Author's Notes: Don't let the suspense fade away.
Episode 2
Run!
Natalie struggled to breathe air in. She did, and it only made it worse for her. Blood spilled itself from her mouth.
She could feel the knife bury itself further in her chest every passing second. Instead of air, she tasted blood run down her throat, into her lungs. The pain was already damn near unbearable, and in another minute, she would be drowned by her own blood.
"You bastard!"
Leon crushed the man's nose with a fist. The man did not even bother to evade the move. He fell flat on the floor with a bloody nose.
Leon spun around and ran to Natalie. She was lying on the ground, blood trickling down the side of her mouth.
"L-L...e...o...n."
Acting on impulse, he slid his arms around her neck and around her knees. He picked her up in one sudden motion, careful not to worsen her condition. He was ready to run to the nearest hospital. A sharp, rash twinge made Leon flinch and stop.
"Come on, just a little bit more."
He forced his body over its limit and took a quick step forward for a sprint to the hospital.
Suddenly, pain emerged from his ankle. It brought him down to the floor with a thud and almost made him throw Natalie forward.
Leon glanced at his foot, staring in disbelief. A blade was lodged in his ankle.
The man, also on the floor, laughed as Leon winced in pain. "You think I'd give up that easily, huh?" he mocked as he stood up and grabbed Leon by the collar.
A fast punch drove Leon up into the air, then crashing back to the wooden flooring. The blow forced both blood and air out of his body, a spray of crimson dotting the aged planks. Another hammer blow landed on the same spot, on the same bleeding wound, and his vision violently flickered from black to red.
"Get up, boy!"
He strived to get on his feet, though with his best efforts he couldn't. The blade stuck to his ankle was crippling him by the second.
Time was running out.
Nearly slipping away from consciousness, Natalie coughed out more blood.
He had to get the hell out of here and bring Natalie to a hospital.
He couldn't waste any more time. He had to find a way. He had to outsmart this man somehow. If he didn't, he would be losing two lives.
"GRAH!"
Leon pulled the knife out of his lacerated ankle. The man smiled at his eagerness and determination. With all the strength that he had left, Leon rose to his feet once more, own weapon in hand.
"L...eo...n."
Leon glanced behind his back at the faint voice.
"...on." She coughed. "..Le..."
Natalie was already gasping for air. Leon turned back. He laid his guard down and received his punishment.
A dark blur of muscle and a swift blow to the stomach sent him reeling to the wall. The knife was tossed away, too far for either of them to reach.
He could feel his body grow heavier. His vision was blurred from blood and sweat. To win this fight would be a miracle.
"Do you believe in God?" Leon asked the man, panting.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Just answer."
"I guess so."
"Good, 'cause a miracle is about to happen."
Leon pushed himself from the wall and leaped at the man.
A black haze covered the man's face like a shadow in a blink of an eye. It blocked his line of sight. He thrashed to get a grip on it, pulling it off his head and throwing it to the ground.
It was a jacket. He cursed.
Mind widely awake, the man wildly looked around for his opponent. The room was empty. The girl was gone too. He focused his eyes in the darkness. He looked into the next room and saw the boy running away, the girl in his arms.
"Smart boy," he chuckled before chasing Leon, snatching another knife by the kitchen counter as he left the room.
Leon wasn't really sure if the miracle he was expecting was for him to run away like an idiot. Nonetheless, it was good enough.
The light stung his eyes. He squinted, though his feet kept moving into the busy streets. With one foot limp, all he could do was hop, while carrying a 50-kilogram girl in his arms and bearing a terrible wound on his side.
It was impossible for him to be unnoticed by the people on the sidewalk. He was bleeding and everyone saw it. Without his coat, his blood-stained shirt was exposed to the public. The knife on Natalie's chest and the blood from her mouth wasn't helping either.
But, he ignored their irrelevant whispering and kept moving forward.
"There should be a hospital here somewhere," he thought with the remaining hope that he had.
Then he realized that Natalie hadn't uttered a sound for the past three minutes. Perhaps, she was a little too quiet. Panic striking, Leon checked her wrist and applied pressure with two fingers. He slowed down his breathing and calmed himself. Otherwise, he wouldn't get a pulse even if she had one.
"Weak, but still a pulse."
He indignantly fought against the harsh sun, the wounds on his side and on his ankle, and the persistent screaming of his body for him to stop. He knew he was pushing himself too far. It didn't matter now.
A multitude of tan buildings rose in the distant background of the bright sky. The structures were plated with blue and green tinted glass windows all over. One white building stood out among the rest with its unique architecture. That was it, the boy thought.
Leon took a turn and went straight for the white building. Another turn. He crossed the street.
From the corner of his eye, he saw a blood-covered man running behind him at full speed. People started to scream, seeing that the man was missing an eyeball.
"This guy's persistent," Leon thought, smirking. He craved competition. Then, he made his pace deliberately slower, putting his plan into action.
"Please, work."
The man closed the distance between them in a minute. Every step sounded like his heartbeat, quickening to a raging pulse.
Swish.
Leon felt a blade cut the back of his shirt. A second later, he realized his shirt wasn't the only thing that was cut. His flesh, too, was. Fortunately, adrenaline blocked the pain for the meantime.
He took a quick glance behind. The man glared at him like a serial killer. Leon smirked. This was going to be amusing at the very least.
The hospital was just a few meters away. He only needed to cross the street once more. He raced for the emergency room. With one full breath, he ran across the wide street.
Car horns. He didn't care.
Vehicles passing him with an inch to spare, Leon sprinted for the other end of the road. The man was just three steps behind him.
BEEP! BEEP!
That last one almost ran him over. The man behind also had to jump aside. The difference between life and death was only a matter of cleverness.
BEEP! BEEP!
Sidestep.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
BHAG!
A body slammed into a concrete, speeding object.
A deafening screech of burning rubber blasted through Leon's ears. He turned around. The sight made him close his eyes in compunction, even just for a second. Maybe he had gone too far. But then, it wasn't his fault.
There on the concrete he saw the man's lifeless body sprawled, limbs twisted in all the wrong areas and bones sticking out where they shouldn't be. Dark red fluid flowed from the body to the side of his foot.
A delivery truck spun to a stop on the side of the road. The momentum of the vehicle apparently sent its victim's body rolling to the side, ribcage and internal organs crushed flat.
As passersby gathered, a man went out of the truck. His face was dripping with worried trepidation. Police vehicles swarmed from all directions and crowded the street.
Reducing rising guilt into a sense of responsibility, Leon fled from the scene as policemen investigated the area. He went directly to the emergency room of the hospital. He had wasted much of his time.
Nurses, doctors and medical staff were startled as a bloody high school student carrying another wounded student entered through the automatic sliding doors. They assisted the two patients immediately. The male was kept at bay and was given remedial treatment.
"Sir, what is your name?"
Leon followed Natalie with his eyes as the doctors strapped her to a stretcher and brought her to the surgery room, hidden away by thick double doors.
"Sir?" the nurse asked again.
He prayed he wasn't too late. He really prayed; granted that if it was possible, to give his life in exchange of hers.
"Sir?" The nurse took Leon's hand.
Pulled back to reality, he shakily turned his head to her. "What?"
"What is your name?"
"Leonhart Chalti-"
He winced. The nurse applied an alcohol pad on the cut on his ankle. He looked up and found himself staring at the entrance of the surgery room again. Physical pain was tolerable. Anxiety was killing him.
"If you would be kind enough to do so, could you please explain what happened to-"
"Is she going to be alright?"
"Excuse me, sir?"
"Is the girl going to be alright?"
He didn't notice the nurse apply another alcohol pad on his stomach to cleanse his wound. Clean gauge was taped around his midsection to stop the bleeding. The nurse understood his situation and left him with much wanted solitude.
Leon bowed his head and folded his hands together.
"Please, don't let her die."
He waited. And waited, and waited. The room had been the place where people were forced to endure long hours, the place that was always filled with people that were already well-accustomed to waiting, that the horror of it was very distant. The air was permanently humid from all the tears that had been wasted through the years. The chairs were worn down not by time, but by the anguish and fear of facing reality. It was the place where lives were lost and seldom saved, where people were forced to accept death, and where tears ran dry.
From all the wandering that Leon did inside his mind, the next four agonizing hours flew by.
Finally, the double doors opened and a team of doctors came out, taking off their surgical masks and sharing remarks through hand gestures. Leon ran to confront them.
"How is she?" It was the question that had been boggling his mind for hours.
The chief doctor gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"I'm sorry."
Leon wished he heard wrong.
Author's Notes: Minor cliff-hanger. Well? Is it interesting enough to get you hooked? I sure hope so, though I don't thinkso. It might not be that good in the beginning, but once I get into it, I promise it's going to be worth reading at the least. Please, give the story a chance. Flip the page. Next chapter.