Crumbled

Memory Hallway

       Walz stood in the small concrete room, shivering. His heart pounded so loudly that he thought his head might explode. He just felt so tired.

        "Walz, help me. Please Walz, help." Bram appeared at Walz's side. He was bleeding, clutching his stomach. A knife was embedded there, the hilt sticking out from between his hands.

       "Bram, no! What are you doing here? Here, take your hands off the knife, Bram. Easy, okay?" Walz pleaded, his exhaustion replaced by adrenaline. Walz knew his friend was about to die.

        "This is your doing. I never wanted to be friends with a criminal, but father said I had to," Bramstone said, so loudly that Walz thought his head would explode from the sheer volume. When he looked up, Bram was standing next to him.

       "You killed me Walz. It's your fault," he whined. A long gash ripped across Bramstone's stomach, dripping with blood.

       "I didn't mean to, I'm sorry, please don't be dead," Walz cried, trying to reach out to his friend. His arms were stopped by the shackles wrapped around his wrists.

       "If you hadn't gotten yourself caught we'd all be alive," another voice echoed. Walz swiveled. He spotted Markel across the room. Her voice was hollow and small, laced with exhaustion.

       "My mother threw me out, and I came to you, Walz. You guys were my only hope! Now look where that's got me, stuck in a hole with two idiots, and I'm about to die," Markel sighed, throwing her hands up.
 
       Even from across the room Walz could see the sickly green pallor of her face. He also saw the deep maroon lacerations across her skin, marks from Kei's whip that hadn't even scabbed over.

       "Hey Walz, tell my father something for me," Bram said.

       "I need him to know that I h-"

       Walz woke up, eyes glazed over. His mind reeled from the remains of the nightmare, but he shook it off. Back arched, he popped his joints and shook them out. The habitual act did little in Walz's attempt to overcome his exhaustion, but it was calming.

       Walz padded down the halls, and glanced through an open doorway.

       Their new hideout was some sort of old residency building. It was filled with the remnants televisions and bed frames that had long since worked. The room he peeked into, however, held a bed that looked new. Walz mused that someone had come along recently and redone a few of the rooms.

       However, the room was not unoccupied. Inside sat Axel and Markel, along with Axel's boyfriend. The three were talking quietly among themselves, and Axel had a bunch of papers spread in front of him. Markel held another parchment, and stared at it as though transfixed.

       It was obvious to Walz that whatever he was seeing was private, so he reluctantly eased himself out of the doorway.

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A/N: This was hard to write, I have little experience with these sorts of things! Also, hi Jillian and Julia!