Dark Nights

One by One

Elliot thudded onto the railing next to me, blood spurting out of the pellet wounds on his shoulder and neck. I screamed bloody murder at the sight of him, tears already clouding my vision as I knelt down to the fallen lion.

I placed my hands on his chest looking at him through my blurry vision. He whimpered and tried to raise his head, but could only cough up blood. All the while I was crying at him through my agony.

" NO! NO! NO! NO! PLEASE!!!!" I kept shouting out. I looked up at Willy, who looked just a horrified and shocked as I did. Tears also dripping down his face as he watched the man he considered a son lay in his own blood on the ground.

On the other side, Joshua's eyes were wide and his jaw was dropped as if he did not fully believe what he just saw. Beside him, Jack cocked the shotgun again.

" Your weak Joshua, I don't recognize you anymore," Jack said while raising his gun again and aiming it at me. Joshua screamed in rage. Charging into him and throwing him off balance.

My hands were bloody as I kept stroking Elliot's face. His brown eyes never left my tear-filled ones as I continued to talk to him for my own sanity.

"It's go-ing to be o-ok Elliot. Your gonna- Your gonna be ok." I sobbed to him, trying to convince myself more than anything of what I was saying.

I felt Willy's hands on my shoulders as he knelt into me, burying his face into the back of my shoulders. Not being able to look at Elliot like this. I felt my back get wet from all of his tears but I did not care in the slightest.

Most of it was on his shoulder, only a few pellets damaged his neck area... maybe he could pull through this if we got him to a hospital. I jerked my head back in the direction of the others as Joshua knocked the gun from his brother's hands where it clinked down the railing and into the grinder.

Sparks shot up from it as it got crushed in the metal. I screamed again as Jack pulled out his knife and stabbed his own brother in the gut. He was out for blood, and he no longer cared who he got it from.

Joshua slowly looked down at the blade in his stomach. Slowly reaching his hands up to it and grabbing onto it weakly as he looked up at his brother again. Jack snarled at him, spitting in his face as he pushed him back and out of the door they came from, locking it and keeping him from entering.

Willy shifted up to his feet behind me. There was an obvious difference in height between the two. The wolf towering over him. However Willy was about twice his age, he had far more experience.

" Jack... When I am through with you... Not even the vultures will eat your rotting corpse." The cannibal hissed at him, and Jack only blinked through his glare before charging at us.

Willy charged too, and for a second I thought I was about to see willy get stabbed too. However, the cannibal quickly ducked under Jacks's stab and unshielded a hidden knife of his own. Slashing into Jacks's side and pushing the attacker away as he howled curses at him.

Willy skillfully twirled his knife in his fingers, standing in between Jack and Elliot and me. I felt Elliot slip a shaky hand into my own and I squeezed his back as hard as I could.

He groaned and growled and I choked back more sobs as he gathered the strength to sit up. I held his bloody face into my chest as I watched Willy defend us from Jack. Evading his stabs every time and leaving him with a deep slash in return.

Jack was fuming by now and rage and hatred burned in his fiery eyes. He shouted a roar at the cannibal, trying and failing once again to stab him.

He was dripping blood from several slash wounds on his torso and arms. He was breathing heavily from both fury and exertion. his jaw hanging open as he took in deep breaths that I could see in the cold air.