This World is Outrageous { BOOK 2 }

Chapter 31--Willow

Chapter 31

Willow

This is the first time my brain registers absolutely nothing going on.

My leg feels wet but I don't feel pain anymore. My vision swims and I am pretty sure I moan. My ears are ringing. I can't see. I can't think. It's hard to breathe, as if someone sits on my chest. I blink several times and begin to hear the faint sounds of shouting, then I see white. White suits.

Oh.

It's registering now.

I'm either going to die or I am already dead.

I don't feel dead but maybe I am. Are white suits what people wear in heaven? Wait, no. Those aren't dress suits. Those are Jotunn suits. Oh that's right.

Now it fully registers.

I'm on the ground in the Jotunn facility. My leg is bleeding. I got shot in the calf and I fell.

Yes, that's right.

It all comes back to me now. The remembrance is a little delayed which makes the Warriors only draw nearer to me as I think on all of this.

I feel hands grasp at me and reality comes swinging back, hitting me like a sledgehammer. I scream and thrash in the hands that hold me until I realize who the hands belong too. It's Eli. He takes me into his arms and mutters something inaudible. But all I can think about is the fact that he came back for me. On any other day I'd be flattered to think a male came back and saved my life but this is becoming a normal thing so flattery is no longer a big deal to me. Just another day in Exitium—another day in the life of Willow-Marie Kindred.

Eli Hanson is an interesting person. He was when I first met him and he's even more interesting as a Jotunn. He's intriguing. I don't understand him. Then again, I don't understand any of the "once people." They are all a mystery that's too big for even me to solve.

Eli breaks into a run. I bob up and down in his arms. He screams something but I don't know what he's saying. I feel myself shifting and notice that he hands me off to Axton.

I analyze the situation in my mind as we fly past several approaching Warriors. There is no way we make it through the gate before it closes. Axton isn't moving fast enough. Avery and Diego make it through, screaming something inaudible towards us. Demetria's arm drapes across Ariel's neck as they fall behind. Eli rushes over to pick Demetria up so they can run. She limps profusely, teeth clenched together. She's still wounded and I've been shot.

Our group won't make it five miles.

I clutch Axton's suit, trying to get this thought across to him but he doesn't even look down. He doesn't grunt. He doesn't show any signs that he feels me moving. He face is as still as a statue as he runs swiftly. I rock in his arms and bounce against his chest. I try to tug at the fabric of his suit again but my hand falls to my side. I'm weak. I don't like the feeling of being shot. It hurts. But then again, the leg that was shot has gone numb. I can't feel it but yet I can. And what I can feel hurts, bad.

I hear Axton scream. I look up to see the gate almost completely lowered. Ariel, Demetria, and Eli have made it through. Eli is coming back to help Axton, but Rhodes screams at him to go back.

I feel my body being thrust into the air. Axton threw me from him so I could make it. I feel my body slam into the pavement as pain jolts through my limbs. By the grace of God, I make it past the gate by the skin of my teeth. Axton dives down right as the gate slams shut, sealing us away from the Jotunn. Gunshots still fire, indicating the Warriors don't plan on backing down or giving up on pursuing us any time soon.