Compass Call: Survival & Awakening (The Gatekeeper Book 3) (64 page)

Mark wheeled his bike up the road and stopped next to the white man. Without checking his vitals, he knew the man was unconscious and would soon be dead. But Mark left him his pistol, as promised, on the ground next to him. He mounted his bike and began to peddle. In
a way, Mark was envious of the man, because he would soon be free of this troubling and disaster filled life of survival. Mark gave a lot of thought to taking his own life lately, but he wouldn’t, or couldn’t. Like all good Catholic’s, he believed suicide was a one way ticket to hell, and one hell was enough for him. But he also knew that when it came to death, he would embrace it like an old friend.

As for his desire to join up with John, he knew it was a long shot, but it was the only shot he had, or the only shot that meant anything to him anymore. When his girlfriend, Lisa, died while they were defending their house from gang activity, Mark was consumed with guilt, grief and then filled with hot anger and vengeance. She wanted to leave as soon as the ash started to fall, but he didn’t. There was too much holding him back, too much to protect. Now that he had nothing, he really didn’t care if he made it to Pete’s, or John’s, or any place else for that matter, as long as it was far away from San Antonio. He left a mess there, but the way he saw it, he was already dead. Now all he had to do was wait for his body to catch up.