Don't You Come Crying When They're Rippin' Out Your Throats (Sequel to AsHollow)

24 - Exploding Heart Disorder

We ran through the corridors as we tried to find our way out of this place, nothing properly standing out. We knew there wasn't much time to get out and to the city before the full wrath and force of The Cardinal and his armies came down on us hard and fast.

As we ran my friends all ditched their Heartatack masks, throwing them to the side as they went - there was no point in hiding anymore considering we were two masks down since Kier chucked his back in The Cardinal's throne like room, and the others would know that they were looking for a group that had the two of us - everyone else would be caught in the crossfire if it came to a final stand once again.

"How are we going to get out?!" I yelled as we ran, spinning round a corner after Luke and Barrone.

"We have no idea, just keep running and keep guessing - there can only be so many ways to get in and out of here!" Luke called back as he turned another corner, cursing when he realised that it was a dead end and we all doubled back.

We continued back half the way we came before taking a sharp left which happened to bring us to the Heartatack's armoury and weaponry. I couldn't help but feel a small tug at my lips as I led the way into the room and started grabbing everything I could from the shelves and pocketing what I could, but before I could take anything else I felt a hand on my arm.

I turned round to face the person only to see Kier there who then sat me down, lifting what was left of my shirt up and pulling a face, "Are there any bandages or anything in here? Or even something I could use as a make shift one?"

"I think there's one over here," Barrone said as he started rummaging through a box, pulling out a small see through bag that had bandages and plasters in, and tossed them over to Kier who caught them with ease.

Kier then proceeded to patch me up, wiping at the left over blood with his sleeve before applying the bandages and plasters - which were fairly manky and dirty, but they were all that we had right now that would have done.

"Thank you..." I said quietly as he was sorting me out and tying up the ends of the bandages.

"No problem, couldn't leave you bleeding out while we were fighting those bastards, could I?"

"I didn't just mean that though... Thank you for not leaving me with them."

Kier gave me a soft smile and tilted my face up to his, pressing a gentle and soft kiss to my lips - one which I returned greatly. I felt his hand reach up to cup my face and fingers rest lightly on my cheek, my own hands coming out to grip lightly on his shirt. After a moment of kissing he reluctantly pulled back, stroking my cheek with his thumb, "Come on Bevers, we have some business to attend to."

I stood back up and continued to pack my pockets and belt loops with everything and anything I could carry, grabbing a jacket from the side and slipping that on too to cover up my tattered clothes. My last weapon to take was a sword from the wall, something that would more than definitely come in handy. I looked round at everyone in the room - seeing that they were also all ready and were waiting on me, waiting for some kind of instruction and leadership of some kind, but I really didn't know what to say to them that didn't sound silly in my head.

"Thank you all for sticking with me through this... I know you didn't have to, but it does mean a lot that you all did and didn't abandon me."

"As if I would let you, you give me food and money and introduce me to girls," snorted Luke with a playful smirk, earning a laugh from everyone - something I wasn't too sure I would hear again for a long time considering what lay ahead of us.

"Shall we then?" Nico said, resting his rifle over his shoulder.

Everyone nodded and we ran back out the room and down the way we were heading for in the first place. Kier stayed close to me, giving me little side glances every so often just to make sure I wasn't going to black out or one of the recently bandaged wounds would open up again.