Road Trip with Vampires: one star, would not recommend.

Lost

All three of them found their steps leading them back to the single most dangerous spot they could be found in. Carefully adjusting Ilya's position over his shoulders, Zhenya stepped over a large piece of concrete sticking out from the mess.

Neither tried to stop the other. Perhaps all of them understood how comforting it was to be in the last place where everything still made sense.

Zhenya found Esther's parting gift: a melted puddle of water. Extracting the glasses from his pocket, he knelt down next to it, a silent mantra in his heart.

I'm sorry I couldn't find you a place to rest. And now it is too late.

He stayed there for as long as he dared, until the sun came up, being all too aware of Tethis pacing behind him. He had a good mind to leave the place and never come back, too. But something else compelled him to stay. 

It was when a songbird's call sounded that Nix finally tried to pull him to his feet. 'Dawn,' she said, her grip painful on his forearm. 'Two hours or so.'

'Where to?' asked Tethis, her voice barely audible.

Nix remained silent.

Zhenya had only been lost once in his life, when he, a young and adventurous vampire, had waltzed into the most dangerous place known to his kind: Vatican City. The symbols there made sure he remained disoriented and confused for a good twenty hours before an official came to his rescue. He had been dazed and half-conscious then, probably a natural reaction to keep his mind from experiencing the worst of it.

But now there was no numbness. There was a few moments of silence, and something in him broke in full-out panic.

Where? Where?

They had always made decisions together, Esther, Ilya, and him, living on the spur of the moment, jumping from one county to another whenever they got into messes. He couldn't care less then. As long as he had his companions, he was safe.

Now that they were both gone...

Ilya shifted on the ground next to him. Zhenya looked at his face, blank of any emotion, maybe even peaceful, for once.

And he gave himself a mental slap for forgetting.

Patch up wherever you can, and go. He lived by that. Well, Esther's case was too late for that. But he could still save Ilya. His lifelong friend, and a constant thought in the back of his mind.

He slung Ilya over his shoulder once more and rose to follow Nix. Only she wasn't moving.

She was staring off into the ruins of the OVW Headquarters, her hands clenched into fists at her side. Zhenya realized things were bad when Tethis took one step back, a low hissing sound escaping her teeth.

Zhenya began to move in the opposite direction when he saw it: five or six haggard figures, all striding in their direction, their steps purposeful. Nix grabbed Tethis by the hand and began to run. Zhenya followed, trying not to jostle Ilya too much.

He hoped his sentimental tendencies would not result in another mess that they might not even get out of this time.

They didn't stop moving. Zhenya didn't dare to let his aching feet rest, even with the speed boost Tethis was giving them. As she froze the paths behind them,  dropping a robin onto the frost just to make sure even it couldn't keep steady, he turned to Nix and wordlessly passed her the unconscious body he had been carrying all the while. Nix nodded and took it, before starting to jog again.

Zhenya avoided a patch of sunlight that shone through the forest canopy. Evergreens were a blessing in midday. He didn't have anything to help Tethis with, he realized, watching her wipe beads of sweat from her brow. He had even run out of grenades with streamers in them.