The Angel's Humanhood

16. Once Upon a Junkyard

"The girl and the buff boy is good money. The skinny one, they wont take," a thick woman said to what seems to be her male twin.
Wahag, Dow and Prince were in shackles. Prince was relentless at trying to break out of them which earned him few good kicks and slaps from the horror duo.
They reminded Wahag of all the humans followed and counted their sins, and he wanted to tell Prince that they were the type that was bound to make plenty of mistakes, but he didn't want to get a share of the beating. He knew that this body didn't have the resilience that Prince had.
If you want a body that is weak, your wish is my command.
Wahag's heart picked up speed, he started to sweat and stomach started to turn.
I want a stronger body, not a weaker one, Wahag thought.
I am so weak; I will be everything you believe I am.
Wahag was shocked to hear one of God's laws of nature spoken by the body. God himself told humanity that he will always meet the expectations of humanity no matter how high.
I am sorry. You are resilient and quite strong considering everything you have been through.
He started to feel better, but he felt the body threatening to give him hell if he crosses that line again.
Prince was getting another round of punches, and it was starting to leave bruises on his face. Wahag's heart sank, but before he could do anything, Dow threw herself in the middle which blocked a few of the blows. She fell to the floor, with the woman mercilessly kicking her every which was she could.
Prince was about to throw himself back into it, but Wahag grabbed him, "Stop, you are only making it worse," He whispered urgently.
Prince pushed Wahag off,  "coward!"
"And you are such a mud head!" Wahag fired back.
"Don't you mean sh** head?" The woman was now giving the argument full attention, and the man joined in staring at Wahag.
"No, I meant mud," Wahag looked very uncomfortable with her profanity.
The woman's belly started to jiggle with a laugh, and she burst into laughing. "What a wuss!" She started to slap her knees.
"Wait, wait, let's get some booze into him and see what he does," the man interjected.
Wahag's face lost color, "No, thank you."
The woman was laughing so hard that she had to squat and the man was wiping tears from his eye.
"I don't see what's so funny," Wahag added genuinely. The woman who was regaining some composure fell over laughing and the man was holding her arm trying to get her to stand and failing through his own laughs.
Wahag was busy feeling offended at the hyena laughter when Prince's foot came flying and landed a kick in the man's face that knocked him out landing on the woman. He landed on her with a thud, and she yelled and cursed. Dow, whose hands were too small for the shackles, slipped out and grabbed the keys from the man's pocket.
The three were quickly on the run leaving behind, a shackled duo from hell. One was still cursing and the other still unconscious.
They all ran, till they reached a clearing that seemed safe enough for them to pause to regroup, "That wasted a lot of time," Wahag said between heavy breaths.
"Sorry, your majesty!" Dow replied absently. She pulled her shirt up to reveal colorful bruises. Wahag unconsciously turned away feeling a lump form in his throat.
"We barely stepped foot in the village and you're already hurt," Prince grabbed onto Dow's arm, "We need to go back!" he declared as he started pulling Dow's arm towards the woods.
"Prince, let go of me," Dow struggled against his grip, but he tightened his hold on her, "Wahag will die if we don't get to the caves!"
The words stopped Prince in his tracks, and Dow yanked her arm out, "We have exactly four days," she added.
"You will die before we even get there. He is not worth it."
"When did you start deciding who deserves to live or die?" Dow's words carried a meaning that they both seemed to understand.
"Then, you go back and we continue," Prince challenged her logic.
"It doesn't work that way. I have to be with him," Dow rubbed her arm where Prince grabbed her. Wahag, who was watching silently, felt something burning in his chest. He wished he was strong enough. He wished he could overpower Prince. He couldn't understand where these thoughts were coming from, but they kept growing like a wildfire in the middle of summer.
"You always have to save everyone, don't you!" Prince's chest was rising higher with every breath, "You don't even know anything about this guy!" Prince's voice got louder and Wahag wished Dow would pull her signature knife at him, but of course she didn't. He realized then that she probably cared about Prince way more than she cared about him. And that annoyed him even more.
"Prince, you have to trust me on this one," Dow met Prince's eyes.
Wahag stomped as hard as he could, "You can go back and figure out how to fight the hounds yourself," Wahag was aware that he was being irrational, but he couldn't stop the words from flying out of his mouth,"I don't need either of you!" Wahag stormed off without thinking of the direction.
"You heard him!" Prince blocked Dow's path.
Dow pushed Prince aside, "Wahag, wait! You don't know where you are going!"
Wahag's chest ached with the fire burning inside and he didn't notice that he was walking up a hill. He suddenly found himself surrounded by a ghost town filled with buildings threatening to hug the ground. Dust clung to the air and something smelled funny. Wahag froze in place. And before he could turn around he heard a loud rattle that shook the ground.
RUN NOW!!