Hiding in the Shadows

Chapter Two: Captured

I was crouched in the corner, desperately squeezing into the small slit between the wall and a rusted bed. Panic racked my body, willing me unable to move. Tears collected at the corners of my eyes as a calm hand latched onto my own. The building shook and I gasped. Kai's dark hands flew to my mouth, foolishly trying to cover my mistake.

But it was too late. They had heard.

The door smashed open, cracking as it connected with the wall.  I gulped under Kai's dirty fingers.

The men didn't talk as they entered, filing through the door silently  as not to alert us. Kai's eyes glinted in the dirty air and I saw in their reflection the men moving about. I held my breath,  listening as the crunch of their footsteps closed in on the other side of the bed

"Listen to me," Kai mouthed, keeping his hand covering my mouth. His hot breath formed droplets on my skin. "I won't let them take you. When I say, run." I looked into Kai's glassy eyes. They were covered in dust and soot, but they glittered in the darkness.

They were a swirling indigo blue, so dark they were almost purple. The glint of his eye stopped my shaking, but my anxiety mounted. He was going to sacrifice himself so that I could live.

"Kai, I can't let you do this. You-"

"Can't change my decision," he murmured back so quietly, I could barely hear him. His eyes bored into mine with determination, but also with something else. Pleading. "You can go, you can live. Please." One tear etched its way down my cheek. I shook my head.

"Kai-" I was cut off as his head whipped around at the hand that had grabbed ahold of the mattress to pull it away from us. He pushed me down and a growl escaped his lips. He stood, firing his gun at the men. Blood sprayed and men dropped but bullets began to fire back towards us. My hands flew to cover my head.

A man grabbed the leg of the bed and pulled it out, exposing us. Another jumped on top of Kai, knocking him to the ground as I scrambled away. He coughed and blood dribbled down his chin from his split lip. The man held his gun to the side of Kai's head and his eyes widened.

"Go," he hollered at me, pushing hard on the man's unmoving chest. I didn't move. "Run!" The man's head swiveled an inch to look at me, and Kai took his moment of distraction. He head-butted the man and twisted his arm free, scratching the soldier's eyes. He yelped and Kai was able to free himself. He kicked another soldier's legs out from under him as he rushed at Kai. The man's skull cracked into the cement ground; he didn't try to get back up.

A fist knocked Kai in the ribs as one of the men charged at me. Kai doubled over, spitting blood onto the patchy carpet as I ducked around the guard's clutches. He spun around, tripping on the one of his dead comrades and twisting his knee. A snapping sound shot through the air and he screamed in pain. I grimaced and backed away. Two soldiers advanced on me and I glanced over to Kai.

Three of the remaining five soldiers had wrestled Kai into a headlock and held his arms behind his struggling form. He jerked his head back, crushing one of the guard's noses. Blood spurted from the wound, and the man groaned, lessening his hold on Kai. Kai pushed on the men, using their momentum to aim an impeccably placed kick at the broken nosed guard. Right in the family jewels. Before he knew what had hit him, he was crying out and couldn't stand a second longer. He crumpled to his knees.

"Go," Kai roared at me as another soldier dropped. He swerved, pulling out from under the last man's arms, severely injuring the soldier's arm. The man dropped him and stumbled back. The butt of Kai's gun connected with the man's head and knocked him out cold.