Fading Into Nonexistence

Faded

A bullet smacks the brick wall to my left, penetrating through it's surface. Max falls into our small wall with blood spilling from his arm.

"You're shot," I shout over the blasts and peer around the structure. Another bullet aviates past.

"Drew's dead," he yells whilst biting his lip.

"Whose left?" I reply and throw my gun over my shoulder to aim. The blasts echo in my ear as I hit only one of my targets.

"Andrew's across the way," he barks back and takes shots of his own.

"We have to retreat," I say with a breath and wipe the sweat from my forehead.

"What about Andrew?" Max shouts and takes another shot behind us.

"Listen to me." I grab his gun and his attention. "Get back to the copter, I'll meet you there." I reload my gun and brush past Max. "Cover me," I yell and run out from the brick structure. My eyes connect with another's just as blood ruptures from his head. I see Andrew's shoulder from behind a small pillar, he stands miles away yet I am almost there.

"Let's go!" I scream into his ear and grab him by the arm. He falls to the ground making me double back to the pillar. "What's wrong?" I pull his hand away from his chest. Blood seeps through his jacket and covers his hand.

"Just go," he expresses in a quiet, and strained voice.

"Like hell," I respond and wrap my arms around his waist.

"Shawn," he moans into my shoulder as I lift him up.

"You're getting to that helicopter," I manage through a grunt and take a glance in the direction of the landing site. Andrew runs toward the copter, looking back every few seconds. "Now or never," I whisper to myself and take the first stride in the infinite marathon to safety. A bullet glides past my ear and contacts the wall beside me. My feet trip on the broken bricks and I stumble long enough to let a bullet reach my arm. "Shit," I swear through my teeth and keep running. One step leads to two, then three. Four. "Come on." Andrew's body attains more and more weight with each step. Another bullet reaches the side of my chest. My left hand moves to cover the wound and my right barely holds Andrew up. I feel my warm blood flow past my fingers.

"Come on!" Max's voice booms into my ears and I feel him drag Andrew off of me. My vision begins to blur as I'm shoved into the copter and strapped in. "Both shot! Get us to a medic!" Max's face comes into my sight. Blurred with each movement, echoing with each word. "Hey." He puts his hand on my face. "Shawn." Max's hand is blood red and his eyes are blanketed in fright. Then he's gone, replaced with black. "No, no, no. I'm losing him!" a voice arises from the black. I feel pressure on my chest but nothing else. All I see is black.