Escapism

(WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENCE TOWARDS MINORS THAT MIGHT BE UPSETTING FOR SOME PEOPLE. READER'S DISCRETION IS ADVISED.)

-Jacob…

-Tell me.

-Why are you covered in blood?

The kid reached my face with her hand weakly, wiping a bit of blood from it with two of her fingers. She stared at the liquid for a couple of minutes, staying completely still as her eyes got lost into it.

-Is this yours?

-Nope… It's theirs…-I answered as my hand pointed at a few corpses scattered by our side. 

Her head moved in unison with my hand, following its every move as she took a look on every single body.

-Are you alright?-she then questioned, wiping some more blood with her fingers and inspecting it.

-I guess? I think I'm just a bit tired.

-Then why don't you sleep?

I sighed and placed my hand on her head, messing her hair entirely as a gentle smile formed on my face.

-Want me to hug you while I'm all covered in this shit?

-I think I'll pass, thank you.

We remained silent for a while. Every single second felt like an eternity, and both me and her fought to stay awake, not wanting to leave the other alone. At that moment, as I saw her forcing herself to keep her eyes opened, I realized something.

-Wait? When did you wake up? You've been out for like 3 days. And I think Layla's just consuming herself at this point, 'cus she's been out the whole week.

The moment she heard that, her head rotated slowly in my direction, an expression of pure awe and disbelief displaying on her face. She squinted her eyes, attempting to say something, but every single time she tried to say something, the words just returned to where they came from.

-J-Ju-... How-... How…

-How what? 

-How is she still alive if she's been out for a whole week?

-I don't know, I ain't a biologist or some shit like that. 

-Yeah, but still, you're older! You're supposed to have learnt this stuff in school!

Once I heard that last word, an uncontrollable laughter escaped from my mouth. My chest heaved with every laugh, causing me to run out of air quickly. 

I placed my hand on her shoulder, marking my handprints on her clothes with blood. It felt sticky and gross, but if I hadn't used her for support, I would've passed out from the lack of oxygen that my brain had. (And also because laughing like that consumed too much energy, and that was something that I wasn't able to spare).

-What's so funny?

-Nothing…-I said as my comedic attack went on and on.

-Liar…

Right there, once she finished that word, she raised her hand and slapped my face. Even if she did it weakly, for some reason she managed to make my face sting. In response to that, I frowned and pinched her cheek violently, shaking her head from side to side. 

The kid groaned under my attack, following my hand so the pinch would hurt less. It was during those attempts of easing the pain that she let out a squeak. Not a scream, not a yell, a straight up squeak, like a little rodent.

The moment I heard that, another uncontrollable laughter attack quickly got to me. She pouted at my laugh, but after seeing that I wasn't paying attention to her, she quickly got infected by it. 

Somehow, this scene made it all feel so peaceful, even perfect I'd dare say. It was like despite both her and Layla being injured, just that little, stupid moment was enough to make it all disappear.

But then…

BANG

A loud noise quickly spread through the air, and in a split second, Kat's voice couldn't be heard anymore. I moved my gaze down, watching in awe as the blood flew out of her body and coated her shirt.

My head moved up, trying to look for the source of the attack, but again…

BANG

A bunch of blood droplets flew out of my leg and went straight up to the interior of my cape. Through the new hole that was made on the fabric, the cold air started to hit my wound, making it ache even more.

I rapidly reached for my back and brought out a throwing knife, preparing myself to attack as soon as the perpetrator appeared in front of me. After a few seconds of complete silence, a loud laugh emerged in front of me as a cranky old man walked out of cover (a tree).

-Finally!-he shouted out as he took another step-I finally got to you!

I tried to swing my arm and throw my knife at him, but the moment he saw my intentions, a bullet flew just a few milimeters away from me. I immediately understood what he meant with that, so I ceased my attempt and allowed him to finish talking. Still, a thought that refused to leave my mind came up as I watched him: Why did he seem so familiar? Have I seen him before?

-Now that there are no distractions,-he told me as he touched the hammer of his revolver-care to give me a fucking explanation?

-What the hell do you want me to say?-I grunted as I applied pressure on the kid's wound-You literally came out of nowhere and decided to attack us.

-Oh? Is that right?-he inquired with a sarcastic tone before removing the scarf that was around his neck-I'm pretty sure that you should have expected this attack sooner or later…

I squinted my eyes and focused on his neck, looking at a burnmark with a weird shape that he had on it. Even though his face seemed familiar and I couldn't pinpoint where I'd seen him, once I took a proper look at that scar, I finally knew who that person was.

-You really have been chasing me all this time over that small thing?!-I shouted.

-Small thing?! You literally killed all of my squad and put your red hot knife on my skin so I'd always get reminded of you.

-You ate my dad! What else was I supposed to do?!

The man covered his face and laughed hysterically, aiming his gun at me while trying to contain himself.

-You should've just let it go!-the man yelled before shooting at the pavement-Considering that we let you go after killing your father, it would've been better for both of us if you had just forgotten about it all and carried on with your life!

Once he let it all out, the man put his finger on the trigger and gave me a cocky smile before moving it. As my breathing became harsher, I thought of just giving up and closing my eyes, awaiting for my final moments to come. After all, the choice of leaving him alive was what led us to this.

-Hmm…-he said behind a smirk before pulling the gun down-You know what? I won't kill you, that would be really unfunny.

My eyes opened at the sound of his words, and as soon as they were open, all I could see was a boot flying directly towards my face. Due to the force that was put into that kick, I got pushed aside by a considerable distance.

I groaned in pain as I tried to recompose myself from the attack, and once I was able to get back on my senses, I watched a trail of blood in front of me. My eyes followed it to its source, and a big sense of rage filled my body when I saw the two motionless bodies walking away from me.

I crawled on the ground and picked up my knife, aiming it at the man who was getting further away with each second. In the same way as earlier, I attempted to swing my arm and hit him, however…

BANG

My own blood splashed on my face as a bullet grasped my arm, causing me to let go of the knife and fall on the ground while applying pressure on it. 

-Don't worry!-he laughed out loud while turning around to face me. He began to walk backwards before placing his gun on the holster, mocking me with Layla's and Kat's bodies before resuming his words-If you stay put like a good boy, I'll come back here and end you quickly! That way… you can be together with them!

I tried to give a final stand and crawl up to where he was. I didn't care how, I just wanted to end him.

My body however, had a different plan from my mind's. As soon as I tried to move an inch forward, I fell down, completely spent on the ground. My vision blurred as I saw his figure getting further and further away, and I could do nothing beside pitying myself in that shitty situation…