A Darker World

Chapter Eight

All rights go to the amazing mind that is Cassandra Clare for all the characters in this story.

Clary's POV

Three days had passed and I was feeling back to normal. My wound had completely healed. A doctor here, a real one, had wanted to take a look but I kept saying no. The excuse was that I didn't really trust doctors anymore but it was mainly because I couldn't explain to the mundanes how I'd healed so quickly.

Jace had barely spoken to me, I knew he was angry because I wanted to leave. But at the same time, he never let me out of his sight just in case I did sneak away. He was determined to come with me when I did go. He kept telling me he was coming and I eventually stopped arguing but that didn't make me change my mind. He was right. It was as safe here as we were going to get and it was dangerous out there, which is why I wouldn't let him come. But this place wasn't for me. I didn't do safe well. Maybe I enjoyed the danger more than I realised. Maybe I thought safe was overrated. But all the while I had been planning to leave, I couldn't stop thinking about Jace. About never seeing him again. I didn't know if I could do it. My brain kept saying leave, but my heart kept talking me out of it. I loved Jace more than I hated this place. I was so conflicted. I love him so much it hurts. Should I stay? Or should I leave?

I had packed all my things away in a bag and shoved it under my bed. If I did decided to actually go, at least I would be ready. If I did leave, I planned to get back to the safe house. I could pack everything up in my truck and go. At least I'd have supplies. I know I could never go back there once I'd cleared the place out, it's the first place Jace would look for me.

I was just leaving my room when I heard a gunshot. I stopped for a moment in my doorway before running back inside and grabbing my weapons. I heard more gunshots and screams as I ran quickly out of my room and down the stairs. I turned to a room on my right and saw a woman struggling with two men. "Hey!" I shouted. They both looked over and as they were distracted, I shot the man closest to me. "Run!" I said to the woman as his body fell to the floor. She ran out past me as the second man looked up. His arm swung down quickly to grab his gun and as he raised it up, shot toward me. The bullet ripped through my shoulder as a few seconds later, I kicked the gun from his hand. He came towards me, holding down my arm as he got out his second gun. I looked down, seeing the grenade on his belt. After a spilt second of thinking, I grabbed it.

The pin dropped to the floor. He looked down at the pin then up at me with a frown. I pushed his arms off of me and shoved the grenade into his army vest before pushing him hard backwards. He fell and hit the wall, panicked as he tried to unstrap his vest. I quickly ran back and slipped to the floor next to the other man I had shot, pulling his body on top of me. I heard a scream as the grenade went off. My ears numbed as pieces of debris fell around me. I pushed the body off me and laid there for a second. That was close. I got up, and looked at the body I had used as I shield, seeing pieces of glass and rock stuck into his flesh. It was then I saw the man was still alive. He was bleeding out from the gunshot and his back was completely burnt. "Please." He begged, weakly. "Please don't kill me. I have a family! Children!" I looked down at him.

"They can do better." I raised my gun and fired. I walked over to where the grenade had gone off, seeing what was left of the other man. Jace ran in panicked.

"Are you okay? I heard the-" He stopped as he looked down at the body parts on the floor and at the burnt man. He looked back up at me. "Thorough." He stated. "Well done." I shrugged.

"More like medium rare." I smirked. He rolled his eyes and I ran out the building after him. Gun shots were still firing all around us, it felt like a war zone. We took cover behind some of the large outdoor plant pots in the town square. I saw that there was a hole in the perimeter, where the intruders must have come in. Not only were we dealing with the people who had broken in but also some stray zombies that had followed. I felt like most of the time, zombies were a second thought. I was always worrying more about other humans and what they would do. "Who the hell are these bastards?" I yelled as I shot towards them. It seemed nobody knew. I grabbed a second gun off of an injured guy next to me. "Hey, take this." I said pushing the gun towards a girl who didn't have a weapon.