Battle of the Misfits

Chapter - Thirteen (Isla)

"I never thought I'd have to tell this to you but here we are I guess...", Lucas said.

Ok. So you're telling me that Lucas knifed my brother ten times in the stomach not because he wanted to but because he was told to?! My emotions were stuck in my throat as I felt the urge to take out the pen from my pocket and dig it into that little traitor face of his, but at this point, I had no one else to survive with and him being my only hope saved his life being taken away from my hands.

I lifted my head from my knees and wiped the tears and boogers from my face. Looking through my blurry eyes, I saw Lucas sitting near the door in a corner, staring at Natalia's lifeless body. Neither of us had agreed to dispose her off of the room. "You should take her out", I said. "You must've done this before right?!", I burst out, my voice heavy with emotions.

Almost immediately, he shot up, "It wasn't me ok?!", his eyes traced back to the ground. "It wasn't me...", he started weeping. "Your acting skills are paying off.", I spat in disgust. "You are starting to sound more and more convincing as and when I get to know you. No wonder you were able to gain my trust so easily. Doesn't look like you took dance or chess in your school when drama was a choice!", I blurted out without a second thought.

There was a long uncomfortable silence which suddenly got broken as we started hearing gun shots in a far distance. "Not this stupidity again...", I whispered to myself. Lucas got up and came to me. Reaching his hand towards me, he said, "Let's go." "You said what?!", I stared at him in disbelief.

"I know it isn't easy for you to process this but just know that it isn't easy for me too. Anyways, you don't have any choice now but to come with me." He kneeled down in front of me and squeezed my hand, "I wish I could help the situation but here we are; stuck in a place with only two ways out. Escape or death!"

I shivered, realising that it was the truth. There were two more gunshots, this time a little closer to us when Lucas got up, his hand still in mine. He pulled me up to my feet but I just couldn't walk. I was drained, physically and emotionally. I was tired. Tired of my life. Tired of myself. Tired of this world.
All at once, I remembered my family. Mom, James, Reece. I couldn't lose hope. I couldn't give up just yet. I needed to do this. I needed to do this for them. They love me and are waiting for me. They never lied to me...

I took a deep breath and snatched my hand free from his. "Where to?", I asked never sparing him a glance. Almost as if he had been preparing for this moment his whole life, he babbled out, "On the farther left of this building is a huge area covered with trees and tall grass. If we make it in time without getting noticed, we will be able to survive just a little longer."

Mapping the area in my head, I quickly started to my feet and followed Lucas, who had gone to the door and opened it just a little, little enough to be sure that the path was clear for us to make the escape. Glancing at my once loyal and innocent friend another time, I sighed and followed towards Lucas and stayed close behind. I had already been betrayed to the point where I could have been dead and I had no reason to be trusting another such 'friend' here but I was out of options. A beggar can't be a chooser.

"It's clear for now.", Lucas whispered and interrupted my train of thoughts. I nodded and Lucas opened the door ajar to the loud gunshots. Before we knew it, we were running towards the farther left of the building, me behind Lucas. After a few seconds of aimless running in the ashes and broken door frames, I looked behind us to make sure we in fact were safe but to our dismay, there was a man, heavily suited in huge bulletproof camouflaging jacket, running towards us with a massive gun in his hands. Now I'm not an expert in guns but from what I could tell, that thing could definitely kill...

I panted heavily as we made our way to a door left ajar that let some of the outside air into the building. I jerked at my injured foot twisting on a piece of wood but that didn't keep me from maintaining my quick pace as we rushed towards the clearing.
As soon as we left the building itself, I squinted hard as I tried to make out the contents my surrounding and decipher how safe it was through the bright sunlight. This made me realise that I hadn't been out for who-knows-how-many days.

I watched as Lucas stole a quick glance at the man behind us and gripped my hand and pulled me to a nearby tree. We hid behind it and waited as the man tried searching for us for a few minutes and then wandered off to a far distance. I took this chance to take in the new area. Tall trees covered the area as a few bushes peeped from around the corners. The grass was drying off and left a brown tint on the floor.

I looked up at the building to see that it was completely burnt, even from the right side. I was wondering when it would have happened when my eye caught a group of people running out from there building. They wore looks of fear as they emerged out and fumbled for a safe space from the hunters. I quickly looked elsewhere and inched away from their sight as I didn't want to fall prey for another one of the "innocent" survivor.

I looked back at Lucas who was pre-occupied in scouting out for any hunters. He suddenly turned and caught me looking at him. I didn't budge. I just continued staring. Staring at the person who I once called a friend. The person who brutally stabbed my brother. The person I sit beside now as my only hope. I realised my stance as my vison started blurring from the tears in my eyes. I looked away to wipe them and sniff into the air as the chorus of gunshots and screaming men and women rang in my ears.

I looked at the sky. Although barely visible through the canopy of tall trees, I could tell that it was cloudy. The wind ran chill through my hair and my face went numb as the wind cooled the tears on my face. I sighed in the cold air and prayed to God for it to become better. 'When it all seems to fall downhill, turn to God.', my mom often said. 'He knows what's best for us and will always be there with us through the thicks and thins, even if no one is beside you.' I just closed my eyes and prayed and hoped for something to come down on us and take us away from this wretched place.

It wasn't long before I heard a loud gunshot just metres away towards the building and some loud shrieking. I looked towards where the sound came from and saw at a near distance that the group that were looking for a spot to hide earlier had been caught! One by one, the shouting faded as the people were mercilessly downed by the hunters. I panicked and looked towards Lucas who was already looking at me with horror-filled eyes. In a jiffy, he grabbed my hand and made a run towards the clearing. I didn't even get time to get up on my injured ankle as I stumbled to the ground from the hard pull.

I looked up to see that Lucas was trying for us to make a run to a long wall separating the trees and a huge area of grassland, which was greener than the side that we were currently stuck in. I panned my eyes towards Lucas as he urgently pleaded me to ignore the pain and get up on my feet. I tried my best and lifted myself up from the ground. I winced at the pain of the slow-healing wound of my arms but managed to steady it with the help of the tree bark.

I wobbled a few steps towards him as I kept an eye on the approaching hunters and then suddenly, "Lucas move!", I screamed and pulled him back with all my effort as one of the men pointed a gun towards us and...

BANG!

x__________x__________x_________x

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Oh God, not another cliff-hanger! Hahaha. Why do I enjoy doing this to you...?

QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER:
Do you like it when stories have a bad ending? Not that this has anything to do with this book. Just wondering...
*wink* *wink*

Put your answers in the comments. ---->

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