122. I Am Not Afraid!

One friend replied with a whimper of pain, “He didn't kill us, but he ... paralyzed us.”

“Did he intend for us to be tortured and die slowly?” another friend continued.

The group leader limped to his feet despite the pain in his legs. He replied, “If he was torturing us, he would have at least shot where it hurts. Look at all of your wounds!”

“He's ... just trying to make us unable to hold weapons or ... walk. That means he really doesn't want to kill us,” the leader continued.

Someone cursed, “Damn it! Why would he do that? Does he think we're not his opponents?”

The leader shook his head with difficulty, his strength drained from the pain, “I don't know what his intentions were. But ... he certainly didn't kill us. What his motives were, I don't care.”

“It's better to find a way to contact the commander! Hurry! We're still alive, but ... if we keep losing too much blood, we'll die,” the chairman continued.

In another area, about a few miles away, James Gardner had just received a ki