The Diseased Heart

Chapter 16

I quickly grabbed Olive by the back of her shirt and pulled her up into my arms, the smell of her blood was overpowering as it was, but bringing her that much closer to my face caused my jaw to twitch with the wave of such a powerful aroma, triggering my already worked up instincts since I hadn't managed to hunt anything.

I pushed the urges of hunger aside, as hard as it was, the only saving grace I had was knowing that she was my friend, and therefore off the menu. I barely even heard Jack tentatively yet frantically questioning what I was doing before I had already launched off the mossy ground and began running to the city, which was just about a ten minute walk for most humans away.

Thoughts were running through my mind faster than I was running across the now muddy floor of the woods, the closer I got to the road that bordered the trees, the more I grew afraid. Not anxious, but afraid. I was not afraid of the fact that I was running head first into the city, which was just another word for my demise at this point, no, I was afraid for Olive. She was the kindest person I had met since before the apocalypse, and she was also the youngest. I was not going to let her die. Not on my watch.

Maria and the others in her group had saved my life, yes, but they also did it for their own gain, so I would have incentive to help them with their research. They were helping me because I could give them something in return. Olive met me, something that was likely going to kill her, and whilst her friends panicked, she did not. She didn't have to warn me about what her dad knew, but she did anyway. It was rare enough to find people like that as it was, but as a monsterous thing like myself? They were rarer than working cars were back in the day.

As the city grew closer and the red faded from my vision, I grew more determined. Before I even knew it, the road that drew the line between the city and the forest was just ahead of me. There would be no going back after I crossed that road, there were traffic cameras everywhere, and even if I miraculously managed to get theiugh the streets undetected, I'd be on camera. Even with all that in mind, I jumped across the road without hesitation, my claws skidding across the asphalt while scrambled to climb the nearest building.

Crossing it barely took a few seconds once I got a foothold. It had been a while since I scaled buildings, but I soon was climbing over small houses to get to the hospital across the city. I had seen so many maps of the roads while I wandered the museum that I had memorized the most important landmarks.

Car horns blared and breaks screamed to a halt, filling the area with the smell of burnt rubber and gasoline fumes. I heard a few people scream from below me as they scrambled away to hide from my shadow. I wouldn't blame them, I was known as a dangerous creature who had come to life and had run away in broad daylight, now I was running through the city holding a limp child covered in blood and bite wounds, needless to say, it wasn't looking great for me.

I jumped more buildings and climbed across telephone wires, crossing everything that remained in my path to save Olive's life. More screams rang out and I faintly heard cars colliding with one another from the streets below, and sirens of emergency vehicles began blaring in the distance, steadily getting closer. I cringed, so much for causing minimal damage.

I heard a loud bang from my side, which I first assumed to be another collision. No, this sound was much more familiar, even among the chaos. More bangs rang out, they were gunshots from police officers trying to shoot me down. I barely felt the tinges of pain with all the adrenaline running through me, just the jolt from the impact if it hit a bone, I didn't care to check how many times they might have managed to hit me, it wasn't changing my mind. My only worry was if any of my blood dripped into Olive's wound, I shifted the way I held her and continued avoiding as many of the shots as I could without slowing down. As much as I tried to pretend I wasn't, I was utterly terrified. My jaw chattered relentlessly due to my hightened emotions, which I'm sure didn't calm the nerves of those below.

Finally, a glimpse of the hospital caught my eye, I suddenly altered my course a full ninety degrees, kicking up roof tiles and digging my claws into the wood beneath. I bolted at the top speed I felt I could safely manage to try and get there before most of the police were able to follow me. I was running at a gold clip, and most of the cars had blocked off the roads. I attempted to jump another building, but of couse I wouldn't be that lucky, I underestimated the distance, and barely latched onto the edge of the roof, my head smashed hard against the concrete, and my vision doubled, causing me to loose grip and fall.

I felt an impact of my shoulder into the asphalt, but I had been able to block Olive with my own body so she wouldn't be crushed. I heard breaks scream and felt another bone crushing impact, sending me lurching forward across the pavement. Turning my head, I realized the minivan that had just smashed into me now had a fair bit if blood across the front bumper.

I was running out of time, I jumped up, ignoring the crushing pain radiating through my body, and jumped back up the buildings to resume my sprint to the hospital. Olive was barely moving anymore, barely breathing.

I just kept running. I heard something strange from above me, and looking up only willed me to run faster. There was a helicopter following me. A literal helicopter. I could see several people inside watching me intently in the second I had glanced up at it. I had to make sire of what I saw, so risking another glance back, I saw a man up there loading a gun.

He had pale white skin and finger length blonde hair. He was wearing a white lab coat that blew back like a cape in the wind made by the helicopter. I could barely see what he was holding, but it was most certainly not a regular gun, meaning that was most likely not a regular bullet either.

For some reason, I recognized him. I couldn't place why or how, but I recognized him. I shook my head and kept trying to run. This was not going well, and she was running out of time.

Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in the center of my back, and my Crawler legs instantly went completely numb mid run. I collapsed and rolled across the rooftop, plummeting into the street below, so close to the parking lot of the hospital.

I crashed hard into the roof of a car, crushing it like a tin can. Olive tumbled a bit ahead of me onto the road, limp and unmoving. I tried to climb out of the wreckage and get to her, but I could barely feel my legs. I worried if my spine had snapped, before the numbness crept up my arms as well, rendering them useless in minutes.

I looked up one more time to see the helicopter beginning to land up ahead in the mostly empty sections of the parking lot. I tried to get up, but failed, my legs just wouldn't cooperate, as if whatever I had been shot with had severed my brain's connection to the rest of my body. I fell back down into the shattered metal frame, I stayed awake just long enough to see people leaving the helicopter and walking toward me.