~ Hope: Noun ~

A person or thing that may help or save someone.

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Clip Eleven - Amara's POV:

Ever since I was little, I had used my heartbeat as a way to measure time in a world where clocks and watches had long ago been destroyed. My heartbeat was reliable, strong, and steady. Perfect for telling how much time had passed.

I listened closely to the erratic rhythm in my chest, falling back on my old habit of counting the beats. 

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

At least thirty seconds had passed and the Mendeni hadn't made a sound. And then the monster moved, raising its deformed head to stare in my direction.

In that one, terrible moment when all seemed paused, my eyes locked onto the Mendeni's. A thrill raced through my heart, causing it to pulse wildly with an emotion that I could not name. All sound disappeared, replaced by a insistent pounding in my ears.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The monster takes a slow, unhurried step towards us and the surrounding world comes rushing back. The Mendeni emits an ominous, echoing chittering sound and it breaks the spell that had settled on our little group. Three of the scouts let out screams of pure, undiluted terror and turn and run in the opposite direction. 

I hold my breath, my eyes still focused on the monster. Something flashes in its flaming eyes, and my heart stops. 

The monster lets out another chilling shriek, and starts to scuttle towards us with unnatural speed. Without thinking, ignoring the immense fear that fills my whole being, I fire once, twice and then a third time. 

I seize Cole's hand and run to the left down a different street, not looking back to see if my shots hit their mark. I hear an unearthly howl that seemed to shake the ground beneath my boots, and I know that I was able to hit the Mendeni at least once.

Alarm and terror shoots through me like lightning, making my feet fly. I scan the passing buildings as we run, my brain scrambling wildly to come up with a way out, but I know that it's hopeless. Pounding footsteps come up behind us and I risk a glance back to see that the fourth scout is following us, terror shining starkly on his face.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The city flies by as we sprint aimlessly through the broken streets, panic and adrenaline fueling our pumping legs. I can hear the petrifying screaming and clanking of the Mendeni as it chases after us, its spiked metal tail scratching harshly against the concrete. I can tell that it's gaining and I desperately yank Cole to the right, trying to lose the monster in the maze of abandoned avenues.

I dart to the left when we reach an intersection and out of the corner of my eye I see the monster closing in fast. The scout that has been trailing us is losing ground to the Mendeni, and he lets out a wordless scream, pleading for help that will never come.

A horrible, throat-scorching shriek reverberated through the air, making my heart tremble with horror. I don't need to look back to know that the Mendeni caught up with the scout, and the monster had won.  

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Cole's hand jerks in mine but I pull him onward, trying to push the images of the dead scout out of my mind. We could easily be next if I lose my focus.

Up ahead I can see a section of roadway lit by the orange sunlight, and a trickle of hope leaks into my body. 

As far as we know, the Mendeni can't seem to tolerate the harsh light. That would make sense considering all of the distance we've run so far has been cloaked in shadows from the towering city buildings. 

I push my legs and lungs to work harder, and the passing buildings become a blur. We begin to, impossibly, gain ground on the monster. 

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

I can hear Cole gasping for breath behind me, hear the Mendeni's unearthly cries and pattering footsteps fast approaching. 

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

There's only a few more yards, and for the first time that day I believe that we will make it. We will live.

The Mendeni screams, and it is unlike any sound that I've ever heard before. It is one of a desperate predator, of complete and utter rage that the prey might slip through their claws. 

I cross the line that separated the light and the dark, and the sudden warmth from the blazing sun is a welcome blessing. I yank Cole next to me, and we both turn to witness the Mendeni halt its chase.

It scrambles to come to a stop before it touches the light, digging its abnormal legs into the dirt, spraying dust over our figures.

The monster lets out another bone-chilling shriek, pacing furiously at the edge of the light, glowing red eyes latched onto mine.

I can't seem to tear my gaze away, and I can feel shivers making their way across my body. The monster ceases its relentless pacing and stops right in front of me, staring unnervingly into my soul. 

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

As I gaze into the dark orbs, the surrounding landscape seems to vanish, and I suddenly hear distant screaming, and a ragged voice pleading with an unknown source.

"Please.....please....PLEASE! Stop....it hurts, it hurts......I don't want to become a monster....please......"

And in the blink of an eye, I'm no longer in the city, staring at the Mendeni. I'm in a brightly lit white operations room, surrounded by doctors in masks and, curiously, red-splattered armor. Blood is everywhere, coating the machines, pooling on the floor and causing people to slip. The doctors are yelling for someone to get a sedative, the nurses are bustling about and a group of people in white lab coats observe from the other side of a glass wall. My view of the operations table is obscured by a mass of doctors, but then they shift and I almost throw up.

What looks to be the remains of a once-healthy man is strapped to the steel table with dozens of metal restraints. His skin has been stretched and ripped away from most of his body, blood and intestines spilling onto the floor. His legs look to be broken, and the doctors have bent them outward at the knee. His teeth have been removed, replaced a gaping red hole. He's screaming for all he's worth, and it sounds disturbingly similar to the Mendeni. 

Then the man on the operating table speaks, his voice filled to the brim with raw desperation and terror.

"Please....it hurts......stop, STOP......I don't want to do this....."

And then I'm back in the city, staring at the monster with the haunting eyes. A hand shaking my shoulder wakes me from my trance. My ears are still filled with screams.

"Amara? Amara! Wake up, we have to get out of here!" Cole is at my side, his voice scratchy from the dust and worn from the running. I turn and find Cole staring at me with wide eyes, his face streaked with dust and sweat, hair caked with mud. His eyes are filled with shining fear, and I realize its not fear of the Mendeni. Its fear of me. 

The monster chitters, a sound that seems much more menacing then the screams, and I turn my gaze towards it. It's sinister eyes lock onto mine once more, filled with unspoken fury and promises for the future. Then it turns, and scuttles back the way we came. I watch, until the dark of the city swallows the monster.

"Amara....?"

I quickly look away from my brothers prying eyes, and I can feel my own starting to well up with emotional overload. 

"Come on. We need to keep moving." I keep my voice flat and expressionless, fighting to contain the shock and fear swirling around in my stomach.

Had that really just happened? How was that possible? What had I even seen? Questions without answers swam in my mind, wild theories mixing with confusion. I forced my mind to fixate on one idea, and one idea only:

Get back to camp.

I had dropped both of my pistols during the chase, so I pull out both of my daggers and start moving the opposite direction from which we had come. I turn around to face Cole, and I can visibly see the terror and weariness on his features.

"Come on, Cole." I say it softer this time, imploring him to follow. He lets out an audible sigh and draws his own gun, resignation evident in his movements. We start walking, Cole keeping pace with me as we move deeper into the ghost city.

✧

Nightfall was steadily creeping up on us, and we still had yet to find our way back to camp. I knew that there was no way that we would be able to survive a night outside with the monsters, and our search became increasingly desperate. 

My mind kept trying to decipher what had happened with the Mendeni, but I couldn't stay focused on that. I carefully tucked that subject away in my Not Ready to Deal With section of my brain.

The sun had long since vanished behind the enormous buildings, and our only source of warmth had disappeared with it. As we stumbled over an especially large mound of debris, I slipped and came crashing down on top of a rusting and especially sharp metal pole. 

My arm was sliced wide open, down to the bone, and blood squirted all over the boulder that I landed upon. The pain was instant and so extreme that for a few seconds my senses were jolted and overloaded, unable to process it. It was a strange kind of bliss, like the calm before the storm. Then the hurricane hit, and I almost blacked out. I gasped and rolled over in agony, tears streaming from my eyes and making little rivers through the dust caked on my cheeks. 

"Amara!" Cole quickly scrambled down to the rock I was lying on and reached for me. I flinched away from his hands, and the blood that had pooled in the boulder splashed over the side, dripping onto the rubble below. 

"Shit. Shitshitshitshit." Cole ran his fingers through his disgusting hair, a habit from when we were kids. 

His eyes traveled over my head and settled on something that I couldn't see.

"We can camp out in that building for the night. We can't go any farther with your arm." He ripped fabric from his coat and started to bind my arm, and I had to bite my lip to keep from screaming due to the throbbing sting. 

The black fabric rapidly became soaked with my blood, but Cole lifted me up nonetheless and draped my good arm over his shoulder. We slowly stumbled down the pile of rubble, having to stop every few feet so Cole could readjust his grip on my waist. 

We reached the bottom and I got a better look at the building Cole was heading towards. It looked like one of those stores that accompanied gas stations. The windows were shattered and the door was lying a few feet from the door-frame, marked with deep claw marks obviously made by a Mendeni.

We limped across the abandoned street and staggered to the back of the store. It looked as if it had been raided long ago, with products strewn across the floor and shelves cleared of any food. 

We reached the back and Cole gently set me down, leaning me against a wall. Its pitch black and I can't see anything. 

"I should go set up a perimeter. Stay here." Cole stands up, but I grab his wrist with my good arm, the movement making me wince. 

"Not yet. You need to rest. Please, just stay for a little while." I know that asking Cole to wait is a reckless, stupid decision. But I was scared and uncertain, and I needed someone to stay beside me. Cole did need to rest as well. I could see it in his sluggish movements. If a monster did find us, then we would need to be as ready as possible.

"Well.....fine. But only for a little while." He slides down to rest beside me, and I curl up against his side, relishing the warmth and tiny bit of security he provided. 

We sit there in silence for a while, lulled into a false sense of safety. The truth is, nothing is safe anymore.

✧

My dreams are haunted by images of the man on the operating table. He's still screaming, frozen in that one terrible moment.

"Amara......Amara!" I'm jerked out of my nightmare, Cole shaking me by the shoulder for the second time that day. My eyes are still blurry from sleep.

"Whatisit? Whatshappening?"

Cole's about to say something, but the sound of glass being stepped on stopped him mid sentence.

We weren't alone.

In one smooth movement he draws his knife and steps in front of me, ready to kill if provoked. I strain to see anything, anything at all, but the dark makes it utterly impossible. 

Soft, muffled footsteps come from the aisle in directly in front of us, and Cole quickly steps to the right, crouching being the shelves. The unknown figure steps closer, and then everything happens so fast I barely catch it. 

Cole slams his fist into the figures temple and brings his other hand up to stifle the cry. The figure twists in Cole's grip and brings up his own fist with a trained accuracy. It slams into my brothers jaw, but Cole recovers quickly and strikes the figure's head with the pommel of his knife. The mysterious person crumples, and Cole grabs him before he can hit the floor. 

Before either of us can do anything with him, a faint whisper travels through the darkness.

"Med?"

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AN - .................WOW!

That was my longest chapter yet! Boy did that take forever to write.

Thank you so much for reading!

Please vote and comment if you liked this chapter!

-Aspen♡

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