The Last Victor

Chapter 27

Round Three - Part 2

Next thing I know he's off.

Not prepared, I go flying forward but quickly regain my balance as he leads us out and into the storm.

As soon as we step out, I can feel the patter of rain against the bags. I cringe as I wait for the feeling to sink down to my skin. Luckily, I don't feel anything immediate, and thank god that the bags seem to be doing a decent job at protecting us for the time being.

I follow Pax's instructions and keep my eyes down at my feet, avoiding looking up at where we're going.

The group stays silent as we focus on each step, the only sounds being the constant drumming of rain against plastic, heavy breathing, and feet pounding against the wet soil.

I can't help but cough as the fetid smell of acid burning plastic starts to consume my nose, indicating that we don't much time before the bags completely melt down.

"We almost there?!" Kaiden, who's a couple feet behind me, voices exactly what I am thinking.

"Yeah! A few more minutes at least, I can see the road up ahead!" Ace yells back over his shoulder to us.

A haze of exhaustion begins to creep in, but I shake it off.

Not now Kyla.

All there is a few more yards.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, willing myself to keep going.

But that's all it takes, one second distracted, for my foot to catch on a tree root and send my body hurdling forward to tumble against the ground.

I let out a painful groan and can feel the extent of my feeble muscles when they strain to push me up in a simple sitting position.

Almost instantly, I can feel two hands wrap around under my armpits and lift me up to my feet.

But when I stand, dizziness hits me hard and I wobble. Kaiden puts a firm hand on my back as he steadies me.

With his free arm, he lifts mine over his shoulder so he can support my weight. "I got you."

My eyes get wet and it's hard to get a full breath.

"Kaiden I can't do this anymore." I shake my head and angle my face away from him.

I know it doesn't mean much at this point, but even still, I didn't want him to see how close I am to my breaking point.

"Of course you can." he answers with a stubborn set in his jaw, "You don't give up Reyes. You never have because it's not in your nature. You've been through so much worse shit already. Don't get in your head now."

I gulp, my emotions uncontrollably clashing over me.

I've never felt this helpless in my life.

For as long as I've lived, I've always had to work against myself and my mind.

Never my body.