Great Bear Wilderness in our town the hangman came, smelling of gold and blood and flame

there'd been no migraines for days— urias clutches at the lapse of painlessness and normalcy. he hadn't felt this clearheaded in a while. if this is what everyone else feels most of the time, how come we haven't landed on the goddamn moon yet?
walking, running, breathing is becoming easier. the atrophy has stopped. it's reversing. soon, he'll be ready to go and look for tzila, really look for her.
he can be patient when he wants to be. even when his mind races at hundreds of revolutions per minute, he knows how to bide his time. the humming in his head, the humming of some supercomputer war machine, it subsides as he pauses.
it all seems so foreign, father.
right after he hears her, he sees her, and right after that, he smells her. the lank dark girl in the distance throws her head back and calls out. he waits, and as soon as he is sure there is no answer, he begins his approach.
who are you going to be today, urias?
clean-cut. awkward but courteous. he tries to catch her eye, jerks his head to the side as if saying i saw some game down there. he's hungry too.