Outcasts

Chapter Five

 "Bree! We have to go!"

I jumped up, my arm flaring with pain.

I heard a gunshot reverberate across the forest, and sooner than I could blink, Ryan grabbed me and said, "Morph into something small!"

"But I wanna help!" I protested.

"Do it!"

I shifted into a mouse and climbed into his pocket, deciding I wasn't going to argue. Then he morphed into an eagle.

I was pushed into someplace beyond reality. I didn't really think about where clothes went when we shifted, but now I know. And I would be safe until we got where we wanted to and Ryan shifted back.

Ryan.

Then a wave of panic surged over me. What if he died?! I would be stuck here forever, and he would be dead... I pushed the dread away. He was not going to die. But I felt helpless... I didn't like it here. I couldn't do anything to help.

I was pulled back into the real world. Ryan collapsed, and I crawled out and morphed into myself. He was laying in a puddle of his own blood.

I gasped in panic. Cassie was there too, passed out, by the looks of it. How had an entire brawl taken so short? Time was probably messed up where I was. I never wanted to go back there, helpless to do anything.

I bent down and checked both of their pulses. Then I found a bullet wound in Ryan's thigh. Seriously, he needed to stop being shot. I tore off his shirt awkwardly, but I needed to keep him alive, so I wrapped his leg up with the scrap material.

We were in a warehouse, tall and spacious. There were several high-tech hover cars and such parked in a row on the far wall. I got back to work.

Cassie wasn't as inured. I was just panicking over solutions where there was a bang on the giant metal door, which I realized was locked by a piece of scrap metal shoved in the big handles. There was a gunshot, and I jumped. A bullet puncture banged on the door, denting it but not breaking through.

My pulse raced.

This was my fault. Why had I gotten them in trouble too?! I should've left them as soon as I realized they were after me. A tear leaked out of my eye as I frantically searched for something to fight with. As someone who was raised in an environment where I wasn't allowed to do anything but obey... I didn't know anything about fighting whatsoever.

Finally, I spotted a rod. It was metal and rusted, about my height. I ran over to it and picked it up. It wasn't much, but if the police got though, it had to be enough.

My stomach squirmed, but I ran back over to Cassie and Ryan and decided I had to move them. I dragged their bodies over to the corner, cringing at the trail of blood Ryan left in his wake.

Cassie moaned.

"Cassie!" I said. "Are you alright?"

"Those are very pretty balloons," She mumbled.

I sighed. "You can get out of your delusions later. Get up!"

Cassie giggled.

"Okay, don't. But be quiet." I pulled a big metal storage container to block them from view. It must've been tin or something because it was lighter than it looked. Then I jumped over the side to look at the doors again.

Four bullet dents were imprinted in the metal door. Angry shouts were coming from behind, along with banging.

I saw the ID scanner embedded in the wall and wondered how Ryan and Cassie had managed to get in here. Thank goodness Ryan morphed into himself before he passed out.