CHAPTER 2
The Retreat
LANCE
He must have zoned out, because the next thing he knew, someone or something was grabbing him by his shoulders and he felt pain rippling through him as he was turned over. He yelped weakly and was rewarded with being released.
He had no idea who was there, so part of him felt that it was the monster, returning to hurt him again. He covered his head with his arm - one of them refused to obey him - and he curled as small as he could, cringing and groaning in pain as he moved, and he waited for it to grab him again. All the while - though he was unaware of it - he muttered repeatedly "no, no, no" and wished that he would be left alone to just die.
"Lance! Lance!" An incredibly familiar voice echoed over the sounds of his own breathing and his agonized cries.
He forced himself to open his eyes, and he saw the hazy image of Matt kneeling above him with wide, shocked eyes. He couldn't figure out why the world kept spinning around him, but it only made him all the more dizzy and he groaned slowly.
"Lance? What happened? Hey, you're bleeding..." Matt's voice trailed off.
Lance blinked open his eyes for a moment. He saw Natz, looking at him with a scared expression, and he wondered how bad he really looked before he blacked out again.
MATT
Matt was stunned to see Lance's violent reaction to his touch, and was even more shocked when he saw him.
The side of his face was crusted with dried blood, and a fresh stream was still trickling from his lip. He could see bruising across his face and he seemed to be struggling to breathe and wincing with every movement. He then saw a bloodstain down his left leg.
Before he could do anything more, Lance had passed out.
"Shit," he mumbled, wondering just how badly injured he was. He had to get him back to the cave, where they were safe, before he could assess his injuries. In the middle of the forest, anything could happen.
Lance was lucky he was smaller, shorter, and therefore, lighter, than Matt. Otherwise, they might have had troubles getting him back.
"Grab is guns. We might need those," he ordered a shell shocked looking Natz.
LANCE
He woke up feeling as though he was being jerked up and down, like he was walking, but he wasn't the one who was walking. He wished he had the ability to cry out and say something about the pain, but his throat and tongue felt so dry that he couldn't make a sound. He could feel something warm and sticky in his mouth, but it seemed to be running down his lip.
He opened his eyes very slowly, and found himself staring at the familiar coat worn by Matt.
What's happening? He wondered blearily.
He felt an extreme pain in his arm and realized Matt had slung him over his shoulder and was keeping him there by his arm... the one that didn't work, probably because it had been broken when the tentacle had lifted him from the ground by it.
As he struggled to breathe properly, he realized that it wasn't just because his chest ached and fought against him, but he found his mouth was full of blood.
He managed to raise his eyes and saw Natalie walking further ahead... carrying his guns! He felt foolishly relieved that he hadn't lot them during the fight. Shouldn't he be more worried about his own body than his stupid guns?
Natalie suddenly turned her head and looked in to his eyes.
He hadn't realized he had managed a grunt of pain, and now he struggled to inhale noiselessly.
Can this night get any worse? He wondered.