Naturesse (book 1 of the (supposed) Evealutions trilogy)

chapter 12

Chapter Twelve:

Capture and the Compound

Damian

The wild girls gun wound, in her shoulder.

Why had I felt it?

And how, just how had she found the strength to carry on?

Perhaps Naturesse were a lot stronger than I first expected, and was lead to believe.

The pain that I experienced through her past... it made me want to scream, to cry, to hunch over and wait for it all to end.

Naturesse must have a higher pain threshold then... much higher.

Despite all odds, despite the pain, fury, fear, sorrow, hurt and unspeakable mind crippling feeling of being more than distraught, I was captivated, and throughout all my own fear, smallest drop of curiosity mixed in.

As for the... dispatching... of Benji...

I wasn't even sure of what word to use, none seemed right any more.

Culling? No, that was far too cold and clinical. Not even worthy of death. The word I had been led to believe in all my life suddenly sent quivers up my spine.

Extermination? No, that was far, far worse...

Murder? The guilt would kill me from the inside out if I even thought of that word... no, murder was beyond my capabilities.

Nothing. There was absolutely nothing that could fully state what I had seen.

And I hadn't even known him...

When, oh when was I going to escape from this nightmare?

***Midnight leaves whipped past my face in a frenzy of sharp edges and soft sides. Behind me, I could just make out the echoes of the drones shouts and long lost gunshots.

I was out.

I was free.

I was also in very real danger.

Before long my clandestine sprint exhausted me, leaving my knees shaking and head weak with lack of air. I knew I had to find water soon, very soon. To bathe my wound, which was now bleeding copiously after my quick getaway, to clear the dust and ashes from my mouth and throat, and finally to splash on my face, just to clear my head and wake me up. The freezing night time water would be perfect for that.

I looked around me. Trees. Lots and lots of trees. Cover and hiding spots. Good.

Moving my injured arm carefully, I checked my pockets, feeling a stray item move slightly. It was a miracle that any sort of thing had managed to cling to me, after all that I had been through.

The small, rectangular form nestled safely in a tear in my school shorts was my Pocklet.

School shorts.

School...

Suddenly, I choked up again, tears stinging my eyes and blurring the world into oblivion. Before I could stop myself, I leant forwards and retched over a large pile of boulders. A mixture of blood, bile, ashes and what other things I didn't want to know lay spread before me. Shakily, I wiped the back of my hand across my face, trembling like a frail leaf hit by a merciless wind. I collapsed across the top boulder, fingers digging into the hard stone, cutting them in long lines. I had a sticky, burning sensation in the back of my throat, and I knew I would throw up again.

And I did. Four times.

After that nothing more would come out, on the account that there was nothing left. My storage of tears however, was no where near exhausted.