Jerome slammed his back against the stone wall and slid down to the floor. He was finding it hard to breath. He leant the back of his head against the wall and took in deep breaths of the night's air.

Albany knelt beside him and threw the bag down next to her. She unzipped it frantically and pulled out the spare shirt she had shoved in there a few hours before. She scrunched the blue material into a tight ball and crawled closer to Jerome. "Here," she said, moving his hand from his bleeding chest. She pressed the balled shirt onto the wound as hard as she could.

Jerome winced through gritted teeth. "We can't stop."

"A minute or so won't hurt."

"Albany..."

"You can't keep going in this state. You can hardly breath and you have blood pouring out of you!"

He closed his eyes and sighed. "Do I? I didn't notice."

"I knew it was too soon," she muttered.

Jerome's eyes opened and looked at her.

She recognized that look and knew what was coming. "You've had worse, I know. But I put a lot of work resurrecting you." she moved her face closer to his and pressed down harder on the wound. "I am not putting all that effort to waste!" Albany looked over her shoulder. She knew they were being followed, but by how many and how far she didn't know. She hadn't seen any guards or officials for a while, but she wasn't taking any chances. She turned back to Jerome's wound and caught his expression. "What?"

The ginger smiled. "You're certainly a force not to be reckoned with ent ya doll?"

"Hell have no fury and all that," she smirked. She took Jerome's hand. "Now come on, get up. We are closer to the apartment than the facility now." she helped Jerome to his feet and kept the pressure on his chest. "What are we going to do when we get to the apartment? You're in no way to fight."

"That's what the gun is for," he replied.

"Will we have enough bullets?"

"As long as you don't miss."

"I don't plan to."

"Atta girl!"

Jerome grunted and stumbled forward. He was stopped by Albany's arm around his chest.

"Jerome, come on!" she tried to pull him back up, but to no avail. "Jerome!"

"Just...give me a minute..." he groaned.

Albany could see he was going pale. She slid her hand to his neck to feel his pulse. It was weaker than usual. She looked around for anything that could help. She spotted a car across from them. "Wait here."

Jerome looked up at her. "I was planning to."

Albany ran over to the car. She looked around her then smashed the car window. The car alarm blared out into the quiet street. She reached inside and unlocked the door. She jumped inside and began working on the car.

Jerome felt something rise in his throat. He let out a cough and saw blood splatter onto the floor in front of him. He took a deep breath in and tried to steady his heart. He heard the roar of an engine then arms around him.

Albany helped Jerome up and walked him over to the car. She sat him in the passenger seat and reached the seatbelt around him, taking care not to catch the bloodied balled shirt. She shut the door and ran around to the other side of the car. She shut her door, slipped her seatbelt on and hit the gas pedal.

Jerome fought his eyes to stay open. He recognized the street, they were close to his apartment. He pulled himself up a little in the passenger seat, anticipating the car breaking. He watched the apartment pass them. He looked at Albany.

Albany answered him she she felt his eyes on her. "We're not going there."

"Why..." his voice was becoming weaker.

"Jerome they will be waiting for us! It wouldn't be a problem, but you're injured. We can't face whoever is waiting there like this." Albany shoved her foot down on the clutch and switched up a gear.

"Then...where are...are we going?"

"You'll see soon enough," she replied. She glanced over to him. "Try to stay awake, okay?"

"Sleepy..."

"Jerome! Stay awake!" her voice sounded like an order. She saw his eyes begin to close.

Jerome felt the hot tears roll down his face. He brought his knees up to his face and wrapped his arms around them. He buried his head deeper into his arms and tried to quieten his sobs.

"Why are you crying, Jerome?" a voice said.

Jerome looked up and could see someone standing above him. He wiped the tears from his cheeks. "It's my birthday...and my Mom and the snake guy are beating me." He couldn't steady his sobs. His blurry vision staid on the figure in the hope of some reassurance or comfort. Maybe even sympathy.

The figure moved over him. "This world doesn't care about you or anyone else, Jerome. Better realise that now!" the voice had become harsh.

Jerome watched the figure walk away. Once he was out of sight, he buried his head again and continued crying.