Endergirl (SLOW UPDATES)

Chapter 7: I'm going to fucking kill you

She rolled over to face the oncoming horde, pulling a thin blade from its sheath that was strapped to her back. This was when she saw me. She starred as I ran towards her, her eyes, a bright grey. Grey... Like the clouds of a formidable storm. I could almost see the bright flashes of lightening. She was scared... But her jaw was clenched in a determination that pushed through her pain.

Her will to survive was overwhelming. How? How was she not frozen in fear? How could she drive herself to live on? An oncoming arrow penetrated her shoulder, a yelp of agony escaped her lips. But instead of loosening, her grip tightened around the hilt of her blade.

As I moved to kneel down next to her, the tip of the weapon nicked at my neck, a small trail of blood escaping from my skin. She stared along the sharpened edge, straight into my eyes. To her, I was an enemy.

I could hear the noises of the mobs, they were close... So close. Any second now I expected to feel a piercing arrow or a tear of flesh. And yet I was calm as I gazed back at her. We were judging each other, assessing, looking for faults. A moment longer than any I had ever experienced, it felt like a lifetime of stillness.

The sword lowered.

I took a deep breath. "May I?" I said, gesturing my intentions.

Her eyebrows furrowed in anger or embarrassment, I wasn't sure which. "I can walk."

Her voice was wisping and forced, but it contained a sense of melody... As if it could become soft and caring, although the obvious amount of pain she was in made that impossible. I shook my head. "Walking is not an option."

Carefully, I reached under her legs, just above the arrow that inhibited her. My other arm supported her back. Her skin was warm and soft... I forced the thoughts out of my mind and stood up hurriedly. She winced at the sudden movement. "Sorry, can you endure for a little longer?"

"Stop pitying me and run." She replied, her head dropping into her chest as she braced herself.

The monsters were almost a meter away. Isaac was nowhere to be seen. Swearing, I pushed through the closing gap and ran, sprinting towards the only safe place we had. The mobs were terrifyingly quick and did not hesitate to chase us through the grass that thrashed against my movements.

I struggled to hold onto the girl in my arms. "Don't you dare say I'm heavy." She said, almost guessing my thoughts.

Somehow I grinned despite being chased by a deadly horde through the night. I stumbled as the ground dipped unexpectedly. There was no time to get my feet under me, we were going to fall.

If we fell like this, she would hit the ground first, hurting her even more... Quickly, I used the last of my balance to rotate around her, my back now facing the hard surface beneath us. I hit the bare dirt with a dull thud. How many times had this happened in the last two days? It was as if the ground held a permanent grudge against me.

She lay at an odd angle on top of me, still hurt, but not as much as she would have been. She looked down at me in confusion. "Why? Why are you helping me?"

I stood once more, ignoring her question because even I did not know the answer. We were close, from here the warm glow of torchlight was visible atop our lonesome hill. This is where Isaac had escaped to. He knelt on the edge, hastily fiddling with something. What the hell was he doing? Couldn't he see we needed help?

It was only now that the most important dilemma became so blatantly obvious. How in god's name was I going to get a seriously injured girl up the cliff face, in the middle of the night, under arrow fire? I could hardly get up myself, I doubted even Isaac could perform this feat. I saw something fall from the edge, bouncing a few times against the stone wall before settling.