"MENINO!" Vaas howled into the dark, searching frantically for a body, listening for a cry, anything. "Menino! Answer me!" A few yards down the road the vehicle had pulled to a halt, one of Vaas' own men standing on the seat, terror etched on his face. "Menino! I can't see you, answer me now!"
"What I hit?" The pirate called out. Vaas froze and turned to the man, striding towards him with his face etched in a grim mask of fury. "What'd I hit?!"
Vaas Montenegro could have a Molotov lit and flying towards you in a matter of seconds, and now was no exception. The pirate barely had time to scream before he and the car were up in flames, illuminating the area in brilliant red. Vaas ignored the screams as he searched the roadside wildly, his blue eyes finally falling on a small figure curled at the side of the road. "Menino?" Vaas approached with careful footsteps. "Fuck."
The bone of Corey's left arm was protruding from the skin, jutting out in a jagged, bloodied shard. One of his hips was grotesquely lopsided, his face an unrecognisable, bloodied mess. "Menino?" Vaas knelt before him, his voice somewhat higher than usual. He placed a hand to Corey's chest, finding that his heart was still beating and his chest was still rising and falling, but a gurgling sounded in his throat and pinkish foam dribbled past his torn lips. Vaas thought nothing more of it, scooping him up in his arms and lifting him without any trouble. Corey's blood mingled with the splashes on his chest, and there was so much of it, more blood than Vaas had seen a person lose and still be living. They left a pool of it where the boy had been lying and Vaas began to walk determinedly down the road. "I swear to fuck, Menino, I will kill you if you die." He hissed at the boy, and by some miracle the boy raised his head and looked up at his owner, dazed.
"You came and got me." He croaked. "You said you'd come and get me."
"And here I am, Menino, now shut your fucking mouth and stay still." Vaas grunted, breaking out into a jog. "We're gonna get you fixed up, and then I'm gonna beat your ass even worse for this." He wandered through the night for what seemed like hours, but Corey was keeping up, he was sure they'd find somewhere with a medic soon-
Corey leaned over and retched blood on the road. "Fuck!" Vaas yelled, dodging out of the way of the mess and carrying on with renewed vigour. Soon he saw the lights of a town or village, and broke out into a run, but when he realized where they were he halted. They were on the outskirts of an Rakyat settlement.
He stood there, breathing heavily for a moment, before kneeling down. "Menino. Get up." Corey obeyed in a lost daze, standing with his weight leaning heavily on one leg. Vaas straightened up and slipped the vest from Corey's body, tossing it aside and pointing at the lights of the town. "There's a doctor in there. Get going."
"Vaas?" Corey whimpered. The pirate took a step back from the boy.
"I mean it. Get going. Go. And don't you dare think about coming back." The boy was almost sure to die of his injuries, and if he didn't, Vaas didn't want to know about it. "Are you fucking stupid or something? I said go!" He half-screamed. Corey shook his head, wincing.
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to leave the room, they came for me, they broke in, I didn't mean to..." He started to breathe in short, ragged gasps.
"You got a death wish, Menino? I said fucking get out of here!"
Corey didn't listen, reaching for Vaas desperately with his good arm, bloodied fingers grasping for clothing, a hand, anything.
"Please, Vaas, please..." The boy wailed, yelping with pain as Vaas pushed him away.
"Don't touch me!" Vaas roared. "Go, or I swear I'll fucking kill you!"
Corey wouldn't listen. He lunged for Vaas, growing more and more desperate, until Vaas had to punch him away. The pirate heard something crack under the blow and Corey fell back, choking for breath in between sobs. Tears began to flow down his cheeks, mixing painfully with the cuts and scrapes. To Vaas' horror he began to crawl, still with his good arm outstretched, a pitiful whimpering escaping his mouth.
"I need you. I need you!" The boy howled. "Don't leave me... please... please don't leave me, you were right, I've got nothing, I am nothing, there's only you!" he managed to catch hold of Vaas' leg, and kept coming, even when the pirate kicked him away and staggered backwards. Corey lunged again, springing up from his good leg, both arms outstretched as if expecting to be caught, as if expecting-
Before he realized what he was doing, Vaas drew the handgun from the holster at his thigh and put a bullet hole in Corey's forehead.
The resulting silence after the blast was deafening.