Into the Shadows

Chapter 6

Dawn POV

I watch Mazo sink into his cot and sleep seemed to finally overcome him. He was a real pain in the ass and he made the dumbest decisions one could make especially for an assassin. Yet no matter how bad it got, he was still the closest thing to family I had and the thought of losing him tonight scared me more than anything I had ever experienced in my life. I have so many questions and not enough answers to go along with them. Who were those guys? Who sent them and what did they want with Mazo? How am I going to get into contact with Ember again after she disappeared and will most likely be miles away from these attacks. If she made it without being captured or killed. However, she was going to have to be a problem for another time. I just hope she is doing ok. 

I take up a watch just near the entrance in the floor. Sunrise will be upon us soon and we will need to move quickly. It'll be very difficult given the condition Mazo is in, but he did not have a lot of time left and people will be asking questions if they see him bloodied up and in pain. His associates place is three miles west of here tracking towards the far outer wall. While the Outer city isn't safe by any means, we were definitely heading towards the so-called unfriendly parts of town. I let myself sink into the corner of the room and start to drift into the night.

A light touch on my shoulder startles me and I jolt awake. I quickly unsheathe my knife and glance up to see Mazo had awaken from his sleep and dragged himself towards me. A light trail of blood followed behind him. I lower my blade and let out a soft sigh, "You can't just sneak up on me like that. I could have cut you and judging by the looks of it, your cuts have already begun to open up from you moving and not doing what you were told."

He looks at my knife, then at the blood, and smiles at me, "Don't worry about me, I have been through far worse than this. I was calling out your name but you seemed to have fallen asleep and you were snoring so loudly. Anyone could have snuck up on you hun." 

My eyes roll back when he says that. "Could you please stop calling me stupid nicknames? You know it gets on my nerves when you say stuff like that." My eyes shift towards the entrance of our hideout. "Besides, we have more important things to worry about then your horrible sense of humor. Oh and I do not snore!"

Mazo dramatically acts like he has been stabbed in the heart. "Ouch!" He says with a sarcastic tone, "That might be more painful then anything I have endured in my life. Hitting me right where it hurts. You might as well have stuck your knife into me personally." He says as he lets out a raspy laugh and then proceeds to mock me by snoring.

I give him a side-eye and tease back at him, "Maybe you are right. That can be arranged for you... hun." While his sense of humor really gets to me and he can get into trouble with it on more than one occasion, I like to mess with him back every once in awhile just to keep his ego in check.

I stand myself up and walk to the shelves in the back of the room. It's half filled with rusted food cans and old bottles of alcohol. I open up a can and the aroma that fills my nose is strong and disgusting. I almost gag on the smell of old tuna, but I haven't eaten in two days and we are going to need all of our strength if we are going to get through this. 

Mazo gawks at me in disgust as he smells the can I have just opened up. "Please tell me we are not going to put that anywhere near our bodies," he gags out loud. 

I take out a piece of tuna as my stomach almost hurls itself, "Hey, it's not my fault you haven't stocked this place up with proper food in months." I toss him another can off the shelf along with a bottle of cheap whiskey. "At least we can have the luxury of washing it down with some delicious alcohol. Now eat up, we have a long day ahead of us and you are going to need all of your strength.

Mazo groans as he opens up his can of tuna. "Ugh I would rather be dead right about now." He chokes down the can of fish and drowns himself in his whiskey. "I already feel dead on the outside and now I feel dead on the inside."

I managed to scarf down a few more pieces of food and wash away the awful taste as best as I could. I walk over to the entrance and slowly peak my out. A grayish light peaks its way through and I struggle to adjust my eyes. Just our lucky day, it looks like it's going to rain shortly. 

I turn back to Mazo, "Let's wait for the rain and then we will make our way to your friend. I'm going to see if I can find any more bandages to cover up the blood you are leaking all over our place." 

I search around the room and find a few remaining scraps of bandages. He is still wearing his stripper clothes and I peel them off to get a look at his cuts in the light. I lift his shirt, revealing his abs and his toned torso. His body was strong and well taken care of that is for sure. I turn my attention to the deep gash on his right side. It was oozing and it looked like it was starting to get infected. 

I look at him with pity in my eyes, "Sorry buddy, this is really going to hurt... again." 

Before he can even say a word, I began pouring whiskey on his wound as he seethed in agony. The pain was almost unbearable to watch, but I knew that this had to be done. His wounds were too deep and could easily become infected if not treated and cleaned. It was his best shot at making it out of here.

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About an hour has passed by. Mazo is in the corning curled up, still holding on for dear life even though he won't tell me how much pain he is in. I can see it in his eyes, the light is starting to fade from his bright green eyes. Hopefully his stubborn ass will keep himself alive long enough for him to get some proper help. But we are running out of time and the Outer City guards are still on high alert after last night's events. I already have counted 3 patrols in the last half hour, their white uniformed shirts and gray pants were hard to miss in a place like this.  The rain seems to be coming down heavier which will make it easier to hide our movements.

I make my way to where Mazo is. He looks much weaker than he did last night. The new bandages have finally stopped the bleeding, but his clothes were already soaked in blood. I don't know how much of it is actually his, but I'm terrified of what is body is going through internally. "Hey Mazo," I greet him as I help him to his feet, "we need to get going now. Can you walk?"

He holds his bandaged side with one arm and grabs onto me with the other and stumbles to keep his footing. "I'll be fine. What's the worst that can happen?" 

I hand him a heavy black jacket and walk with him to the entrance and we finally make our way outside. The light gray clouds have been replaced with large dark clouds with heavy rains. Many people began to flood the streets and were looking to complete their daily business or errands before the rain got worse. 

We need to fit in as much as possible. Every alleyway is being patrolled by guards, so our best bet is to walk through the streets undetected. I walk him out of the hole we are in and make sure that the blood is all covered up. I run my hands through his dark brown wavy hair to wash out all the blood that had dried up. 

I finish cleaning up his face before turning attention to my own appearance. I made sure my long silver hair was braided and hidden underneath a hat I had found. I had to leave my helmet and mask behind. 

We approach the busy street and before we can join the crowd, we hear a cry in the distance. I squint my eyes to see something big coming down the street. Oh no... this is not good. 

I whisper to Mazo, "I really wished you hadn't said that."