himself between the kids legs and grabbed his ass, parted the cheeks and spread the oil with his finger. The second he touched the small pink opening, barely visible in the light from the fire the kid gave an involuntarily high-pitched noise, and shuddered violently.
Jared dick hardened immediately and without thinking he pushed in his finger slowly as deep as he could go, making the kid yelp. He tensed up like a high-strung chord, shaking from Jared's hand. “D...don't.” he whispered.
He was so tight inside Jared couldn't move the finger at all, the sphincter clenching and unclenching around him in rhythm with the kid's erratic breaths and it felt like he couldn't breathe. There was no way he was stopping.
“Shh.” he said and tried to wiggle the finger around, but there was no give. He only saw the kid's fingers cramping in the dirt from the strain.
Jared took a deep breath and tried to gather himself. He had to be careful. Or the kid was going to get hurt. For a brief second he thought about adding another finger but after watching the unnatural form they would take together he realised that he would probably hurt the kid more than with the yielding flesh of his member. He unzipped his pants and placed a hand on the kid's hipbone, wanted to keep that skin on skin contact.
The kid was breathing more rapidly now and so was Jared. He was literally shaking as he withdrew his finger, then forced the kids upper body further down on the ground so that his ass was in the air, tilted at an angle so that Jared could see what he was doing in the light of the fire.
“Okay.” Jared said, to himself as much as the kid and placed both his hands on the hips of the smaller form beneath him, parting the soft globes, revealing that tender opening again. It looked pink and small and impossible for Jared to get inside of. Jared jacked himself a couple of times and felt all the blood leave his brain, making him faint and dizzy. He was barely aware of slicking himself up with oil, positioning himself near that hole that quivered before pushing into the shaking body beneath him. The kid made a howling sound and tensed like a rigid pole and Jared felt his breath leave him with a gasp. The kid made another hurt noise and Jared saw his hands tight on the kids ass through a blurry vision, holding the now struggling kid in place.
“Quiet down” he heard himself say and but the kid didn't seem to hear him, lost in his own fear and pain as he tried to scramble away. Jared brought his hand down hard on the kid's ass, leaving a red handprint, making him yelp.
“Quiet” Jared panted and the kid started sobbing, deep, hacking sobs that seemed to tear themselves out of the quivering body.
“I...I..can't do it. Please”
Jared didn't let go of his hipbones, but held him tightly in place, and parted the kids thighs with his own so that the kid was held in position, unable get any leverage to get up. The kid seemed to notice the hopelessness of the situation and gave a broken cry, scratching the ground in front of him with shaking fingers to find purchase.
“Settle down now” Jared said, his own voice calm and distant. He used his thumbs to part the kid's ass even more, gently pushing in those last remaining inches, getting fully inside that tight, impossible heat. The kid gave a wordless scream and went still for a second, back arching in pain and the whites of his eyes showing and then he desperately started sputtering out pleas. “Please...stop. Please stop please..I...I can't do it. Please.
The kid had craned his neck trying to make eye-contact and Jared stilled inside of him, giving him time to adjust. The kid kept saying 'please' and 'don't' and Jared shushed him, trying to make the blood stop pounding in his head from the amazing feeling of wet, hot, tight, perfect. He hadn't felt this alive in a long time, he felt somehow complete. Like somewhere along the line he had forgotten what life was supposed to be about and had just now rediscovered it. But the kid's pleas made his stomach squirm uncomfortably despite the haze of lust so he decided to try to make it better for the kid. He was probably just scared which made it bad for him. He couldn't be in that much pain, or Jared would be too. But right now he couldn't move an inch so unless he wanted to stop he had to take control of the situation.
“Stop struggling.” he said and grabbed his flailing arms, holding them tight like reins, elicitting a choked cry from the form beneath him as the kid's head fell to the ground.
“You know you're only making it worse.” Jared said calmly. “Now you said that you'd do this. Are you saying you don't want to eat?”
Half the kid's face was squashed on the ground and Jared could see his mouth trembling, snot and tears running down his face. Even then he looked beautiful, lips red and parted, eyes impossibly green and glittering with tears. The kid squirmed, clenching around Jared involuntarily and Jared winced from the tightness.
“I...I know I said I would do it but I...I can't. Please. I..can't...I don't want to do this anymore.” the kid pleaded in a light voice, sounding like he was coming apart.
Jared made a noncomittal noise and shifted so that one of his hands held both the kids arm while the other one squeezed one of the kid's cheeks hard. The kid cried out and his back arched even more, making Jared feel like he really was riding a bucking horse. Riding someone in.
“Easy.” he said. “You felt how you relaxed after you tensed, that it felt better? That's what you gotta do.
Right now you think you're relaxing but you're not and as long as you keep it up this is going to keep being a bitch for you.”
The kid sniffled and scratched the dirt on the ground, seemingly impossible to keep still from the pain.
“You gonna do as I say?”
“I...I can't. Please. J...just let me go.” the kid sobbed.
Jared started feeling angry, shifting slightly to keep his erection, making the kid whimper.
“Let you go? Where the hell are you going to go? You can barely walk, and you're so starved you'd pass out before you get anywhere. You wanna starve? Is that it?
The kid only responded with sobs and half-whispered pleases. It was like he was barely listening to what Jared was saying. Jared almost wanted to hit him. The kid was making everything difficult..
“You got two choices. You either cooperate with me and then you get to eat or I pull out and you get going. Now what's it going to be?”
The kid whispered something that Jared couldn't catch so he yanked the kids arm so that he'd speak up. “...'ll do it” the kid finally sobbed.
“Good” Jared said and slowly pulled out of the quivering boy, slicking himself up again and applying more oil between the boy's legs. “Now listen. You gotta relax and push like you're pushing something out and that'll make it easier for me to get inside. You with me?”
“I..I can't”
“Yes you can” Jared said and massaged the kids flank, reminding him that he could force him to relax again through pain. Then the second he saw the small hole open a fragment he started pushing inside again.
The kid gave a guttural moan, like he was choking but this time it sounded more like a normal sex sound. Jared had heard both girls and guys being fucked that way and knew the sounds could sound pretty brutal.
“Steady now.” he said and slowly started pushing out and in, the heat sucking him in tightly. This kid made a high-pitch noise like he was being castrated but Jared could feel the difference now. The kid's insides were slicker with precome and there was a slight squelching sound as he pushed in and out. The kid was almost adjusting. He held the kids ass steady as he thrust back and forth, shallowly at first and every time the kid clenched up to much he squeezed the pale flesh of his ass reminding him to relax. Finally he could move enough to pick up the speed, bouncing of the kids hips while the kid sobbed, making desperate moans every time he got all the way inside. It felt like his entire body was on fire, electricity reaching from the tips of his toes all the way to his groin and he couldn't recall feeling this way ever before, thrusting even quicker until it started to hurt and then his vision exploded in white and gave a guttural scream. Pulsing and coming and still thrusting as his entire body felt numb, tingling from the high.
He kept gasping and shallowly thrusting until he was completely spent. Slowly he pulled out, relaxing a little when he saw that there was no blood. He carefully washed himself off and then all but collapsed next to the fire. He didn't feel as he had expected he'd feel after. He didn't feel anything. Just kind of hollow like.
When he glanced over at the kid he noticed that he had curled up on himself, completely quiet, holding himself tightly as his shoulders trembled.
Jared let a few minutes pass and when the kid made no inclination to move Jared got up and reheated the soup he had made and poured some in a bowl.
“Come and get your food.” he said.
The kid didn't even flinch but stayed still, hiding his face in his arms. Like he was playing dead. His hair was still wet, sticking to the side of his face and the evening wasn't exactly warm. Kid was going to catch his death. Jared got up and put down the bowl next to him. “Eat your food.” he said slowly.
The kid moved now, only to curl slightly away from Jared without looking at the bowl. “Not hungry.” he whispered, voice sounding used and broken. Jared felt something stirring up inside, something close to anger.
“Eat your food.” he said again and now the kid looked up to him, eyes wide and scared and he slowly reached out to grab the bowl, pulling it close to him.
Jared went back to sit by the fire, and from the corners of his eyes he could see the kid eating painfully slow, each spoon trembling on the way to his mouth. When he was done he just curled in on himself again and lied completely still.
“Goddammit.” Jared said to himself. Suddenly he wanted the kid gone.
“Well if you're done you can go ahead and get going.” he said. The kids eyes darted up at that, and Jared found himself surprised of how confused he looked. Like he had thought that just because Jared got to use him he was going to keep him around forever. “I...I don't have a...anywhere to go.” he stammered softly.
“Yeah well I never agreed to keep you. Now get going.”
All remaining colour drained from the kid's face and his mouth closed with a noise like he'd been slapped. For a while he didn't seem to know what to do with himself. Just sat and looked at his hands in the dirt, glancing at his own naked body like he was trying to remember where his clothes went.
“Get going.” Jared said again and the kid flinched and when he looked up he looked surprised and ashamed. Like he'd forgotten about Jared. He hugged himself again.
“M..my clothes.” he whispered feebly and Jared got up and got them from the clearing, tossing them over where he sat. The kid just looked at them at first, and then slowly started to untangle them, putting the T-shirt over his head. Then he slowly got up, limping when he got to his feet, not really looking where he was heading. He looked wrecked, worse than when he had gotten there, like he'd been used and abused and then put away. There was something numb in his eyes.
“Wait.” Jared said and the kid stopped in his track, turning his head towards Jared. “Come here.” he said, motioning to himself and the blanket next to him, implying a place to lie down.
The kid looked confused, eyebrows frowned. “I...I don't understand.” he said.
“Sleep here. It's okay.” Jared said.
The kid swallowed hard and looked at the ground and then away to the forest. He didn't move and Jared could sense what he was thinking.
“Don't be stupid.” Jared said.
The kid's jaw was tense and you could see his inner turmoil clear as day. He didn't have anywhere to go, but wasn't sure he wanted to stay.
“Just get here.” Jared said and at that the kid seemed to deflate, shrinking in on himself.
Jerkily he made his way to Jared, flinched when Jared helped him scoot down so that his back was flat against Jared's stomach and then he laid perfectly still, stiff as a board. Jared noticed that his skin was cold as ice and had a sickly hue of sweat. Jared frowned at that and wondered if the kid was sick. He reached out a hand and touched the kids forehead. It was cold. Jared didn't know what was wrong with him. Maybe he was in schock. “Shh.” he said and held the kid a little tighter. “Shh.”
Three minutes passed before the kid broke down. Suddenly he made a sound like a injured bird into the night, scaring the horse, causing it to shift. Then he started sobbing violently like a child, crying with complete abandon shaking all the way down to his knees.
“I...I didn't...I can't.” he sputtered and Jared held him tightly, at a loss for words.
“Calm down.” he said, but the kid kept crying like it was the end of the world. And it was.
Almost ten minutes passed before the he stopped and even then it was probably because he was too tired to stay conscious. Jared couldn't tell if he fell asleep or simply passed out; probably a combination of both. He watched the silent form twitch in his sleep beside him and felt something unfamiliar grow inside of him, tangled up and twisted like the roots beneath a dead tree.
Chapter two