The DEAD

and
The TRAITOR

(5 years earlier)

The man was sprinting under the rain, with a work bag on his head,
when I saw him. I thought for a bit and called out to him, “Sir! You may
not douse under the rain. Come here under my umbrella.” The man
came towards me and said in a squeaky voice, “Thank you!” I nodded
and asked him, “What is your name, good sir?” He replied in that
same squeaky voice, “ Mark. Mark Williams.” I held out a hand and
said, “Good to meet you sir!” He shook my hand with a smile. When I
looked at him more carefully, he was short and plump, and he wore
glasses. He was bald and he had red stains on his cheeks which I
suspected were from drinking. He wore a black trench coat, which was
wet and muddy from being in the rain for long.

As we were walking, we came across a construction site where we

were told that the road was off limits for all people. Hearing that I told
my companion, “Since the road is off limits, let’s go through the forest,
shall we Mr. Williams?” He nodded and we started towards the forest.

Along the way, it stopped raining and it started getting darker. The
trees cast ghastly shadows on the ground as we went deeper into the
forest. We heard the growls and snarls of animals, but I knew that
those animals would want to stay inside their comfy caves rather than
coming out in this cold weather. Once or twice, we even heard the
sounds of humans. There were many rumours about burglars and
thieves around this forest so we didn’t risk stopping and looking for the
source of the sound.
Suddenly, two figures emerged from the trees and soon enough they
had bound our hands and kept their knives millimeters from our
throats. Knowing that one small movement would mean death, I tried
a different approach. I said, “Listen her-” but the person holding me
interrupted, “No more talking! One more word, and you will drop dead
right here, right now!” Then, I got an idea. I managed to get out my
wallet and thankfully, the person holding me got the basic idea. He put
down the knife and ordered his friend to do the same. They untied us
and he took my wallet. I asked my friend to do the same, but he
looked at me and refused to give the wallet. I said, “Just give it to
them! Don’t you value your life?” He looked down at the ground and
then again looked at me with teary eyes and shook his head. I got
angry, “Look if you want to die, just stay here! I’m going to leave!” I
turned my back on the short and plump figure of Mark Williams and
went on towards my home.

(Present Day)

It was late evening when the door rang. I was awake and was
lounging leisurely on the couch. I got up thinking, “Who could it be this
late?” When I opened the door, standing at the doorway was Mark
Williams. I scrambled back towards my room, dread filling up my
chest. My tongue was frozen in shock but I managed, “M-Mark, h-how
are you a-alive?” He smiled and said in an unlikely raspy voice, “Oh..
How am I alive? Good question! But I am not. How would I be alive
when my friend left me to DIE!” He suddenly lunged at me, his hands
at my throat. I tried to take off his hands but they were too heavy. I
croaked, “M-mark! P-please leave m-me!” But he didn’t listen to me. I
tried to escape him but couldn’t. He looked at my squirming figure and
rasped out one last word, “TRAITOR!” Then, my body went limp and I
drifted into unconsciousness.
I didn’t know what happened then, I simply woke up in the hospital
with my family and friends waiting for me. I got home and since then I
was never the same. I used to love being with my family but the
incident made me want to live alone. I still suffered with glimpses of
that incident. I was suffering from what the doctors called Post-Trauma
Acute Stress Disorder. That incident scarred me for the rest of my life.
The incident where the traitor met the dead!