Experiment VII

Chapter Thirty-Six: Gone

      A fresh coat of blood sprays over me as the thunderous shrill of a gunshot goes off beside my ear. I snap my head up, my breath catching in my throat as two more gunshots follow the first.

     Blood trickles out of a gaping hole in the side of Rilo's head. His body crumples to the ground.

     Viktor fires three more shots into Rilo as scarlet liquid begins to pool around his corpse.

     The world suddenly falls silent, only allowing for the familiar sound of a high-pitched ringing to flood my ears. I grimace, covering my ears from the assault on my senses.

     I shudder, staring in horror as Viktor lowers his smoking gun. His features twist and contort in pain as a steady stream of blood drips down from his stump. With his last remaining arm, he unsteadily redirects the barrel of his gun toward my face.

     When the ringing begins to subside, my eyes widen as my arms slowly fall limp to my sides. None other than Daesung launches himself into Viktor before he can react.

     Already having been disorientated and having lost his footing, Viktor plummets to the ground, bringing Daesung with him. The butt of his gun clatters against the ground beside him. Daesung scrambles across the floor, managing to grab ahold of the weapon before Viktor recovers. He hastily raises the gun and holds it shakily in front of him.

     Viktor promptly pulls himself from the ground and lurches at Daesung with an angry howl.

     Daesung fires the weapon a second too late as Viktor knocks the gun out of his hand.

     Being hurled to the ground, Daesung cries out as Viktor's huge fist clobbers into him with inhumane strength. With sickening cracks and crunches Viktor's fist slams into Daesung's face, each time leaving it more of a battered crimson mess.

     Gritting my teeth together, I pounce on top of the larger man, effectively toppling him over. I let out a raw cry as my hands wrap around Viktor's neck. He gasps for air as his face begins to turn a dark shade of purple.

     A massive force suddenly bashes into the side of my head. My grip on Viktor instantly releases as the momentum knocks me to the floor.

     Pain explodes throughout my head as it pounds furiously. With the air knocked out of my lungs, I struggle to find my feet. Clawing my way along the floor, I make a desperate attempt to get to Viktor's gun, which lies a few feet away. Just as my fingertips brush the handle, a strong grip seizes my leg.

     I snatch up Viktor's gun just in time before he yanks me towards him.

     I throw one hand in front of my face to protect myself from his incoming volley of slow punches. Quickly bringing my other arm up, I shove the gun up into his gut and squeeze the trigger.

     His breath hitches, his eyes widening just before he collapses on top of me.

     My sigh of relief soon turns into a grunt when his heavy frame comes plummeting onto me. With a groan, I manage to shove his hefty weight off of me.

     The deafening sound of a mighty crash resonates throughout the building followed by an intense rumbling.

     Jolted into alarm, I scramble across the floor towards Daesung's limp form. Huge pieces of the ceiling suddenly come plunging down from above. I roll out of the way just in time as the pile of rock crashes down beside me.

     My breathing turns ragged as I scurry over to where Daesung lay, now almost completely covered by the fallen debris.

"No," I sigh in disbelief, only being able to make out a hand poking out from the mass of rocks.

     Kneeling down beside the heap of rubble, I desperately start lobbing hefty chunks of debris out of the way.

"Damn it, I told you to go back!" I bit my lip to stop it from trembling.

     My head wipes around at the sound of a deep rumbling reverberates from below me. No doubt the entire building will be collapsing in on itself any moment now.

     With reluctance, my efforts to clear the rubble gradually slow. This is pointless, but I can't just...leave.

"Sure you can. Leave. While you still can."

     My eyes dart around the room sporadically as my mind begins to race. I soon catch sight of Rilo's ghastly pale and motionless form. A wave of unease washes over me as I tear my eyes away. I turn my attention over to Viktor, or rather, to where he was. Only a disturbed puddle of blood remains where he once lay.

     Uneven footsteps approaching behind me steal away my focus.

     The limping individual emerges from the haze of smoke filling the corridor, making them visible.

"Axel?" Ellie's uncharacteristically quiet voice echoes through the hallway, her voice is little more than a hoarse whisper.

     I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. "Ellie? What are you...what are you still doing here?"

     Fresh blood oozes out from between her fingers. She desperately clutches onto her side as she limps over to me.

"It's not like I was gonna just leave ya." She coughs. "But we gotta get out of here now. The whole building's comin' down."

     My eyes flicker between Ellie and the pile of rubble behind me in contemplation. I give her a curt nod as I struggle to find my feet.

     She stops in her tracks as a look of unease settles on her face. "Is that...Rilo?"

     I nod. "Come on. We need to go."

A/N: Thank you for reading! I know it was a very slow update, but I hope you enjoy it now that it is here! If you are enjoying this story so far, please let me know in the comment section! Until next time.

-ѕиιρєявαιт