Caught In The Crossfire//A 10k Story

Chapter 42

"Okay, we have maybe enough ammo to rescue him, if we are careful. Otherwise we are relying on our melee weapons," Warren sighed as we cleared out the small garage. We were looking for tools to fix a small car we found outside the shop 10k and I looted a few days back. "Well then we need to conserve our ammo," I said bitterly as Warren shot a Z in the head. She gave me a look and put her gun away.

This whole thing would have been easier with the others here, but Warren had told me they were camping out in a motel about 40 miles east. Addy had be pushed down a set of stairs whilst tackling a Z off of Doc. Her leg was 'pretty damned bruised and swollen' as Doc said.

"Jeez I just hope the kids okay,". Doc's hopefulness was the only thing that kept me going. It had been a rough few days without 10k here, I had grown accustomed to having him with me for the past year or so, and after being alone for 3 years before that, it was really effecting me. I still cried for him at night when I woke up in a cold sweat from the nightmares. Warren and Doc both tried to comfort me but I just brushed them away and told them I was fine. They both still looked at me like I was a broken child.

"Okay lets go," Warren ordered. As we ran across the street, rain started to pour from the sky. "Great just what we fucking need right now," I murmured and pulled up my hood. I was still wearing 10k's hoodie. It was warm and comforted me.

"Alright lets get back, we have 3 days until we go in for 10k. So lets get this car up and running," Warren began to run to the opposite side of the street.

Once we were outside the shop, Doc went inside the dark building to check it while Warren and I stood guard outside. "Hey, stop worrying," Warren smiled in an attempt to lighten the mood. I turned to her and scowled.

"Warren! How can I not worry? The boy I love is out there, alone with murderers and thief's. Having god know what done to him!" I shouted at her. I faced away from her and pinched the bridge of my nose, keeping in the hot tears threatening to spill. "It's...it's just not the same without him..." I squeaked out in a small voice. My heart ached for him.

"All clear," Doc's voice broke the silence and we made our way in.

The garage was dark and reminded me vaugley of a summer job I once had, the dust in the air tickling my nose a bit. "Jamie, you go that way," Warren nodded off to the door joinging the garage and office, I quickly followed her orders.

It was something I had learned when I first joined this group, well it was more like my family now. You either follow the orders given, or you would risk your life and the lives of the group. I briefly heard her telling Doc to keep watch.

I pushed the stiff door open, slowly taking a few steps into the dark office. A desk lined one wall and a shelving untied was pushed against the other. A door labelled ' Break Room' was directly opposite me. A sudden coldness overwhelmed me as a shiver ran down my back. I hated exploring new places alone, I always expected the worst. I went over and tried the door. I rattled the handle a few times. It was locked but just off to the right, hanging on a hook, were the keys.

I decided I would search the office first. But I found nothing but paperwork and broken pencils. Shrugging away the uneasy feeling that was settling in my stomach, I pushed the door open to reveal a messy break room. There were tipped over chairs, smashed mugs, smear of blood and one single dead body. I cautiously made my way over to it. I kicked it with my right foot, just to make sure it was truly dead. Luckily it was.

A small weight was lifted from my shoulders as I was now sure there was nothing that could harm me. I put my machete back into the holder, leaving it unclasped, and started to look in the cupboards of the small kitchen area. The air was thicker in here and a lingering smell of death made it hard to breathe. "Okay, Okay," I grinned as I puled out a box of instant coffee. I missed coffee. My mouth started watering at the thought.

I was crouched by a pile of what looked like torn up and wet clothing, when a loud bang from one of the lockers startled me. I stood up and pull out my machete.

It went deathly silent.

Bang!

I stepped back and my foot slipped on the pile of wet rags, causing me to fall backwards and a burning pain shot up my thigh. I bit my tongue and sucked in a deep breathe through my teeth.

A hot, white pain was burning from the bend of me knee all the way up to the middle of my thigh. A short scream of pain escaped my lips. My hands instantly flew to my leg, tears stinging my eyes. I heard the door burst open and I glanced up to see Doc and Warren staring at me with wide eyes.

"Jaime! What happened?" Doc quickly ran over to me, pulling out a rag and pressing it to my thigh. I looked down to see red pooling beneath me. More hot pain shot through my leg and I looked around. "I..I slipped and I must have cut my leg on that," I pointed a shaky finger at a toppled over chair with a sharpened leg, failing to mention what startled me. "Okay, okay just stay calm. I just need to.." Doc said calmly as he tied another rag around my leg as a tourniquet.

I was breathing heavy as Warren and Doc lifted me to my feet. "We need to get you back and get this stitched up," Doc said hesitantly. I groaned and threw my head back. "I need stitches?" I asked quietly, dreading the answer. Doc scoffed. "Uh yeah, by the amount of blood your loosing, I would say so," Doc said, Warren hummed in agreement.

Oh no.

My vision was blurry and my head was spinning as we exited the garage. I groaned and pressed a numb hand to my face. "My head hurts..." My voice was quiet. My steps started to slow and Warren tried to usher me forward. "C'mon we need to keep going," Doc said in a smooth voice, tightening his grip on my upper arm. I took one more step before crashing to the ground, everything going black around me.