Weak

Chapter Twenty

I run in the woods behind the houses in the neighborhood. The further I get, the more faint the sirens become. I trip over many branches and my breath is catching up to me quick. I keep running until I can't take it any more. I hold myself up against a nearby tree. Catching my breath I look around—no one is in sight. The crickets sounds and I hear the leaves rustling. The sirens have disappeared from my ears. I take very deep breaths and my breathing finally returns back to normal. I slowly start to walk. I'm too tired to try running again. Where am I going? What will I do?

The moons lights up the forest. It's odd to see the sky so well, so close to the city. I kick the rocks on the ground. Right about now, I'm mentally unstable. I can't come to terms with all the things that happened; all the things I've done. My actions have hurt so many and what's reserved for me is surely coming. I don't know what it is, but I know it's bad. Even if it hurts like Hell, I don't deserve to grimace and squint in pain. I made my own decisions and the consequences are scheduled in my destiny whether I accept them or not.

My mother is dead and Leslie is hurt. Both of them, were there for me and they were always caring towards me. They were the only one's. My father left me, I have no friends; no one stuck by me. Mom and Leslie never left my side.

My eyes begin to burn; I can feel the tears starting to form. I drop to the ground on my knees, and I ball. I'm dying inside. I want to die.

“Why?” I scream out loud and break down. I sit against a tree, running my hands in my hair. “I'm so stupid.”

I sob and speak to myself. “I'm so stupid. I didn't want  all of this to happen. Mom...” her name escapes my lips. But she's not there to help me. She's gone. “I love you, Mom. I'm so sorry.”

I hear a loud rustle in the woods behind me. I look around but no one is there and there is silence. Then again, there's more rustling.

“Chase.” I turn around quickly. A man is standing there. I shuffle backwards in the dirt. He moves a bit closer and the moon hits his face a bit—it's Jay.

“Jay?” I say, wiping the tears from my eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“I ran. These guys showed up at the house talking crazy. They wanted you but I told them you weren't there. A bigger guy shot me. I didn't have a gun on me so I ran.” I look down, and Jay had a huge blood stain on his shirt. He has some ripped fabric tied around I wipe my eyes some and stand up.

“W-we got to get you to the hospital. The bleeding is bad.”

“The hospital is too far on foot, Chase.” he moves towards a tree, grasping his stomach in pain.

“We got to go man.” I throw Jay's arm around my shoulder to give him some support and we begin to walk.

Slowly, we walk through the wilderness. My heart skips a beat with every howl in the wind, every bush that rustles and every branch that breaks. I look over at Jay, limping beside me. The color has disappeared from his face. It looks like he can croak any minute. I give him a little bit more support. Grasping his side, he winces in pain. He's breathing hard now.

“You want to take a break?”

“Yeah.” he says, taking his arms from around my neck and sliding down to the base of a nearby tree. He catches his breath for a minute. “I'm not going to make it, Chase.”

“Don't talk like that Jay! We're going to get you some help, I promise.” Jay looks me in the eye; he looks lifeless.

“The hospital is too far.” he says as he takes a deep breath. “We will never make it on foot. I won't make it.” he says.