Hollow Veins

Chapter Thirty Nine; A Bloody Mess

The next few seconds were a blur to Alice. Just an inseparable mix of blood, pain, screeching, stabbing, and water. At some point it had started raining. Alice ducked and thrust her knife upwards. It tore through a chest. She freed the blade. Alice stabbed it rapidly and repeated until it lay still. Thunder rumbled Another form bowled her over. She skidded on the wet asphalt. Pain seared through her thighs and elbow. Alice kicked the Infected with all her strength. It scratched at her face. Lignting flashed. Alice plundged her knife between it's shoulder blades. It felt like she was hugging it. Alice jumped to her feet. The others were locked in combat. They were blurred, violently slashing and stabbing. Alice heard a mad kind of laughter from Prince. Dude could be a little scary sometimes. A Infected lunged at her. Alice's ran to meet it, tearing her knife through it's stomach. She noted it as an easy spot to hit. Big, few bones to get the knife stuck on, and effective. Very nice thing to put on her job application. I know how to effectively stab a mutant, I'd be perfect for this job. Alice actually laughed out loud. A crazy sound. There was another boom of thunder. Long unruly nails scratched her arm. He stabbed it, aiming again for the stomach. Alice glanced up and her heart almost stopped. Aaron was pinned down by an Infected. It opened it's mouth and thrust towards his throat. Alice rushed towards him, knowing it was too late. BANG!!! Jasper had shot it. Aaron kicked the creature off him and got back to his feet. Alice sighed in relief and turned away. She froze. There was a gap in the line of attacking creatures. A clear path up to her right. She looked around quickly. She locked eyes with Jasper. He saw the opening. "Go!"

Everyone else besides Jaden was still busy. Jaden was wiping blood out of his eyes, a ripped apart Infected laying in a pile by his feet. Another flash. Alice didn't hesitate. She rushed forward and grabbed his arm. It didn't matter what Jasper had said. If she was going to leave she was going to take at least one of them with her. "Come on!" Jaden struggled then relented. He followed after her at a high pace. Alice wasn't sure exactly how far or what direction they were headed. She wasn't even sure how she still had her backpack. Jaden didn't. With a sinking heart, she remembered his computer and the GPS device. They were both electric. They ran on. A screach behind them scared Alice out of her wits. The creature ludged for them. Alice barely had the energy to run, how could she fight it? BAM!!! Jaden slipped the gun back in his belt. She couldn't see well through the rain but she could just tell he'd signed, "Necessary." She nodded and they plowed on.

They found a small building that would work for now. They burst in. Alice barely noticed the desk or roped off area leading to a door. When she caught her breath she looked at Jaden. "How's your side." He checked under his bandage. "All clear." Alice sighed, "That's good I was scared it might tear open. That blood's not yours, right?" He shook his head. "At least the rain water got most of it off. I had to stab that one a lot." "No kidding." Jaden paused and looked down. Alice put a hand on his shoulder. "They're gonna be ok, Jaden." He looked up, with tears in his eyes. "How do you know? How can you know that?" Alice's heart felt like it had stopped. She had never seen Jaden cry. Somehow he put so much emotional into those hand signals. She inhaled and tried to keep back her own tears. "Jaden, they're resourceful. They're all smart and they can fend for themselves. It's going to be ok." Jaden stared at the ground. "If any of them..." He couldn't finish. Alice crouched next to him. "I know. But we'll do the best we can. And so will they."

Thank heavens the rain was thinning. To tell the truth, Prince couldn't really see what he was doing. It was a miracle he was still alive. He pretty much stabbed and shot whatever he saw. More Infected had obviously been drawn to them by the noise. But the rain had been drowning out a good amount of noise. Until now. They had to get out of there. Something grabbed his arm. Prince swung his blade but Ari caught his wrist. "It's me, dimwit. We need to go." Prince couldn't see what she was pointing at but he grinned and ran with her. He glanced back. Ren, Aaron and Jasper were making a run for it, running left. Ari jerked him by the arm, pulling him to their right. "Ow, stop, ami." She glared back at him. "Knowing you, you'd get lost and fall asleep in the streets." "True," He panted. She pulled him through alleys and side streets. They could still hear screeches. They finally stopped. Prince put his head between his knees. Ahead was a huge gorge. Ari approached it. "Careful," Prince called, "If you fall you would splat. We should probably get out of the rain." She called back, "It's pretty deep. Several stories at the least. I wonder if there's an out cropping or cave or something. It would be good for shelter." Prince made unintelligible moaning sounds. He heard quick splashing footsteps. Prince sat up. An Infected was rushing at Ari.

Prince took off after it. If it reached her... it would plow right into her. It would knock her off the cliff. Prince shouted as loud as he could. Ari turned as they smashed into her. She cried out. In a blur of motion, Prince caught her wrist and the edge of the cliff just in time. The sharp rocks cut into his fingers. Ari's body jerked his arms nearly out of socket. The Infected scrambled and slipped off the edge. Prince's fingers were wet and not just because of the rain. He could tell it was blood. His back and shoulders screamed at him. Prince forced Ari upwards. She cried out in pain again. He didn't want hurt her but he had to save her. Prince tried with all his might but couldn't quite get her high enough. His fingers were splinted with pain. Prince wrapped his arm around her waist. At least he could get a better grip. Ari seemed to finally understand. She met his eyes. He couldn't save them both and they both knew it. Ari struggled and tugged at his fingers. "Let go!" Prince shook his head and held on tighter. "Please, Prince. Just let me go!" "I can't!" He screamed through the rain. Didn't she get it? Why couldn't she understand? He wouldn't do it. He couldn't. Prince's vision went splotchy. Black spots danced in front of eyes. With a grunt of effort and pain, he shoved Ari up. She collapsed on the edge. The black seemed to form together to obscure his vision. It was ok. Ari was safe. Safe. Ari... was... safe. Prince's grip on the edge finally gave out. He let himself fall off the edge.