Bundle of Branches

Chapter 1

Chance is on the cold floor, lying in a pool of blood, and everything hurts. His vision is blurry, but he can vaguely see Izzy running to him, her arms outstretched.

"Chance!" Izzy cries. "Chance, don't do this to me, come on, buddy!" She kneels next to him, taking off her jacket - her favorite yellow jacket - and wrapping it around his arm. "God, oh God, what- what happened?"

"Iz," Chance gasps out. White-hot pain flares through his body. "Ya gotta- get out of here, don't let 'em see you..." He groans. How many broken bones does he have? He can't tell, but his arms, his legs, they all hurt so badly, and some part of him knows that he probably has internal injuries as well.

Izzy finishes tying her jacket around his arm. "No! I am not leaving you!" Her cheeks are wet with tears. "You're coming with us. Look, everyone's all here, okay? Dante, Teddy, Thalia - they're all here. Whoever did this to you doesn't stand a chance against us, alright?"

She takes Chance's right arm, and Thalia takes his left, and they pull him into a standing position. He lets out a moan. "Put me down, Iz, I- nnhh- you don't understand, they- they've got-"

BANG. The side door crashes open. "Where the hell do you think you're going, you bastard? Huh?" A man stands there, tall, with wild dark hair pulled back. He's holding a machine gun, and he aims it at Chance. "Go on, pretty boy. Try to run." A sneer spreads across his face.

Chance tenses. "Go, Iz, Tal - ya gotta go, hurry! He won't hurt you if you just go, he- he wants me, not you."

He tries to pull away, but Thalia and Izzy hold him tighter. "I'm not leaving you here," Izzy says, tears edging at her voice. "Come on, Thalia. Dante, cover us from behind. Teddy, you clear a path. Let's go!" She pushes forward, working with Thalia to drag Chance behind them.

The man with the machine gun starts firing, bullets ricocheting off of the metal floor and walls. "Oh, I swear to God I will murder you, I'll shoot every last one of you in the skull until your brains are splattered all over this goddamned warehouse!"

Dante shoots at the man but misses, the bullet instead hitting the doorframe. In retaliation, the man shoots back, causing Dante to duck and narrowly miss a bullet to the head. "Guys, we gotta hurry!" he calls, running faster to try to dodge the man's spray of bullets.

"Stay with me, Chance, okay?" Izzy feels him starting to slip, so she pulls on his arm harder. "Sorry, bud. I know that hurt. But- come on. Just come on. We're almost there!" She pushes on further, keeping her eyes on the entrance to the warehouse. "Teddy, you got the remote?"

Teddy pulls the remote out of his pocket and types in a code, his thumbs flying over the keypad. With a groan, the large doors begin opening, and the team pushes themselves even faster, Izzy and Thalia pulling Chance along. His head lolls, and blood drips from his lips. Izzy casts a worried glance at him before speeding up, running as fast as she can, neck and neck with Thalia.

Suddenly, Dante cries out. His gun skitters to the ground, and he stumbles, falling to his knees. "Fuck," he gasps out, bringing his hand to his shoulder. Blood seeps through his fingers. "He got me, I'm hit, I-" He squeezes his eyes shut, taking a shallow breath.

Thalia skids to a stop. "Dante!" She turns to Izzy, her eyes wide. "Iz, do you think you can take Chance on your own? I'll be right back, I've got to-" Her voice is shaking so much that she can barely speak.

Izzy nods rapidly. "Go! We'll be waiting for you."

Thalia takes off, running back towards Dante. She leans down, grabbing his free hand. "Come on, Dante! I've got you. Can you walk?" Her hands tremble as she grips his arm. "We've gotta go."