𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 || joel miller ¹

[ 𝟎𝟕 ] 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝

─ ❝ YOU USED ME AS A FUCKIN' SHIELD! ❞

──── ⋆◖◍◗⋆ ────

    THE TRAIL WENT COLD FIVE minutes ago. There was no sign of Nina at the end of it.

Renee's condition was only worsening with each passing second, forcing her to continue her search for Nina from behind a couple of crates.

Only gunshots seemed to answer her silent prayers, which seemed to be drawing nearer the longer she lingered around. She considered making a run for it, but glancing down at her still-gushing wound, she figured that would only end in her demise.

"Crap." Renee hissed when she removed her blood-stained hand from her side. It was only a graze, but it was still dangerously deep to still be considered as such. She hadn't anything to try to constrict the flow or even temporarily bandage it, so she kept her hand over it and waited for an opportunity to make a break for it.

It didn't come very quickly. Every time she would try to step out into the open, another shot would ring out from somewhere beyond the containers surrounding her until finally, after what felt like years, they ceased.

Renee groaned as she rose to her feet, palm grasping the wooden container behind her that was splintering from age. She started towards the path that seemed to be lit up for her, pulling her pistol from her waistband. Her thumb carefully cocked it, the sound echoing in her ears as she tried to zero in on what lurked beyond the unsettling silence surrounding her.

She treaded lightly, craning her neck to peer down all of the twists, turns, and blind spots she ventured past until she'd finally rounded the main warehouse to its south wing. The trail continued, though this time it was slightly tarnished with fresh shoe prints and drops of blood that mingled unsettlingly with the fine dirt. Renee briefly observed it and wondered whether she should follow it.

Maybe it would lead her to Nina.

But that in itself made her hesitant to continue.

The blood was far from a good sign, especially when she noticed how its quantity only increased the farther it got. She hissed a curse under her breath and lowered her gun to swipe at the sweat that beaded above her top lip before following the red trail.

Renee remained alert as she walked, eyes lifting every few seconds to make sure nobody was prowling in the makeshift maze around her. She thought it had gone cold again when the blood steadily receded until it vanished, and she sighed. The signs told her that it might have been somebody else's blood, and that they might have escaped with the clothes on their backs, but something about the unsoiled dirt didn't quite settle her nerves.

She scanned the area closer, looking and looking until she saw it. A barely visible smear in the dirt resembled the heel of a boot. It wasn't parallel with the trail anymore, this time veering off to the side along the crates beside it. Another footprint ahead of that one, rounding the upcoming corner and into another blind spot.

Renee lifted her gun, finger resting firmly against the trigger as she rounded it herself, unsure of what she'd find. The second she saw a bloodstained, gloved hand, her stomach dropped. Her eyes squeezed shut and she let out a pained sigh before fully taking in the sight of Nina's cold body propped up against a crate.

Blood pooled underneath her thighs from the bullet wounds in her sides and back, soaking into her shirt and pants. Some of it stained the inside of her mouth and dribbled down the side of it to her chin. It was caked onto her fingerless leather gloves and tan fingers that laid limp beside her from having tried to keep it inside of her body.