The Apostate Trials

Chapter 11

      Hugo acted instantly. Utterly angered by such a sight, his metal fist swung in an arc toward Noah's head, who had still been too overcome by his thirst for blood, his senses completely nulled. One fist managed to scrape Noah's jaw and the other a tree's bark. Hugo let out a high-pitched cry of pain, trailing that the snap of his right leg being taken out from under him, the pain exploding throughout his body.

      Noah grabbed at the strands of the screaming giant's hair, slammed his face roughly into the dirt and began dragging it; he struggling to get free, the pain intense. North had emerged from the house with a weapon, and she aimed it at Noah's head, ordering him to stop─her voice dragging his free will back to the surface.

The boy stood confused. His eyes fluttered as the adrenaline coursing throughout his body began to fizzle out, his mind throbbing. "What happened─"

Lilly was zooming past him before he could finish.

He watched the girl go into a state of panic with wide eyes, doing her best to tend to a limp Rylan. "He's not breathing!" She shouted, along with a few other things that Noah had drowned out.

      A few quickly retreated inside the house and emerged with medical supplies. Others stared blankly at Noah. He felt their gazes eying him. Fearing him. But he couldn't figure out why. No one would explain to him what had happened. Miles was still in some sort of daze, and North avoided him altogether. The wind began to pick up as the sky continued to darken. Everyone could tell that it was no ordinary wind.

      An hour or so must've passed after that, the group dashing through the violently raging winds and the first few signs of sleet, Noah the foremost. It brought forth a familiar sense of vagueness he couldn't quite explain but secretly knew was bad. He shouted at the others to hurry, watched as Miles struggled carrying both a limping Hugo and an unconscious Rylan─he knew the snowstorm could engulf them at any second, completely throw off their sense of direction.

      He spotted the faint silhouettes of clustered buildings in the distance, Times Square from the looks of things. A majority had been against the idea, but a quick reveal of Noah's map showed that several classes were swiftly closing in on their location. The gunshots had drawn them in, no doubt─they were still considered the weakest, lambs ripe for the slaughter.

      They reached the first manageable building they could, the letters 'Starbucks' written in a faded bold; a brief rattle sounded as they all piled into the building, Noah and North with eyes down the sights, wearily eying every dark corner of the large place, all the shadows beyond collapsed chairs and tables. There wasn't enough time to check the map any further. Noah feared they could be ambushed, the sights clearly showing signs of recent activity.

      He burst through the furthest door towards the back while North went a separate direction. A girl was crouched in a corner but jumped onto her feet, her expression swiftly shifting to a look of absolute fear. "Please. Don't shoot." Her voice came out low and shaky.

      A few other gunshots emerged in the short distance, causing her expression to become more tensed. Noah could tell that North was indiscriminately making quick work of the others. The girl could too, something akin to lost hope flashing behind her widened glare.

He took a few steps forward with his rifle carefully trained on her, his finger silently on the trigger. "Make any subtle moves and I shoot." He surprised himself by how cold his voice actually sounded. His mind had emptied itself of all other thoughts.

"I understand," She nodded furiously. Her body tensed as Noah frisked her for weapons, her voice laced with even more uncertainty as she spoke. "I've...often heard tales of what guys do when they find girls all by themselves."

Noah knew his touch was frightening her, but he needed to be sure she wouldn't pull anything. "You're not by yourself. You had friends lying in wait, ready to ambush us perhaps." He was slightly relieved to discover she had nothing on her.

"Y-You've got it wrong! I was seeking shelter from the storm when a group of several guys barged in, holding some girl hostage," The girl spoke up once more, her eyes low. "I...heard them doing things to her, and I wanted so badly to stop it. To help her. But in the end─I just panicked and hid."

      The sound of more gunshots caused her a brief whimper, then everything grew eerily quiet again. Noah began to smell the faint whiffs of iron and gun smoke lace the air, following that a raw, bitter smell he knew all too well. Blood. His eyes fluttered across the marble flooring of the small room, a desk at its heart, picture frames outlining the beige wall, nothing really out of the ordinary. He focused his heavy gaze back onto the girl, who immediately shied away. It was almost kind of sad. Almost.

"What's your name?"

"Karen," She answered quickly. "I'm with the sixteenth D-Class."

      Something about the class struck a bell within Noah, made his brow furrow. He heard footsteps behind him, to which both discovered a curious North entering the room with an angered pace. She was covered in blood spatters.

"You find anything yet."

"Just her," Noah replied. He motioned towards the girl that stood frightened by his side and prepared to introduce her, only to discover that there was no need.

North dropped her gun, taking a few hesitant steps forward, "Karen?"

The girl's soft green eyes slowly began to register the shadow approaching her, "North?!"

For a second there was silence, one that filled Noah's head with a slight unease. The two quickly rushed towards one another, their embrace tight, smiles warmly tugging away at their lips. They remained that way for quite a while until Karen timidly broke the warmth of North's hug.

"I thought you were dead!" Tears began to well in her eyes.

"Well I'm here now," North cast Noah an eye; he understood what she was hinting at.

But before he could fully take his leave the girl's voice stopped him, "Wait. What's your name?"

Hesitance struck as his nerves stilled once more─Noah didn't know why. It just felt so subtle being asked that out of the blue, taking into consideration what being a part of North's old class implied. Made him chill.

"Noah..." He eventually flashed her a small smile before disappearing into the confines beyond the door.

The two of them needed to enjoy her final moments in peace.