I stumbled, the man behind me grabbing my waist, keeping me from falling and we continued on and on, the only sound my harsh breathing and the crunch of leaves beneath my feet. I pushed myself harder as we reached another hill, my calves burning.
Hell.I’m not going to make it.
“How…much…farther?” I huffed out.
“Stop. Talking.”
I clenched my jaw and shook out my tingling hands. My eyes begged to release tears and I rapidly blinked, trying to relieve the pressure.Not the damn time.
I ran straight into the back of the man with a grunt and righted myself, looking up to find him standing still with a closed fist held up. The abrupt stop had my heart about to leave my chest. The sweat dripped down my chin and onto the ground as I heaved oxygen in and out of my lungs.
My mouth pooled with saliva as the bile rose in my chest. I bent at the waist my stomach cramping so fiercely I couldn’t move.
In. Out. In. Out.
Hell.
The man behind me wrapped an arm around my waist, forcing me upright and into his chest. I whimpered as the pain ripped through my abdomen and warm liquid suddenly gushed between my legs.
Not now. God, not now.
When I failed to move, he dragged me with him as he sidestepped to the left, following the movements of his buddy in front of us. I scanned the woods, trying to focus on anything other than the pain and nausea. Whatever they could see with their night vision had us changing course and the man released me, whispering at my neck to keep running.
I stumbled forward, tripping over a decaying branch and grabbed onto the closest object, a tree.
Wrong. Something was wrong. It was never this bad. The bleeding was never this bad. I could feel it now, dripping down my legs.
“Move,” the man grunted.
I stared into the darkness, frozen, heart racing.
The man grabbed my shoulder to spin me in his direction and scanned my body, stumbling backwards a step.
“Dammit,” he swore. He sighed with frustration and shook his head. “It’s fine. It’s the adrenaline. You’re not the first person I’ve helped to piss themselves. Can we keep moving?”
I swayed, reaching out to hold him. My body rocked with an unnatural chill despite the sweat pouring out of me.
“What the—” He cut himself off, flipping up his night vision goggles and reaching for something attached to his shoulder. I blinked, quickly covering my eyes when a bright light shone onto my body. “Fuck. You’re bleeding. Where are you hurt?”
The world tilted, little black spots dancing across my vision.
No.My knees buckled, I scrambled for the stranger’s arms. I gasped through the panic cinching my chest tighter and tighter.My body was suddenly swung off the ground, and I stared with fear into the stranger’s eyes.
“Riley!” The man holding me whisper-shouted, my body jostling as he holstered his weapon. “She’s bleeding.”
Riley took the flashlight and scanned my body. “Fuck. What happened?”
The nausea crested in a wave as another cramp twisted my abdomen, and I nearly tumbled out of his arms as I turned away from his chest and gagged. Riley jumped out of the way as I sucked in some air through my nose, forcing myself to not vomit.
“I dunno. She was fine,” the man holding me said with a hint of panic.
I could feel Riley’s hands trying to find the source of bleeding and shivered uncontrollably.
“Oh shit,” he muttered when he bunched up the end of my nightgown. “That’s…”
I shuddered against the chill racking my body. My blood was whooshing in my ears, and I struggled to make out the conversation happening. The voices were too soft yet too loud, speaking a foreign language.
Quiero volver a casa. Necesito a Javi.
