Arkdays [Pre-load]

Prologue 8

The light expands at a rapid rate, conquering the dark cloudy skies that stood before it. For a brief moment, it seems as if the sun itself had torn through the restrictive clouds below it.

    "D-Doctor," Shia grunts, resting her hand over her chest, kneeling on the ground.

    She swivels her head around to find the Doctor, which takes an extreme amount of effort through the pain she's currently feeling. Her eyes eventually lock onto the Doctor, who's also fallen to the ground. The Doctor rummages through a back pocket inside of his coat in between pained breaths, his arms and knees shaking all throughout the process.

    Finally, after locating the item he was looking for, he tears it out of his coat, revealing a small, heavily dented plastic medicine container. He rips off the cap and digs through the contents, finding only one still intact pill.

    He looks between the pill and Shia multiple times, forcefully jerking his hand back and towards the medicine, as if he can't decide what to do with it. Soon though, in a split second decision, he grabs the medicine capsule and crawls over to Shia.

    Shia lays collapsed on the ground now, face towards the sky above her. She has a blank look on her face, her eyes the only part of her body she's willing to move through the pain. She looks around worriedly, trying to find the Doctor. After a few anxious seconds, the Doctor appears in the corner of her vision, his long hair now fallen partially in front of his face. The Doctor tries moving it out of the way, but it falls back in front of his face moments later.

    The Doctor leans directly over Shia, holding the pill in front of her eyes. Her eyes lock directly onto the pill, a slightly confused look on her face, but tries nodding in understanding. Yet, she can't even muster such a simple move.

    Slowly, he lowers his hand down and drops the pill into her mouth before collapsing on top of Shia.

    Shia looks horrified at the scene in front of her, yet focuses all of her energy on swallowing the pill. Despite the pained grunts and flashes of pain numbing her body, she's able to choke the pill down.

    After what feels like an eternity, Shia slowly gains back the feeling of her arms and legs, though still struggles to move them underneath the Doctor's body. The numbing sensation starts to return back to her body, though this time due to the lack of blood flow. She hurriedly digs her feet into the ground and uses her arms to push herself away from the Doctor, eventually freeing her from the Doctor's weight.

    She waits for a quick moment, sucking in air heavily and catching her breath. She slowly begins picking herself off the ground, her knees shaking slightly.

    She advances towards the Doctor at a snail's pace, struggling to stay upright. Her knees threaten to buckle as she walks, and she nearly falls multiple times.

    "Doctor?" She asks, her voice still strained.

    She eventually collapses to the ground at the Doctor's side, though this time on her knees, and tries shaking the Doctor.

    "Kai?"

    She shakes his body.

    "Kai wake up!"

    She shakes his body again.

    She waves her hand in front of his face, brushing off the hair that covers his eyes.

    They remain open, holding still in its gaze towards the now dark again sky.

    "KAI PLEASE!"

    Shia listened to the Doctor before.

    She didn't cry when the Doctor locked himself away for three months.

    She didn't cry when she saw the demolished hospital and the people inside.

    She didn't cry when she saw the anguish on the Infected's faces.

    But she cried when she lost Morgan.

    And she sobbed when she lost the Doctor.

ARKDAYS