Empty veins

Chapter 3

Thump, thump. The sound of beating hearts, of blood being pounded around a body that wasn't trying to shut itself down. It screamed at her. Food.

The others had heard it too, it was clear in the way that their bodies tensed and they began to close in, packing the group together in a few dozen bodies. Still, they walked on and on.

The sniff, the smell – it was so rich, so thick. It smelled like home. Like food cooking in the oven after a long day at school. She wanted it so badly.

Then the hunt really began.

Low, she slid into the position that had been trained into her muscles for who knew how long. One foot in front of the other, stealth was key.

All the smells of the wood, the chirping of the birds and the crunch of the twigs under her wore black boots – it all faded away. She started to run, lopsided, leaning slightly on one leg more than the other. She wasn't sure why she did, the right leg just wasn't good at supporting her weight.

They ran in a pack, like wild dogs upon a hot trail. They could pause the cold, it would slow – it never stopped.

Under a low hanging branch and around a dead stump, hair flying in the wind of her flight. She was getting close.

....

The woods were quiet, that was never a good sign. The woods were always a bad place to be assigned to, there was too many ways that an other could sneak up on them. Although the woods were considerably smaller then they had been several months ago, thanks to 'successful' bombing intended to great a path through to the citadel, they were still dangerous. Far too dangerous.

Ryan shivered despite it being July. The wind still blew too harshly through him.

"Ok, our aim is to keep all 'the others' away from the trailers that are making their way to the labs to pick up some more supplies. I can't believe that they are still wasting time trying to create another fuel source." Mina ran her hand over her hair, smoothing down any loose strands. Her and Tyler stood close, bodies almost touching. It was a nice sight.

Ryan wished he had someone like that left.

"It's stupid, what do they expect they can do in 102 days anyways?"

"Man, they only send us out on these stupid patrols to keep the damn public happy. I bet you that as soon as they get their stupid machines working again, they'll be up and out."

"Tyler," Ryan closed his eyes slightly and placed his hand on a nearby tree trunk to steady himself. He regretted the choice instantly, it felt too wrinkled and too skin – like. "C'mon that's not true."

Tyler shrugged and smiled, "Well who knows after all."

"Tarantula, I want no more of this talk."

Tyler mock bowed at that, placing his two hands out and apologising very thoroughly. "Of course, ma'am mouse, your wish is my command."

"No," Her tone clearly though Tyler. She turned away from him, pulling out of his hands. "I really don't want to hear it. Cos if it's true." Her lip began to tremble and she lifted her head to the sky. But she didn't cry, crying was too 'weak' for her. Either that or she just didn't have any tears left.

Still Ryan knew how she felt. His veins felt cold and empty even thinking about it.

"I was only joking." Ryan smiled and held out his hand, this time Mina didn't pull away.

"Let's go." A cold voice cut across the conversation. Dom pushed past Ryan and began to walk away without even a backward glance.

Ryan sighed softly, it would be nice if Dom could show any other emotion than a quiet disgust. Not that there was much 'nice' left anyways. Still, he too began to walk away.

Behind him he could hear Mina and Tyler grasp at each other tightly as if it were the last time they'd ever see each other. Then they pulled away and headed towards Dom and Ryan.

"Anyways what I was about to say-"

They never heard what Tyler was about to say however because at that second, with barely a whisper of air, there were suddenly a lot more bodies surrounding them.

Thud, thud. Was it even possible For a heart to beat that fast?

Shit. How had they not heard them? Shit.

All was silent, they all started, each heartbeat pounding at alarming rates, Increasing and increasing till it felt sur that the chests would burst.

Click. No!

The first one fell, rotten iron polluting the suddenly stale air. The body, still human like, shuddering to itself as its muscles twitched one final time before it dropped, the long brown hair blowing gently around a greying face.

One looked up, her eyes wide and almost pain filled. And Ryan felt his body freeze as they made eye contact. She stared at him. He stared at her. He stared at the face looking back at him, the brown hair flowing past her shoulders and the stained, ripped black outfit she wore.

It was though his world was crashing down yet again.

"Mina!"

One word cut through his mind, painful as a knife. His eyes shot away from here, straight to the gun barrel that was quickly raised.

The world seemed to slow down.

The barrel was raised, Tyler took a breath. Bam. Not the sound of a gunshot, no, but the sound of a body being roughly pushed backwards. Mina stumbling backwards. And the girl he'd been watching hissed once and charged.

And everything fell into pieces.