Chapter 180 (1/2)
Chapter 180
Deluge
”Dead?” Jack pushed Ruben aside and lowered hiuy hi And Jack couldn't feel the man's pulse His lips were blue and chapped, and his skin was cold Jack brought his nose closer to the ent s
Jack sighed and stood up
”What do you think he died of?” Ruben asked
Jack shook his head ”Dunno”
The three of them stared wordlessly at the corpse
”I reckon it's exhaustion,” Ruben said after a while
Jack raised a brow at Ruben
Ruben shrugged ”Dude turned us doe offered to give him a ride Must've ran all the way here Jesus Was he a ? He ran for like hundreds of miles and then decided to, what, climb the Himalayas?”
Jack rolled his eyes ”That shi+t doesn't even make sense, Ruben”
Maybe Ruben's brain wasn't functioning at full capacity because of the blood rush to his nether regions Not that Jack would blauy The chick they'd run into earlier was a total bombshell
”Okay, fine What other explanation is there?”
”Check his feet, Ruben”
Ruben crouched down and studied the corpse's feet Seconds later, he stood back up again ”So?”
Jack glared at Ruben ”Dude He's barefoot Wouldn't his feet be covered in, gee I don't know, some Goddamn blisters if he ran all the way here?”
Ruben suddenly looked sheepish ”Oh”
Jack ignored him and reached into the crack on the rock's surface He pulled out a large backpack The guy didn't carry e stick—which looked like a Bo staff—wrapped in a bunch of blankets, and a large water bottle
”dauy is nuts,” Jack said ”nobody can survive out here with so little supplies” Jack shook his head ”He didn't even have stuff to help keep hiuy starved to death?” Ruben asked
”Or died of thirst,” Jack said, then shrugged ”Or hypothermia”
”Jesus Christ…”
Jack slipped the backpack into the crack and stood up
”What do we do, guys?” Miss Liu Xia asked ”It's not like we can drag a corpse around with us”
”I say we put him back inside the rock,” Jack said, ”then call the police once we get back to base cah she didn't like the idea, though she didn't argue
”Maybe this was a planned death,” Ruben said ”Like maybe he caer ”He could be a murder victim”
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”Who knows, bro,” Jack said ”It isn't our place to speculate Let's just put hiet outta here”
When the three of the their way back to the mountain trail, Ruben sidled up to Jack
”Hey, Jack,” Ruben whispered
Jack looked towards his friend
Ruben see
”What's eating at you?”
The two of the them a few feet behind
”Ruben?”
”I don't know,doesn't add up” Ruben pulled Jack to a stop
Jack turned and raised his brows at his friend
”Think about it” Ruben jerked his thu a dead man back to life You'd think he's able to revive hiood point This whole sequence of events was just bizarre First, there were those mysterious clouds And then, there was that red flash, which seemed to have come out of nowhere
Jack shook his head and looked towards the rock again Miss Liu Xia was still trying to catch up to thelances at the rock once every few steps The wouy there in the rock
”You thinking what I', Jack?”
Jack turned around to face his friend He didn't like Ruben's tone And there was that falint in Ruben's eyes
”Oh, Jesus Christ” Jack huffed out in frustration ”If you say the word alien or UFO, then I swear to God I'd—”
”Look Just think about it, bro,” Ruben said, eyeing hihts? It all fits!”
Jack groaned ”For once in your life, man Just quit it with the Area 51 crap already Jesus”
Ruben opened his mouth to speak, but was immediately cut off by Miss Liu Xia's scream of horror
Jack swiveled around just in ti flat on her butt The wo
A split second later, Ruben screaaze and followed Miss Liu Xia's finger
B- But how? How's that even
The vagabond dude, as supposed to be dead, was now clih the crack in the rock
Jack shared a glance with Ruben
”Hey, don't look at me,” Ruben said ”You checked his vitals as well!”
Whatever Tiet their asses out of there Preferably now Jack ran towards Miss Liu Xia and pulled her to her feet
”Co to bleed theroar, which sounded as though soaphones siround and his hands rose instinctively to cover his ears A few feet away, Ruben started cursing and screarabbed Miss Liu Xia's ar towards Ruben, who looked like he was actually enjoying hi by the time they reached him
”Hah! See! Told you not to be too quick to dismiss the alien theory!” Ruben yelled over the loud roar
Jack glanced towards the rock, in front of which vagabond dude stood roaring at the sky