Chapter 8 - Depth Perception (Kane)

Damn, I'm running out of breath ...I can't stop, not yet,

I have to keep running.

My throat feels like needles after breathing in all of that smoke.

I kneel down on the ground, sweating and out of breath.

"DAMN IT!!, you stupid old man!" I yelled in frustration

"You had to go get yourself killed, what am I gonna do now."

I thought to myself

My charred hand pressed against a dark oak tree,

The small chips of bark sinking into my hand

"Damn this hurts… I don't know where to go." I said to myself

Then I heard footsteps behind me, the footsteps were awkward

As if they were limping.

I looked behind me to see a kid my age with an expressionless face,

Blood across his cheeks and forehead, and a fierce cut down his side, and chest.

He reached his hand out to me as it quaked and shook from pain, and fell to his knees again shortly after.

"Hey what happened to you!" I yelled towards him

I received no response his hands pressed against the ground

below his knees.

"I don't have time for this." I thought to myself,

as I turned to keep walking in the other direction I heard his weak voice once more.

"Don't….. Leave…. Please." the kid said as he gasped for air

I walked over to him slowly, my legs were unbelievably sore

, every step burned with a sharp pain that I've never felt before, but I kept moving

I grabbed the top of his head and lifted it so he can see my face

"Give me one reason why I should help you, by the looks of it you don't

have long, so if you want my help you better talk," I said to him

"I'm sure you don't know where to go…. Just like me….. I think we're even

And I'm the only person you got right now that isn't trying to kill you….." he said out of breath as I let go of his head

"Fair enough, don't expect me to carry you or anything… here put your arm over my shoulder." I said as I pulled him to his feet

"Thanks….asshole," he said as he passed out

"Hey what did you….. Damn it I knew you would pass out on me, damn infant." I said to myself

I looked ahead to the forest I was walking too. I remember when my dad was alive he would take me into the forest when he was off of work.

There was a beautiful river there, and a small cave we would both camp at for the long and silent nights.

My dad was kind and a good influence as well, but when he died, the bitterness of my grandpa wore off on me, helping this kid out is probably the nicest thing I've done for anyone in years since my dad's harsh passing onto the other side of life...

"Alright it's time to get moving, maybe you and I have a chance to live if I can make it to that damn cave," I said to myself

I took my torn and bleeding handoff of the tree and put his other arm over my shoulder.

I proceeded to take a deep breath and slowly began to walk forward, I took count of each step. That way the count would somewhat distract me from the ruthless pain shooting through my organs.

"1….2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10...18...….32.....53," I said to myself breathlessly

"Damn it if you weren't on my fucking back this would be way easier you know that," I said bitterly knowing he couldn't hear me anyway

I could hear it, the beautiful sound of the water flowing through the river,

splashing gently over the rocks.

A slight smile formed on my face, but that quickly turned to a frown as I realized I would have to cross the river to get to the cave.

"Well fuck, I didn't plan on this did I… Maybe I should just leave him." I thought to myself

"Fuck it, I can't leave him, maybe he can be of use to me later." I thought to myself again as I felt blood trickling down my back.

"Shit your bleeding more than before," I said out loud

I slowly removed him from my back and kneeled down laying him onto the hard ground,

The bleeding from his side wounds seeping into his already dirt-stained shirt.

"What in the hell did you get yourself into," I said as I looked around for something that could patch him up

"Clay... I need clay, that could help his wound." I looked over towards the river and limped to the dirt under it, I dug rapidly with my hands, opening recently closed wounds once again, the water cooling the burns and easing the intense pain.

I dug more and more till I reached a layer of clay, grabbing it from the ground and throwing it over to where the kid laid, he laid silently as if without a pulse. I didn't have much time before the wound would become infected and he would start to gain a fever.

"Don't worry buddy, this should help you," I yelled as I ran out the water splashing it across the dirt.

I lifted his stained shirt and rubbed the clay into his open wound.

His face pale from blood loss, I need something to place over the wound

And the clay.

I reached for leaves and used 3 stems to tie the leaves across his waistline

"Alright time to get back up buddy," I said as I grabbed his arm and placed it over my shoulder again

I pulled him past the river with me.

It felt like I was walking for hours when we finally made it to the dark, and gloomy cave I couldn't feel my legs anymore. It had gone numb from the constant strain on my nerves and muscles.

"You better have been worth saving," I said as I laid him down on the cold floor of the cave.

The moonlight shined into the cave as It began to rain.

I listened to the falling droplets and laid back shutting my eyes.

"If I don't wake up tomorrow, then I'll rain hell in the afterlife." I thought as I fell asleep….

"Hey wake up!" I heard muffled

I forced my eyes open in fear before my vision could focus. I felt a rough hand lay on my shoulder.

I quickly lunged forward and grabbed him by the throat.

"Who are you?" I asked forcefully

Then my vision was clear

"It's only me, calm down, my name is Kenneth by the way, what's yours?." Kenneth said

"Kane… Kane orkosi.��� I say as he reached his hand out to me

"Thanks for patching my wound, the clay idea was pretty smart, it's all healed now, seems your wounds

Have healed too, look." He said pointing to my hands

I looked down at my hands in disbelief they were perfectly fine, just a few scars left behind, as for my arms and legs I was still painfully sore.

"Here I'll help you up," he said

I took his hand as he helped me to my feet.

"I think it's about time we leave here, but before we go I need to know who you really are," I asked in curiosity

"My family worked with the resistance, and I happened to be a part of the war on the hills, I'm the only one alive now," Kenneth said with his head down.

"Your family worked with what?" I snapped back

"The rest-."

I grabbed him by the throat before he could finish his sentence.

"Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you," I said in hatred

His eyes glowed yellow in retaliation as he grabbed my arm

"I would calm down if I were you, after what I went through I won't hesitate to kill you even if you're the reason I'm still alive, you understand?"

He pulled my arm from his neck and pushed me away.

"Oh come on, I'll let you have the first hit and I bet I'll till end you?" I replied

He proceeded to pull a bloody tanto from under his shirt, it was definitely used more than once, the blood still dripping down it, it was thick not blood from just one man, but from many.

"You don't want to do this." He said calmly

I stepped back and looked around the cave, I eyed the heavy rocks laying on the floor.

I changed stance quickly running towards one of the rocks, but before I could get to it Kenneth had dived in front of me and calmly swept my legs as if he had the experience of 100 battles.

He rolled over my stomach and laid me onto my back, ruthlessly slamming his elbow into my face.

At that moment I felt a surge of power, I grabbed his arm and intensely threw him behind me hearing the bones in his arms creak from the force of the show.

He roughly tumbled down to the cave entrance, quickly getting to his feet once again, the light shining past him turning him into a dark figure.

All I could see of him were his golden eyes shining brighter than the light gleaming past him, as if the light of his eyes were burning into mine, I could feel his emotion through the light, he was serious, and every inch of my body could feel it.

"I tried to give you a chance but now you've given me no other options, I'll have to put you down and restrain you." He said calmly

as he walked out of the cave

"We'll continue our fight out here." He said disappointedly

I impatiently ran behind him ignoring his words and grabbing the back of his head pushing downwards, he quickly ducked impeding my balance, afterward slamming into my already fragile ribs with his elbow, the force as if a sledgehammer slammed into me, how is he this powerful, then reaching for my left arm he threw me over his back and proceeded to lock my arm with his legs.

"This is the last chance I'm giving you to stop fighting, after this, I'm knocking you out cold." He said

I felt a surge of power flow through me.

"Die!!" I yelled

As I grabbed his left leg with my right arm with a thirst for revenge, he panicked, releasing his hold granting me the perfect opening to strike.

I punched deep into his stomach with my right hand, ducking my head under as I did so making sure to leave no openings for one of his attacks. He let out a gasp for air as he reached for my head and pulled me down.

"The hell are you doing!" I yelled

He then let go of my head and instantly before I could react nailed his right knee into my left temple, he then forcefully pushed me off and threw me into the river.

As I stood up I began to feel water rising around me

As I looked to Kenneth he closed his hand into a fist

And water wrapped around me with a crushing force

Knocking all of the breath out of me.

Therefore I instantly began to drown, I struggled but the force was too strong to break out of.

And within a minute of panic and struggle my vision went black.