Shadow Moses [Fransykes]

Chapter 47

Grunts left my mouth as I exhaled, pain flashing through my mind with each step I took. My discontinuous shallow breaths echoed in the silence, painting the empty air of the dark hallway with agony and desperation.

I held my hand over my wound firm, as if, though happened the opposite, the more I pressed the less it hurt. The dent in my flesh burned beneath my fingers, blood still dripping off it, leaving my palm moist and red.

Nobody was following me - that was a good thing - it meant they wanted Josh more than me now that the condition of the walls was down.

My stomach clenched.

The darkness around me span and my balance cracked into nonexistence. I gasped, biting on my lip as I collapsed onto the cold floor. Itching pain shot through my chest then back. I sucked the stuffy air of the hallway in through my greeted teeth.

Panting, I ripped my shirt off. Pain mixed with heat coursed through my collarbone, striking my shoulder and I bit down on my shirt, letting out a muffled scream as I pulled on it.

The sound of cloth tearing stung my ears and I let go of it, leaning back onto the metal wall, relaxing my aching shoulders, waiting for the wave of pain to retreat.

My eyes burned and I wiped them quick before a single tear rolled down my face.

I breathed heavily, chewing the inside of my cheek before I clenched my teeth again, standing on my knees. Groaning, I tied the rips of my soaked red shirt around my chest, making the material cover my stab wound before I leaned back onto the wall, pushing myself up onto my feet.

I sucked on my bleeding lip, letting the taste of blood clear my head.

Foot after foot - and I was walking again.

The darkness around me slowly started diluting and relief filled my chest as I spotted daylight. I quickened my pace, chasing the light falling into the hallway through the secret passage in the ground. I threw my hand up, gripping the metal lining of the door. A sharp exhale dropped from my lips as I jumped, arching my shoulders as I gripped the door with my other hand.

Burning agony left my muscles shaking but I determinedly pulled myself towards the surface. Once the upper part of my body was out, I flipped my legs onto the soil, letting the Sun shower my whole body with its bright rays of light.

Tense pain flowed through me and I kept my eyes shut. Light still amassed in my vision, painting the darkness beneath my eyelids dark orange.

Pleasant warmth fell upon me and for a second everything seemed peaceful. I even contemplated whether I should just stay here, drift into sleep and let everything play out as it would without me.

For so long I've been stuck in this harsh reality of blood and war. Perhaps my time was running out all along and the sand in my hourglass had finally slipped. Darkness, nothingness, the state with no consciousness was tempting and death seemed more than desirable.

So the question stood, do I stay here, lying on the ground, bleeding like I've been defeated, giving up like I was a quitter or do I stand, rise and do I fight like a survivor.

I thought I knew the answer. I thought my story ended here, but then, like a sting of ice, a name popped into my head and my heartbeat went wild. A new stream of life coursed through me and as if coming alive, awoken by a burning rush of adrenaline, I sat up.

Josh.

He had been taken from me.

He wasn't dead. He couldn't have been. If he was I'd know.