Droplets of sweat surfacing on their skin. Their lungs asking for more air. Their feet crying for a moment of relief. The sounds of growling and their constant footsteps trailing behind them. The wailing and screaming of the townsfolk fading into the distance.
Zane glanced behind them; three chimera dogs running towards them at full speed with another two Rank 2 Apocrypha not too far behind. He was panicking they would be caught all over again. They hadn't even made it out of Ellijay as yet, the town was so secured with walls that there was only one way in and one way out. They had to find the main gate and get themselves out of there.
"Layla, take the gun!" ordered Elio as he tossed her the gun.
Layla fumbled as she tried to grasp it within her hands, "What? Why me?"
"I really don't like to kill things, even if they are Apocrypha. It's best you do it."
Layla narrowed her eyebrows as she got the gun ready to shoot. She came to a sudden stop and flung her arms around. Gunshots blasted through the air, every bullet hitting their mark. Their pursuers all hitting the cold asphalt lifelessly. She quickly caught back up to the group panting as if her lungs were about to fall out.
Nick whistled as he looked at her, "That's some talent you got their."
"I wish Elio managed to take Clement's rifle instead of just his handgun. This thing's out of bullets."
"Don't blame me! It got us this far didn't it?"
"Guy's save your breath... and keep running!" cried Almarie.
The gate was just up ahead. They needed to make it quick because the Apocrypha would be swarming it soon to ensure no one escaped. Zane grabbed onto Serenity's hand who was struggling to keep up with them. He didn't want to accidentally leave her behind.
Zane had however been putting enormous stress on his lower body. His feet were far from better. Adrenaline and determination was what had kept him going. He knew that doing this would have serious repercussions preventing his legs from healing properly but he had no choice.
They arrived at the large metal door. Zane rocked it with his body trying to get it open. It wouldn't budge. He glanced down to see a padlock holding the door shut.
"Damn it! Get this padlock off!" he demanded in panic.
Layla came forward with her gun. She began to bash at the padlock but it wouldn't budge. Her injured arm was complicating things. All it did was create loud noises giving away their position. The Apocrypha quickly caught onto them. They looked back to see a hoard of them running towards them like a scene from a horror movie.
"Don't let them see that you have a gun. Once they do they will return fire and kill us all." Cautioned Elio.
"Damn it! Layla give me the gun!" shouted Nick.
Layla quickly tossed him the gun. Nick used the gun and slammed it into the padlock with all his might. The padlock quickly began to give way to damage. Nick continued to slam the gun into it until it finally broke giving them a clear exit to the outside.
"Hurry!" cried Zane as he made sure everyone went through.
Layla grabbed his arm pulling him out with her aggressively, "Come on, you're not the one who should be doing that Zane. There's a time to look out for others and a time to look out for yourself."
Zane didn't dare to argue. They needed to get out of there before the Apocrypha caught up to them. They were probably in even more danger now that they were outside the gates. It was night time which meant Apocrypha numbers would be high.
They looked around desperately for anything they could use to escape. The blockade of cars, boulders and trucks across the front of the gate were their only options. A majority of the cars looked beaten up and unusable and same could be said for the trucks. Boulders couldn't be driven so those were definitely out of the question.
"Shit! Come on does anyone see anything we can use to get out of here??" bawled Almarie.
"Look! An ambulance!" yelled Serenity as she pointed behind them.
Their eyes met up on a clean box shaped ambulance in very good condition. The only issue was that it was blocked in by a few cars that surrounded it.
"Come on! It's our only shot!" proclaimed Zane.
No one argued as they rushed towards the ambulance. Layla as usual jumped into the drivers seat. Zane got in right beside her as she fired up the engine and flickered the headlights on. Elio, Serenity, Almarie and Nick all got into the back and slammed the door shut like something was about to jump in on them.
Layla slammed down the gas as the tires screeched against the asphalt creating a scenery of smoke. She slammed through the blockade of cars pushing them out of the way. Their bodies being thrusted forward with the constant impact. The gate then flung open as Apocrypha got their weapons out ready to shoot them down, Layla was however hoping they'd do this.
"Hang on!" she warned.
She drove forward slamming into them even forcing the gate shut knocking out one of the headlights. The Apocrypha screamed as the ambulance crushed them flat. The ambulance bounced up and down as it crushed the Apocrypha.
"Woo! That's what I'm talking about!" Celebrated Layla.
"Okay, I won't lie but that was our cleanest escape yet." stated Almarie with a breath of relief.
"Facts" agreed Nick.
"Still, we have no food, no water and no supplies. Everything lost... We're bound to end up in another situation like that again..." complained Serenity.
"Thanks for ruining the moment..."
"Sorry but it's the truth..."
Layla continued to drive in silence looking over at Zane. She noticed he didn't have the happiest look across his face.
"Zane? You're still letting it bother you?"
Zane sighed depressingly, "Well yeah... Didn't you see how the Apocrypha murdered all those people? If I didn't allow us to come here that could have been avoided... They could have still been alive right now..."
"Zane, no. That's not true. The moment those people made a deal with the Apocrypha was the moment they signed away their lives. It's true they could have still been alive right now but their deaths were inevitable anyway. It just came sooner because of us. If you ask me, I think we saved them from their false illusion of security."
"Yeah I guess..."
"I'm surprised you still care for a bunch of people who basically tried to kill us though... I sure don't feel remorse or sympathy for them."
"They only did it because they wanted to survive though... That's really understandable."
Layla gave a hopeless sigh as she turned her eyes back towards the road, "I did warn you that things would end up turning out this way after a few days didn't I? Trust me, I can tell we haven't seen anything yet."
"Man, I wish this year would move faster... I wish it was December again but it's still only January."
Layla smiled at him warmly, "We'll make it through, I'm sure we will... Is that all that's bothering you though?"
Zane raised his head slowly to meet Layla's eyes. He turned himself to look at Elio who was playing with Serenity.
"Elio was it? Where are you from?" he asked with a hint of suspicion.
Elio stopped playing with Serenity as he averted his eyes to Zane. For a moment Zane felt his intuition spike as if something bad were to happen. Chills ran through Zane's body like an electric current and he slowly felt like he was being caught into a trance.
"I'm originally from Chicago, came here with a group of friends on the run but they all got taken by the Apocrypha. I ended up stumbling upon Ellijay where they captured me as a sacrifice."
Zane felt his senses rush back to him as the words left Elio's lips. His intuition however was still going through the roof.
"Zane? You okay? You're sweating..." asked Serenity in worry.
Zane looked on himself to realize he was being washed in cold sweat.
"Zane? Is something wrong?" asked Layla in a serious tone.
"Uh- yeah... Elio, I hate to say it but I'm not completely sure I can trust you yet. My intuitions telling me somethings off with you..."
"Intuition?" he answered innocently.
Once again Zane felt another chill run through him like a drag race.
"Yeah... Like how do we know you're not a serial killer, child abuser or even an Apocrypha..?"
"Zane bro, there would be very little chance of that. Why would an Apocrypha help us out? They literally had us. It would make no sense." defended Nick.
"I don't know... I guess you're right though..."
"No, it's okay. I can show you my blood if you like. I wouldn't want to create any trust issues among us now."
Elio reached into a medical drawer in the back of the ambulance and pulled out a medical knife. He used it and slowly slit the skin on his right arm. Suspense drifted through the air as they awaited the blood to surface his skin. It felt like an eternity of waiting but red blood finally came into view.
Everyone took a deep breath of relief as they released their apprehension.
"You still feel something's off Zane?" Inquired Layla.
"Well yeah but it's just that I feel strange around him... I don't know how to describe it..."
Elio placed his finger to his chin as he looked into Zane's eyes, "Well I think I know why you might feel that way around me. I was deemed a bit crazy back home. It's hard to describe but one moment I'll be completely calm then the next I'll be off doing something extremely strange. A lot of people feel uncomfortable when they are around me due to this."
"Ohhh" said everyone in sync putting the pieces together. His behavior in intense situations did seem really out of the ordinary. He was calm and composed and smiled continuously as if nothing was wrong. They would be lying if they said it didn't creep them out even a little bit.
"Don't worry though! I'm not the super intense person who waves a knife around like a mad man trying to kill people! I promise you!" he replied with a bit of irony as he gesticulated with the medical knife in his hand.
"Oh good then... Alright that's all fair enough. I guess I'll trust you for now... welcome to the team."
"Ohhh yayyy! Thank you for having me!"
Oddly enough, as soon as Elio replied, Zane felt his intuition dissipate as if it was never there to begin with.
"So where are you guys planning on going?"
"The Caribbean to find a deserted island we can live on."
"OH! Isn't that like risky though? Since the Apocrypha can track you?"
"Well yeah, but Apollo promised not to reveal our location too easily to make the game more fair."
"I see! It's kinda lame how you almost died back there... Humanities final hope almost lost in a mere instant!"
Zane didn't reply as he still felt guilt. He knew Layla told him not to beat himself up too much but his one action of kindness almost got them killed on more than one occasion. Little did he know this same mistake would come back to haunt him a lot further down the line.
"How much gas does this thing have by the way?" inquired Nick.
Layla glanced down at the needle. She was so caught up in the moment that she had completely forgotten gas was a thing. Thankfully, the gas needle was pointing to full which meant they wouldn't need to stop for gas anytime soon.
"We're good, not something we gotta worry about anytime soon."
"That's good to hear..." sighed Almarie as she got herself in a sleeping position. She laid her head on the lap of Nick trying to find some comfort.
The back of the ambulance wasn't very spacious. There were built in metallic seats covered in cushions on either side but they were very uncomfortable. The drawers and cabinets also consumed a bit of space. The only free spot was a stretcher that was in the middle of the ambulance.
"Zane bro, wanna use this stretcher to help soothe your legs?" asked Nick in concern.
Zane looked over to Layla whose eyes were glued to the road. For some reason he found himself wanting to stay by her side.
"Nah, it's okay. I think I'll stay here beside Layla. Serenity can have it since she's the youngest."
"Oh, thank you Zane!" she accepted as she climbed on the stretcher comfortably.
Layla looked at Zane from the corner of her eye, "What's this? Don't wanna leave my side now?"
"Nope, I think you're safer next to me."
Layla laughed, "There's no fun in teasing you if you answer me like that you know!"
"Exactly!"
Layla stopped laughing as she saw a small figure in front of them in the darkness. She squinched her eyes to get a clearer view but was unable to decipher what the figure was.
"What is it?" asked Zane getting himself on guard.
"I don't know but hang on just in case it's an Apocrypha."
Everyone got themselves up on guard. Layla got ready to swing the ambulance around the figure until she got a clear view of what it was. Her eye's widened in horror to see a 7 year old boy standing in the middle of the road. He had bright blue eyes and shaggy black hair. He looked extremely similar to Zane.
Layla glanced over at Zane who too looked extremely confused.
"I'mma run it over! It has to be an Apocrypha!"
"Wait! Layla what if he's really a kid!"
Layla sank the gas pedal ignoring Zane's remark. She didn't want to take the risk. There was no way a little child could be out in the dark at this time of night. It was just absurd.
"Layla! Wait please! L-Look!" demanded Zane trembling.
Layla hissed as she slammed her foot into the breaks reluctantly. Zane had a very awful expression across his face as if he was looking at a ghost.
"What is it?? It has to be an Apocrypha Zane!"
The others looked from behind to see the child in the road. To their surprise Zane trembled as he looked at the child in front of them. He pressed his face against the windshield as his breath condensed onto it. The next words that left Zane's lips paralyzed Nick and Layla in shock;
"Mason..?"