Time flew by as each day was the same. I woke up, got ready for the day, trained, and continued to learn the do's and don'ts of what being a runner here means. Niko and Kane eventually told me all the reasons why Astrid wasn't allowed to join them as runners. One, she disrespected Niko in front of me. Two, she said Niko's actual name which she wasn't supposed to do. They were supposed to go by letters. N, K, A. Niko, Kane, Astrid. When you're out there, you can't trust anyone. Your identity is one of your top priorities. They also informed me that when we go out on my run, that I make no decisions. That's the way it was with Astrid and how it will be with me. She just didn't listen. Three, don't act brave. That'll get you killed, in Kane's words. Be smart. Use your brain. Think of the consequences. Everything we do determines life or death out there. Especially when we are in a dangerous situation. Four, only use your gun if you need to. We do not want to draw attention to ourselves. And of course the ones that I've already been told.
Today was the day. My first day out. I would be going with Kane. Just me and him. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't nervous. I was going to have to prove myself to him and then Niko. I can't fail on my final trial like Astrid did. You see, it goes one on one. That way I will be able to see the different ways that each of them lead and how they react in a situation. It was also a chance to see how things are supposed to be done. I know that each experience will be different from the other. Why wouldn't they be? They are two completely different people. Maybe this would be a good chance to get to know each other. I knew I could get Kane to talk but would I be able to get Niko to?
There were so many thoughts going through my head as I was getting ready. I was mostly glad that I didn't have to wear that skin tight outfit. That was only for if I make it as a runner. I put on some leggings and a tank top along with my running shoes. I tied my hair up into a ponytail and walked out of my room. When I turned around I saw Kane in his outfit. He looked like an assassin in his. He had a face mask along with a hoodie. He had black pants and boots and what looked like and a leather vest that clung to his body. It was similar to mine but he made it work better. He seemed confident.
"Here, wear this." Niko said as she handed me a black cloth. "It's a face mask. Can't have you going out in the open just like that." she added. I slid it over my head and around my neck, Like Kane had his.
"We'll pull them on before we exit the gate." Kane said. I nodded and wiped my hands on my leggings.
"I'm ready." I said to him. He gave me a reassuring smile as he motioned for me to follow him. We headed to the armory next. The entire time Niko followed us. We grabbed our weapons and holsters for them as well.
"Here Kane." Niko said as she handed him a walkie talkie. "Just in case y'all need some help." she said. Kane nodded and gave her a smile.
"Ne t'inquiète pas Niko. Nous reviendrons sains et saufs." he said to her with a smile. Whatever he said, it clearly made her feel better. She stepped to the side and then Kane started walking. I gave her a small smile as I rushed past her to catch up with Kane. We walked all the way to the gate and waited for it to open. He looked at me and nodded. This was as serious as I've ever seen him be. At the same time we pulled our masks on. We slipped through the opening of the gate and quickly made our way to the car. Then we were off.
"Where are we going?" I asked him.
"Back to the factory. There were more supplies there, remember." he said.
"Yeah I remember, so it should be pretty easy huh?" I asked.
"Not necessarily. They roam so we might have to clear them on our way in." he told me. "City's are always dangerous, okay. Remember that too." he added.
"What did you tell NIko before we left?" I asked.
"You're a curious one arent you?" he chuckled.
"You made her feel better. Niko was really worried but when you said whatever you said she relaxed."
"It's always a risk doing this. Going out alone is a risk. This is basically the same thing. She was the same way when I went with Astrid. She's the better runner out of the two of us."
"Why because she's so serious?" I joked, intending to be funny but he clenched his jaw.
"She wasn't always like that. She was happy once. She would smile everyday. She was this tall goofy girl that everyone wanted to be around. When all this happened, it changed her. That's all I can tell you. It's not my story to tell. Just know that she cares. She cares for all of us. She shows it in her own special way but she cares. She sees something in you by the way. You listen. You push yourself to be better. She sees that, and I do too. It's something that the both of us appreciate. We don't see dedication in people like we do you. I can see now why she��s always hard on you. Just don't judge her too quickly. You only see what she lets you see, maybe one day you will see what I see." he said. He pulled the car outside of town, just like where it was the last time we left the town.
"No more talking from here on out." he said and I nodded. Silently we made our way through the town. We had our blades drawn out for safety as we made our way past the gates of the factory. We walked back into my familiar home and into the storage room. We once again piled as much food as we could into our large bags. Kane had brought two bags while I had my one. We made quick work with our bags and flung them on our backs once they were filled. We once again had our blades out as we walked out the factory. I knew all of our future runs wouldn't be this easy and I couldn't help but wonder what a hard one would be like.
I heard it before I felt it. The loud bang and then the piercing pain in my shoulder before I fell forward to the ground. Then there was another one and I saw Kane grab his arm.
"Find cover now!" he yelled and I quickly made my way to the alley near me. Kane had done the same but he was in the alley on the other side of the street.
"Are you okay?" I asked him.
"Quiet. No talking. We have to find a way out of here. Stay covered. Remember, the rules." he said and I nodded. At the same time we both turned and began making our way out of the town through the alleys. I was now at the edge of the town and I looked around the building to see if I could see this sniper that was gunning for Kane and I. Once I couldn't see anything I made a run to hide behind the cover of the many cars that were there. I quickly fell to the floor for cover and winced in pain. My shoulder was bleeding harshly now and I leaned against the car in agony. I had to keep going, I thought. Follow the rules. I slowly made my ways through the cars always making sure I was covered. Once I got to the edge of the cars, where our car was, I saw that it was gone. One or two things happened. Either Kane had taken it to get out of here or it was taken. I sighed and I immediately began running. I ran for my life. I still had my blade in my hand as I ran and didn't look back. It felt like I was running for eternity. My lungs were burning but I knew I couldn't stop. I felt relief, finally, when I saw the large gates of the sanctuary. I saw a tall, lean figure at the top of the gates and as they looked at me and then disappeared. I saw the gate open and Niko ran out. Once she finally reached me, I collapsed into her. She caught me without a struggle and I looked at her.
"Is Kane okay?" I asked her frantically.
"He hasn't come back. What happened?" she asked. Now was the first time that I saw any kind of emotion on her face besides anger. She was worried.
"There was a sniper. We didn't see him behind us. He shot me first and then Kane. Kane was okay when I saw him. He was holding his arm. We got separated. I thought he was here because the car was gone. I hoped he had taken it. We have to find him." I said to Niko.
"We have to give Kane time. We have to wait and see if he gets back to us. Right now we have to get you to the infirmary." She said as she carried most of my weight. We got past the gate and I felt safe. There were a lot of people following us, which ended up aggravating Niko. She was mumbling curse words under her breath as we were making our way to the infirmary. The door was being held open for us to go through by the people working there. We went in and Niko gave them a stern look, which somehow they understood. They closed the door before any of the nosey fellows following us could get in. They sat me down on a bed and Niko removed my weapons from me along with my bag. The doctor's immediately began working. They cut off part of my top where I had been shot and cleaned up what dried blood there was. Blood was still dripping out of my wound though so it was making it hard for them to see.
"There's no exit wound." the female doctor said.
"We're going to have to find it. Niko hold her hand. She's going to need something to grip onto." the male doctor said. Niko looked reluctant but she did it anyway. The doctors had gloves on now and I saw them pick up long tweezers. I felt them as they dug around to find the bullet. I let out cries of agony as I gripped onto Niko's hand.
"Found it." The man said as he pulled the bullet out of me. "You sure are strong. Most would have passed out from the pain. Much less run all the way here." he said. He was now in front of me as the other doctor was cleaning up my wound.
"I'm going to start sowing this up okay." she said and I nodded in reply. I felt the pain of the needle weaving in and out of my skin as she pulled the stitch through. As the lady finished sowing me up, she began to wrap me up with this white gauze. That's when Kane's father walked in.
"Mr. Verina." the doctors said in unison.
"What happened?" he asked as he looked at me.
"We-"
"Give me every detail." he added. I nodded and started from the beginning. And I told him everything, from the point we left the gate to me finding my way back here. He never looked at me, just looked down at the floor and took in every detail that I told him.
"Thank you." he said when I finished telling him everything.
"We have to go after him." I said.
"No, Niko is right. There's still time and we should wait to see if he returns."
"He could be seriously hurt! Whoever shot at us could have found him. What if they killed him?" I said. I couldn't believe that even his own father thought that we should wait to see if he returned.
"Please. We have to find him. Didn't you listen? He got shot! He could be bleeding out. He could be dead already!" I exclaimed.
"Stop Belle. We do things a certain way here, okay? We wait." Niko said. I felt defeated. I don't know what would happen if we lost Kane. I was done being wrapped up now and I made my way back to the house with Niko.
"Are you okay?" She asked me. She sounded vulnerable now. This is the most emotion I had ever heard from her.
"I'll be fine. Just a scrape." I joked. Instantly Niko's face went sour.
"It's not a scrape Belle. You got shot. You could have been killed. That isn't something that you can joke about Belle." she said as she looked me in the eyes. She has rarely done that which showed me that she was serious about this. That she was actually worried for my well being.
"I'm sorry, but I'll be fine Niko. I'm only worried about Kane. He's all alone out there. I just hope that he's okay and not hurt. We need to find him as soon as we can if he doesn't come back."
"You aren't going anywhere anytime soon. You need to heal. If he doesn't come back, I will go and find him. I don't need you going out there and getting hurt again." she said.
"You don't have a choice in this Niko. I'm sorry but you don't. I'm going with you whether you like it or not. I should have kept an eye on him across the street when we were leaving the town. We should have watched each other's backs. I have to be there with you when we find him." I told her and for a minute her face softened and then she looked at me and said one word.
"Okay." was all she said. She went and sat down on the couch and sighed. "You should get some rest. You've had a rough day." she added.
"I can't sleep. I'm not tired. I think I'm going to go up to the wall and look out for Kane." before she could say anything I walked out the house and made my way to the wall. I had gotten multiple stares from everyone around me. I walked up to the wall and saw Astrid standing guard at the entrance up.
"You're a runner. What are you doing here?" she said. She gave me a dirty look when I was finally in front of her.
"I want to look out for Kane. Let me up." I said. I moved to go around her but she blocked me off.
"No. You aren't allowed up here. Only wall guards are allowed up." she said smugly.
"Move Astrid." Niko's voice said from behind me.
"Niko, rules are rules. I can't." she said as she tried to seem tough, but I knew that it pained her to see Niko standing up for me.
"Move Astrid. I won't say it again. You know as runner's we out rank any of you. If she wants up then she can go up. Now move." Niko finished saying. They looked at each other's eyes, clearly having a battle with each other, but in the end Astrid ended up moving.
"Don't stay up too long okay. You do need to get some rest at some point." Niko said and then she walked away. I went up to the top of the wall and stood there. Hoping that any minute now, he would show up. That he would appear running down the road just like I did. Those minutes turned into hours. I was still waiting. One, two, three, four, five hours went by and still nothing. The pit in my stomach was getting deeper and deeper by the minute.
"Please Kane. Please don't be dead." I begged. A single tear rolled down my cheek as I continued to stare out at the space in front of me. The sun set and I was still waiting for Kane to show up. How long would they wait? I wouldn't have waited this long. They say they have rules but why aren't they more worried? They act like this is natural.
"Belle." I heard Niko say. I turned to her to let her know that I heard her and then I once again turned to the road. "Belle come on. It's late. You need to get some rest now. Tomorrow we will meet with Mr. Verina and talk about a search and rescue. I know you're worried and so am I, but nothing good will come from either of us being tired. We need to rest because what we're going to have to do isn't going to be easy.Please Belle,come to the house and get some rest. "She said. Once again she had so much emotion behind her voice. I gave one more look out to the road before I turned and began walking back to the house with Niko. She stayed close behind meI gave one more look out to the road before I turned and began walking back to the house with Niko. She stayed close behind me the entire time. It gave me comfort oddly. l had never seen this caring side of her.
"Thank you." I heard her say as I walked through the door that she was holding open for me. I walked into my room and grabbed clothes so I could shower. I felt like I was being watched and when I turned and looked, Niko was standing awkwardly in my doorway.
"Yes?" I questioned.
"Oh, um, there are bandages in the bathroom under the sink, so you can change into fresh ones. Just thought I would let you know. Um, if you need help or anything just holler okay?" she said.
"Yeah okay." I said as I gave her a small smile. She then proceeded to turn around to leave when I called her. "Niko." she turned and looked at me. "Thanks." A small smile crept onto her face as she gave me a nod and disappeared into her room. I wondered if she would always be this way towards me now, or if it's just because I was shot. I was able to do everything on my own and was glad to lay in my bed.
I was running, only it wasn't me. I was seeing through Kane's eyes. I could feel the burning of my lungs with each breathI took. With each step. I was running frantically. Turning and looking over my shoulder but unable to see who or what was chasing me. I just knew that I had to keep running. That I would end up dead if I stopped. Then bang. The left side of my body flew forward as my arm had gotten shot. I winced in pain but kept going. I had to keep going. At the end of the road I saw the sanctuary. I felt a wave of relief wash over me. Bang. Another shot. I felt the pain between my shoulder blades and slowly my legs began to slow. I began stumbling, determined to make it to safety. Bang. another one this time in my low back. I fell to the ground not able to feel my legs. I tried to crawl using my arms to pull me forward but I couldn't. I rolled over on my back and closed my eyes. When I opened them again I was looking down on Kane from the sky. Blood was already pooling around him as he laid there unconscious, bleeding out.
I woke up with sweat pouring off of me. I looked around my room in a panic trying to remember where I was. My heart beat was still frantic and my breathing was uneven. I flung the blankets off of my body and walked out of my room to the kitchen. I turned on the light and filled the glass up with water wanting to drown that haunting dream that will forever be lodged into my brain. I chugged the entire glass and sighed. Sleeping was never a good thing for me when someone was in trouble. I would be haunted with nightmares until I had closure.
"Everything okay?" Niko said as she appeared from the dark. Instinctively I jumped and grabbed onto my beating heart.
"Jesus. Did you have to scare me like that?" I asked as I tried to calm down one again. "What are you doing up anyway?" She looked exhausted and stiff.
"I was sleeping on the couch to make sure you didn't try to sneak out and go to the wall. You're very unpredictable." She told me. I didn't know if that was to be taken as a compliment or not so I just nodded my head in response. "Why do you care for Kane so much?" She asked. I looked up at her and saw her piercing eyes looking at mine, searching for answers.
"He was the first one to be nice to me and look out for me. He's my friend. And I-"
"You barely know him. Or any of us. We don't know you. Yet, you care for him so much. Would you care for any of us as much as you care for Kane if the roles were switched?" Her eyes had teared up and I walked over to her. She followed me with her eyes the entire way.
"Yes. I would. For you or anyone else. I was brought in here and given a chance to live with people. Not just myself. I am thankful for that. That's why I'll protect anyone here to repay what is given to me." She was looking down at me as I was looking up at her. Before I could register what was happening my body was pulled against hers and our lips were together. Her hand was cupping my face as she took control of the kiss. I pulled away from her, regardless of what my body and heart was telling me. In my brain I knew that she wasn't in her right of mind. I knew that she was upset and only needing a distraction. I couldn't do that to her. I knew that she would regret it afterwards.
"Sorry." Was all she said before she walked out of the house. She left me speechless, not knowing what to do from here. My lips were tingling and I couldn't stop myself from touching them. I walked to the window of the house and saw her sitting on the porch with her head in her hands. I wanted to go to her and comfort her and be a friend to her and let her lean on me. Her best friend was in danger and I know that she felt helpless. I sat down on the couch and sighed. That's when I realized that Kane was the one who held us all together. Kane we need you back home.