Soul Stitched (book one)

Chapter 74: Wilt

There was silence.

I watched him fall.

I saw the blood.

I heard him yell in pain.

But I did not understand.

I stared in horror as I watched blood seep through Cryptic's shirt and gather in a puddle around his body. I inhaled deeply and covered my mouth. It hit me like a wrecking ball. All at once, I figured out that he was dying. Right in front of my eyes. I knelt down on the ground. My hands shook as I propped Cryptic's head on my lap like I did in the cave.
        "Cryptic?" I whispered. Tears welled up in my eyes. I ripped a piece of my hospital gown off and applied it to his wound. It was soaked through in seconds. Then his eyes fluttered open. There was a slight smile of his face and he lifted his hand up to touch my cheek.
        "Wilt." he whispered, looking up at me. I sobbed.
        "It's okay, Cryptic. I'm going to get help. Just hold on." I said, glancing back down at the bullet wound. When I looked up, no one was moving, just staring at us.
        "Can you help him? Please, anyone?" I asked. They looked down. Cryptic's hand brushed away a tear.
        "Wilt." he repeated. I looked down, biting my lip hard. "There's nothing you can do." he said. I cried.
        "No. Don't say that." I whimpered. "Please, Cryptic. Just hang on. Aqua, can you h-help?" My voice broke. I think they realized before I did, that there was no hope that he'd be here tomorrow. His face was draining, the color washed away. His eyes locked on mine, trying to cling onto something. He coughed and cried out in pain. His teeth were clenched tightly together. I looked at him, he was struggling to breath now.
        "Cryptic!" I screamed. "Stay, please stay." I begged.
        "Wilt-" he choked out. "I-I..." then his voice was cut off. He started to gag. I tried to sit him up so he could breath. His hand grabbed onto mine, tightly. Then it went lose. His head fell back, eyes still open staring at nothing. My mouth opened and I tried to form words, but none came. His pained expression melted away and he let out his last gasp of air. I laid him down on the ground.
        "Cryptic?" I sobbed. There was no reply. I put my head down on his chest, hoping to hear his heartbeat, telling me that he was alive and well. But there was only silence. "No..." I cried. "No, no, no. Come back." I said, shaking his arm. "Wake up!" I covered my face, his blood smearing across my own. "Wake up..." I hiccuped. I squeezed my eyes shut. This was just a dream. When I wake up, I'll be back in my cell, Dr. Shep looming over me waiting to operate. But when my eyes opened, I was still in his blood. Tears streaked down my face and I made no attempt to wipe them away. My lip trembled and my hands shook.
        "My son." Dr. Shep whispered. My head shot up. Through my hot tears, I could make out his figure slowly walking towards us. I slowly rose to my feet, anger washed over me. My legs wobbled and I sniffled.
        "What have you done?" Dr. Shep hissed at me. I had no words to say to him. My cuffs shocked me a bit, but I ignored them. I had to get out of here, or I'd be the next one dead. Power rippled through my veins, trying to break free.

        "You have three seconds to run." I growled at him, mustering all the hate I could which wasn't very hard.
        "You're in chains, Wilt. I don't have to be afraid." he said. My power shot through me like electricity. The cuffs broke to pieces and my chains fell to the floor.
        "One." I hissed. Dr. Shep raised his gun at me.
        "Two." he cocked it, the loud sound pierced the silence.
        "Three." he fired his gun and I thrust out my hands. The protective shield I threw up covered me and my friends. The bullet shattered against the shield and a loud ringing sound filled out ears. The guards covered their ears and I put the shield down. Mac was the first to jump into battle. She dug her knife deeply into a guards shoulder. He howled in pain and crumpled to the floor. As the battle raged on all around me, I stood over Cryptic's fallen body. He seemed like a meek boy, now. He could've been sleeping. I backed away and turned to face Dr. Shep. He was trying to escape out the door. I threw out my hand and my own chains flew around his body and he fell against the wall. I walked over to him. I squeezed my fist tight and the chains followed, cutting off Dr. Shep's air. His face turned red and he clawed at the chains.
        "You did this. Not me." I said. "Look around you. This, is your life's work? Well guess what." I said. "It's going up in flames." I pushed my arms forward and Dr. Shep crumpled to the floor, lifeless.
        "Rot in hell." I hissed. Then I turned and jumped into battle.

It was easy from there on out. Without their leader giving them directions, they were like fish in a barrel. Soon, we stood over their bodies. The floor was stained red. My bare feet splashed in a puddle of blood as I walked around.
        "Let's go." said Crystal. I looked over at her. We were beat. We were bruised and banged up pretty bad, we needed help. Then I remembered what Cryptic had said, there was a black car waiting outside for us, they'll take us to the generator. We slowly walked towards the door, stepping over bodies. It felt wrong. We just killed all these men. They must've had families. Children. But then I remembered how many people Dr. Shep killed with the virus. I no longer felt guilty. I paused when I opened the door. I looked back at Cryptic's body. I hesitated. It seemed so wrong to just leave him there. I wanted to bury him in a suitable place. Not here. Never here. But we had to go. We had to save everyone else. They were counting on us. The door shut loudly behind us. When I turned to look outside, it was nothing like I remembered. It was silent. No one was outside. Cars were deserted on the road. Everything was black, the large buildings of what seemed to be New York were crumbling. We spotted the black car, right next to the curb. The car window rolled down when he saw us.
        "Any of you named Wilt?" he asked. I looked over at him. When we made our way over to the car, we left red footprints on the sidewalk.
        "Me." I said, weakly.
        "Okay then. I'm Blake Rissue, I'm your driver for today, I suppose." said Blake Rissue. I blinked at him. "Get in. Oh and Wilt, this is for you. It's from Cryptic." Blake handed me a note with my name written on the front. I gripped it tightly, not daring to open it now. Not so quickly after-
        I heard a slight whispering coming from an alley way.
        "Hurry, get in. The infected must've smelled the blood." said Blake. I frowned. The infected. They must be the ones who have the virus? That's my guess. So does that mean-oh no. Are they coming for the guard's bodies? That includes Cryptic. My stomach twisted at the thought of some virus infected person kneeling over Cryptic, ripping him apart. With that last of my energy, I put a protective shield around the building. No one will be getting to Cryptic now. I stumbled into the car and shut the door behind me. I sat next to Crystal and Mac. We were all covered in blood.
        "Where are you taking us?" Aqua spoke up. Blake smiled at us.
        "To a private airport. From there we'll be going to Washington." replied Blake. No one said anything. I took the note and unfolded the white paper. I smoothed it out and started to read, tears streaking down my face

        Dear Wilt,
By the time you're reading this, well, I'll be dead. I wrote this note because I want you to be able to move on, okay? I don't want you to be caught up in my death forever. I want you to get married and be able to love someone else. I want you to live a long happy life. But most importantly, I want you to be you. Because that's why I love you, because you're different. Don't blend. Don't forget. But forgive, alright? Forgive me. I'm guessing I died in a room, alone with a strange doctor taking my vitals. But know-just know that my last though was of you. If you're ever sad, go outside at night, look up at the sky and know that I'm there. I love you Wilt Shade. It's written in the stars. Promise me that you will move on, okay? Promise me. Goodbye my love,
        Cryptic

I promise Cryptic, I promise.