"Hey, are you fine?" Zoey asked the moment Denzel began to tremble.
-It took place yesterday night, the 15th of August of this year. A man and his wife were seen dead this morning at Hintekins Street. The detectives in charge of the case concluded it was done by the Serial killer that's on the loose, M.D-
'Why M.D? I am right here, how am I still a killer at Hilldale?' Denzel thought to himself as he was disturbed about the whole thing.
"Hey!!" Zoey wailed to Denzel whose thoughts were clouded at that moment. She walked to Denzel when she received no response and shook him when she did, Denzel turned.
When he turned, she got a better look at his face and it was then it struck her.
"Hey, you... you and that M.D look so much alike..."
"What?!"
"Like the wanted posters around Hilldale, the resemblance is just so much alike..." She looked at Denzel's body from his head to his feet.
"Wait... you mean..."
"The only difference is that you are much more muscular than M.D, I knew I have seen a person that looks just like you."
Denzel's eyes were locked to her mouth as she spoke and she noticed it. He felt like he was done, he fell on his buttock. He didn't care about what he sat on, that was when he knew that his life was still in ravages.
"Pal, what's up with you, say something!"
"My... my... my name is Miller Denzel." Denzel stuttered as he spoke to Zoey, looking hopeless.
"Heyy, now you are telling me your na-," Zoey said, snickering at Denzel and she stopped, the moment she remembered the full meaning of the initials, M.D.
"You are Miller Denzel?"
"Yes."
"M.D?"
"Yes."
Zoey stood and shifted back, she was horrified, at the fact that she had been staying with M.D, and when she did, Denzel wasn't surprised, anyone would be scared.
"But... We were together here all through yesterday even at night," She said again to Denzel as she thought about it again.
"Yes."
"So how...?"
"It's all her plan," Denzel said as he stared at Zoey.
"Whose plan?"
"It's a long story."
"Denzel is it? I need to know I am safe." She said as she was still moving back slowly. She knew it made no sense, but she didn't want to wait till she realized what was going on.
"If you ask me, yes you are safe, I am not a murderer, any news you hear about me is a lie."
"How do I know if I can trust you?"
"It's up to you, if you want to believe me, then you should, if you don't, I don't really care."
Zoey noticed something as Denzel spoke, he didn't argue, he spoke as he had been through a lot and with the way he behaved, she knew something was not right.
'Well, judging by the fact that he has been with me here, that news makes no sense.' Zoey thought to herself as she looked at Denzel who cared less about anything that anyone thought about him.
"Denzel, could you explain things to me? When exactly did you arrive at Mountaly?"
"I don't know when exactly, I have no calendar or anything of the sort so I don't even know what year it is now."
Zoey put on her phone and turned the screen to Denzel for him to see the date.
"2053?! Like that's going to be two years now, how the hell have I even spent two years here?"
Zoey looked at Denzel and nodded her head as she spoke to him. She saw how confused he was and wondered how a person could live without a form of technology with him or her.
"You mean you have been staying here for two good years without even your cell phone...?" She said to Denzel and Denzel nodded to her back in reply.
" It isn't that hard, I got used to it as I worked out each day, I didn't even care about anything. The day just comes and go, and the moment the sun sets, I know that another day has gone by. At first, I thought everything was so slow, but as days went by,..."
"You sure do talk a lot, I didn't even ask you for your story in this forest," Zoey said as she shook her head in disdain. She took back her phone and kept it back in her bag.
"Wha..?" Denzel said, scowling his face a little to her and he felt he needed to keep shut since he had no reason to explain things to her.
"Earlier you said you arrived here two years ago right, if my guess is right, it should mean that you were still at Hilldale when you killed your friends,"
"I didn't kill them... You know what, think whatever you want I don't care."
"No one said you did."
"Fine, but still I haven't killed a single soul. I was just framed, and that's why I fled, with the thought that they would give up."
Zoey looked at him as he spoke, she didn't still understand a thing, but she listened to make him feel better. With the way he spoke, anyone would find it hard to believe he was lying.
"Denzel, I am sorry, but to be honest, I don't understand a thing you are saying. I might believe that you didn't kill them, but I still don't comprehend a single thing you are saying."
"Nevermind about my story, it's too much to explain it. By the way, what is the reason you came here?"
Zoey looked at him with one of her eyebrows raised, she looked flustered.
"I believe I have told you why I am here."
"I don't believe you, like why did you have to come all the way here to examine who knows what?"
Zoey hissed and positioned her hand on her forehead as Denzel spoke, she didn't know what else she would have to tell him to believe what she said.
"You know what Denzel, I am a researcher, an animal researcher, it's what I do, understanding more about animals. And since Mountaly has lots of animals here, I guess you should understand the rest."
"So that's why you are here, I guess I shouldn't have helped you kill that bear, it wasn't worth it, You basically walked to your death."
Zoey looked at Denzel for a second, eyed him and took her eyes off him.
"Denzel, I hate you."
Denzel took a look at her for a minute, raised his both hands and shrugged and Zoey hissed back jokingly.
"So does that mean we are friends?"
Denzel froze and his thoughts went back to the past and he recollected how much he wanted to have friends. He thought back to how he met Leia and how he wanted to be friends with her.
It was four years since he first met Leia and he could still remember what happened totally. He hated himself for what happened.
"Denzel?" Zoey called out to him the moment he froze and Denzel didn't answer her. He just stood, and soon a drop of tear came out of his left eye.
Zoey stood and walked to him as fast as she could, she saw him cry but didn't know why it bothered her.
"Denzel are you okay?" Zoey said and hit him, and he jolted. He was back and he cleaned his eyes immediately.
"I am fine, yes."
Zoey sighed and took her arms off his body.
"Are you really okay?"
"Yes," Denzel said and looked at her for a while. He saw that she cared, but he didn't want her to care. He turned back and went into his tent.