Backstab

Chapter 8: Blind

A/N: Hey peoples! Ok sorry about the lack of updates, but hey, one can only try, plus Wolfie's been nagging me to start the next chapter of our co-op story The Loriens, so yeah. Also, this chapter actually took some minor research on my part, so I couldn't just put off writing it til the very last second like I usually do.

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It felt like the whole world was submerged in water. I could hear SweetPea screaming, but it sounded muffled and far away. As could I hear Tyler yelp in pain, but even that sounded stifled. The only thing I felt acutely aware of was the armed man in front of us, reloading his deadly weapon.

Instinct overcame me, the same one that had driven me to hold a knife to the cook's throat what felt like so long ago. Gathering power, I lunged at the shooter, catching by surprise and knocking him to the floor. Grunting, I snatched the gun from his meaty hands and backed away from him, training the barrel at his chest.

"Don't move," I commanded, hoping my voice sounded more stable then I felt.

For a moment, a look of confusion crossed his face, which changed to amusement as he assessed the situation. He started to rise. "Put it down little lady," he said, making calming hand gestures. "You could get hurt."

I loaded a bullet. "Stay back," I said harshly, tears of anger and grief beginning to pool in my eyes. He took a step. Without a moment of hesitation, I squeezed the trigger.

Releasing a small grunt of pain, the man instantly collapsed, his body hitting the floor like a discarded child's toy. His legs fell in an awkward position, and I knew immediately that he was out cold.

Gasping slightly, I let the gun slip from my fingers, the reality of all that had just occurred beginning to sink in. Tyler was hurt. The man had shot him. The man was hurt. I had shot him. Crumpling much like the man, I sunk to my knees, barely managing to withhold my own shock and horror at what had just happened. Behind me I heard SweetPea sobbing slightly, fighting back hysteria as she held Tyler. For a minute, the only sound was that of our own grief.

Then, SweetPea suddenly gasped. "Baby, he's still breathing! And there's no blood where the bullet went in!"

I started at her words, snapping out of my reverie as I turned to examine Tyler. She was right. If anything, Tyler didn't appear as if he had been shot, simply like he was in a sort of deep, painful sleep. Glancing over at the man, I saw that he looked the same.

"But…" I began, drifting off in confusion.

Warily, I crawled over to examine the weapon, blinking slowly as I took it in my hand. It was nothing like the ones we fought with in the fantasies, or any gun I had seen in real life either. The barrel was longer more cylindrically shaped, plus it was weighted strangely.

"It's fake. Or at least, not lethal." I said, passing it back and forth between my hands.

"A tranquilizer gun, I've heard of them before," SweetPea noted, the ache in her voice lifting. "They shoot dart things with sedative, so instead of killing you it just knocks you out."

Examining the gun further, I breathed a sigh of relief, and my heart rate beginning to slow down. Tyler wasn't in serious danger, and neither was the man whom I had shot. Sure, taking the bullet probably hadn't been painless, but at least it wasn't fatal.

And yet, that that didn't change the fact that Tyler had jumped in front of us to take what he probably believed to be a very real bullet. A bullet aimed for me, not for SweetPea. He was willing to possibly die for someone he barely knew, someone who had no faith in him whatsoever. Again I felt a stab of guilt; for less than an hour ago I had been so willing to leave Tyler so SweetPea and I could escape, but now I owed him my life.

Shouldering this knowledge, I swallowed, attempting to focus on the situation at hand. "We should probably get out of here; find somewhere safe to rest while Tyler wakes up."

SweetPea nodded, coming to her feet. "Whoever those people are will probably come looking for this man. We'd best be out of here before that happens."

Working together, we managed to carry Tyler, but only barely. Half dragging his unconscious body, we set out into the city.

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A/N: Really really short chapter, but hey, you know how it is.

Please review/comment! And thanks again to all the readers out there!