Reckoning

Chapter Eighteen: Before the Dawn

Probably gonna be a long(ish) chapter
Song for this chapter is
I Hope You Die by Wye Oak

Everything hurts.

It hurts just to barely move my head. My hawk necklace hangs down from my neck.

With my eyes still closed, I realize that I neglected to put my seatbelt on and now laying on the roof of the upside down truck.

I hear some shifting in the back seat, then all I hear from outside the vehicle is...
"Fuck!"
"My leg..."
"We gotta go! Into the woods!"
"What about David?! He's still in there-"

A gunshot rings out, and I hear the sound of the bullet bouncing off the side of the car.

"Run!"

A chorus of swift footsteps follows.

I groan in pain as I shift around, my hoodie sleeve wet with a spot of blood towards my left hand. I place my hand on the warm, metallic surface of the upside down car, and I feel thousands of pieces of glass.

I then freeze, when I hear footsteps coming from the road. The fuckers who blew the tire, causing the crash.

A pair of legs come into view, through the empty window.

I hold my breath.

They're wearing black boots, and I can barely see the end of a pistol. They stand still for what seems like forever. Two other figures appear, each holding a different gun.

The weapon that really stands out is the assault rifle. The boots wearing figure says, "They went through here", and I instantly recognize the voice.

Diana.

She then leads her two allies down the way Eli and my friends went.

I let out my breath.

I begin to crawl out the truck, trying not to make a lot of noise. Outside the vehicle, I climb to my feet. Other than a cut on my left hand, I pull at the collar of my hoodie and see several bruises are beginning to develop on my shoulder and upper arm.

I let go of my hoodie and feel my waist for my weapons. My switchblade is still in my pocket, but my pistol is missing.

I ignore it and I step into the dark woods. The sun is now slowly beginning to rise. The rustling of leaves from my footsteps is all I hear as I walk.

"Guys?", I whisper, "You there?"

I ready my switchblade. I slowly walk through the darkness, alert.

A twig snaps up ahead. The blade of my knife is ready for a fight, just like I am. Then, I don't even see it coming from behind me.

Someone grabs me and takes a hold of my neck, locking me in a chokehold. I can tell that he's fat, strong.

I punch whoever it is in the face, and he yells in pain. I then use the back of my head to head butt him on his nose. I hear a crack from his face as I do it.

He lets go. Now is my chance.

"You little shit!", the man shouts.

Adrenaline rushes through my body as I lunge forward and sink the knife into his chest. He yells in agony and shoves me down into the leaves. The switchblade still in my hand, I quickly jump to my feet.

The large man stumbles but then looks me in the eye.

Then the both of us hear Cody yelling, "David!"
We turn to look at Cody running towards us. Seeing an opportunity, the man tackles me to the ground. He punches me in the stomach but no matter what I hold onto the knife.

"Fuck you!", I hear as Cody sinks his knife into the large man's back.

The man screams once more, then turns and lands his fist onto Cody's face.

The man throws another punch at Cody. Angry that he's hurting my friend, I jump onto the man's back, bring my arm in front of him and stab his neck. Then I slice his throat open.

The man gargles on his own blood, and it splatters onto Cody's face.

The man then collapses.

Cody looks extremely shocked, his nose bleeding and blonde hair coated with a little bit of crimson red.

Out of breath, I hold my hand out to pull up Cody from all the leaves. He just looks up at me and stutters, "Y-You killed...him..."
"I had to, he was gonna kill you", I sternly say.

I guess Cody hasn't seen death before.

Up ahead through the trees, numerous gunshots are heard. Cody grabs my hand and jumps to his feet. We both starting running through the dark toward the commotion since our friends might be in trouble.

Cody and I come to an opening in the forest, where Eli, Theo, and Matt seek cover behind a couple of large rocks.

About thirty feet away, Diana and another man, behind a wide tree, fire their weapons at our friends. From this distance, I can see Matt is wincing in pain. "Do you have your gun?", I ask Cody over the gunfire.

He shakes his head.
Well, shit.

Eli sees us, and motions for us to stay where we are. Cody and I duck behind a couple of trees, shielding us from any gunfire.

I stick my head out from behind the tree and see Theo fire his shotgun at Diana and the man. The man is barely hit on his right arm and drops his assault rifle. Theo sees this opportunity and fires again, and this time the shot hits the man in the chest, killing him.

Diana shouts some obscenity, her red brown hair whipping around, and fires her pistol at Theo, barely missing him and causing him to fall.

Diana has a clear shot.

I jump from behind my cover and yell, "No! Shoot me, bitch! Leave them alone!"

Diana, a ferocious look on her face, sees me and aims her pistol at me.

She fires.

The bullet scrapes against my right cheek.

I fall back onto the ground.

I stare up at the sky, the color of dawn.

Just before I pass out, I hear a mess of gunshots.

Then I am asleep.