Rendering Flames

Suddenly, even if you’re not aware, you’re waiting for each moment to pass by you. In my experience, you don’t notice you’re waiting until you count the seconds and then the minutes. You pray for the next moment to be better than the last and you do it all over again when the moment you were waiting for is no different than the moments that have passed. You only do this when those moments are dire and precious. Also in some situations, dangerous. My moments so far have passed by me slowly and painfully.

Jaden and I were naive to pass out of the abandon house without so much as a second glance or wary step. We walked right out and as Jaden looked back for me to catch up with him, he was swept away. He dangled by a rope around his ankle up between the branches of a fir tree. The panic was mild before I turned and was face with a dead body suddenly lying behind me. Had it been there when we had first came around? Surely, we wouldn’t miss something like this.

I screeched, shocked by the sight of dead eyes staring past me. The man’s skin pale and ashed like he had been dead awhile, looking bloated in his gut. Everything was tuned out for a brief second when I heard the sounds of breaking wood behind me, Jaden tumbling down until he landed with a hard thud. The rope was still tangled around his ankle, he was sprawled out in confusion. I ran over to him, my hands hovering as I looked for any injuries.

“Are you okay?” He just grunted and rolled onto his stomach, pushing himself up into a seated position.

“Only time you can thank the branches for being thin, I guess..” I brushed the fir needles from his hair as he looped the rope from around his ankle to free himself..

“We need to get out of here, now.” I helped Jaden to his feet and he got his footing before he slowly moved his limbs, ignoring the tremors in his hands, there were any external injuries to see.

We quickly gathered some stuff that had fallen from his pack as I heard the crackle of the walkie come from over by Jaden. I stuffed his stuff into his bag as he tried to communicate with anyone, standing over the body as he looked like he was seeing something out of place.

“Have your gun drawn, we may have escaped one trap but I’m sure as hell that there’ll be others. We have visitors.” Jaden fiddled with the walkie as I walked a little further ahead, my hand resting on the gun attached to my hip.

That was the moment I wasn’t waiting for anything to happen but something did. I didn’t remember feeling myself being yanked behind some trees or Jaden’s panic when he heard my yells for help. I just remember a white stained cloth being shoved over my mouth and nose by a thick gloved man. What ever had the cloth damp, it’s effects were immediate. I fell to the ground with dead weight, my vision blurring terribly and painfully. My attacker had run off before I could try and retaliate.

I thrusted myself to my feet, falling against a tree as I searched for my gun, my eyes flying wildly around for a clear look. My palms were slick against the handle as I stumbled back to find Jaden. I saw him fighting against someone and I wonder why Jaden hadn’t shot him already.

I pointed my gun towards the man but they were moving so fast and I was getting everything so unevenly, I could easily shoot Jaden. My legs were coming back to life under me but with the gain there was loss and resisted to crouch over in pain as my abdomen convulsed. I threw myself between them, getting knocked around before the stranger who had attacked Jaden and I blindly grabbed me by a fistful of my shirt. I jabbed my gun into his gut.

“What did you do to me?” I felt nauseous.

“An experiment.” Jaden came up and had his gun with him, holding it against the man’s head.

I was released and I felt my breath being kept from me, no matter how big the next intake was. “Are you responsible for him?”

I looked back over to the dead man and to the attacker. He didn’t answer but just shrugged slightly. I waved my gun, looking to the backpack secured tightly to him. Jaden tore it from him, keeping his gun on him as he unzipped.

“I wouldn’t go digging around there if I were you.” The man sniffed, blood dripping from the broken nose Jaden had given him.

“We have company north of the meeting point. Keep a sharp eye.” I felt lightheaded as I kept my feet planted tightly to the ground as Jaden dumped the contents of the bag out.

More cloths, a metal box, thick leather gloves, a padded case, inhalation mask, two guns, and a hunting knife. Jaden curiously looked down at them, picking up the metal box. I saw our attacker stiffen as Jaden started to unhinge it.

“Don’t open that!” I shoved my gun in his face as he advanced a few steps toward Jaden.

“Then tell us what the hell you did!” The man shut up, shaking his head in discontent as Jaden put on the part of gloves.

“Let’s see what you’re hiding then, yeah?” Jaden unhinged the box, peering inside as he took out a small aluminum vial filled with clear liquid.

“What does he have? Is that what was on the cloth you smothered me with?” I was feeling worse and worse, my head was pounding.

“You could assume that, sure.” Jaden unzipped the padded case, six injectors secured in their own patches.

Jaden set it down and looked at the vial he had pulled out again, turning it over to its side and then bottom. As he read whatever it was, his face turned white. I jumped back when Jaden lunged at him, slamming him against the side of the house. He jostled his gun under his jaw, shaking violently.

“Don’t kill him yet!” My voice cut off as my abdomen twisted me to my knees.

I looked up and couldn’t breathe. My chest was tight with tension and I clawed at my stomach in agony. A hundred daggers going through me as my muscles twitched uncontrollably. My vision began to go spotty and I didn’t know if it was from the lack of oxygen or the burning sensation scratching behind my eyelids.

“Fix her!” The man was thrown down at my feet. Jaden kicked him multiple times in the ribs as I saw shadows running from the woods towards us.

Everything moved like a river, it had its own current. Nothing seemed permeable anymore and I began to weep in fear. My head rolled to the side as it bobbed up and down; I was trying to keep with everything going on around me.

“Jaden?” I heard a voice but the pain was so much, I couldn’t concentrate on anything.

“Stay back!” I turned towards Jaden’s voice, “Dahlia’s been infected with Sarin.”

“No.” I crawled forward, realizing that I was the lab rat that was going to squirm to death if he didn’t finished what ever twisted experiment he was trying to perform.

“Someone throw me their canteen!” A hand rested on my back as I purged aggressively, my insides feeling like they were tearing themselves apart.

“Kill me.” I whispered, falling to my back. “Someone, please.”

I felt something cold wash over my eyes. It stung but then it was numb. My eyes returned enough to see Jaden pouring water to rinse my eyes, maybe to cleanse them. I saw Alex, stomping towards the man who was writhing on the ground still.

“Alex,” I said to get Jaden’s attention.

“No!” Jaden dropped the canteen, running over to stop Alex from coming closer. “I’ve been exposed already. You need to get back, Alex.”

“Fuck that.” She shoved Jaden aside and grabbed the man by his hair, lifting his head up to look at her in the eyes.

“If you want your friend to live, you can’t kill me.” I watched in surprise, seeing Alex risking her life for mine.

“We can give you a taste, can’t we?” She dropped his head back down onto the ground, straddling the back of him. “I’m a bit of a sadistic fuck myself.”

She grabbed his hand and Jaden held him down as he began to struggled against her. She pulled a small, thin knife from her belt, jabbing it under the fingernail of his right index finger. He screamed as she worked away on him, yanking the nail off as she dangled it in front of his face.

“What’s in those injectors?” Jaden asked him as he thrashed to get free.

“I’d answer him or we got nine more to go.” Alex then made a move towards his middle finger.

“An antidote!” The man cried out in surrender, “it hasn’t been tested yet. It’s the best one that’s been developed though. It’s composed mostly of atropine and prali--pralidoxime!”

Alex ripped his middle fingernail off, leaning in towards his ear. “If you’re lying, I’ll pull your teeth out one by one and have you choke to death on them.”

I couldn’t move, I felt paralysed. My fingers had gripped deep into the dirt, trying to cling to something as my heart felt like it was beating only a few times a minute. My lungs could barely support my body weight and my abdomen lurching repeatedly to have me purge but I had nothing left to give.

Jaden had grappled with the case before dumping the injectors out and snatching one. He slid to a stop in front of me as I reached for it but he grasped my hand tightly as he torn the protective top off in between his teeth. I straightened my arm out as he injected me.

I gasped for air as my lungs fully expanded. I went lax, turning to my side as I coughed violently. A minute later, I felt like I had been thrown from a train but I could breathe and my muscles were slowly relaxing but still twitching. Jaden still had my hand in his and I scooted over to him, placing my other hand on his shoulder to push myself up.

I could hardly stand and Jaden was beside me in a flash to have me sit back down but I was already determined to make this asshole pay. “Sit him up, Alex.”

My voice was discordant with its order but she climbed off him, yanking him up. I collapsed in front of him, grabbing a gun that had been dumped from his bag. Alex looked worried that I’d kill him with her still behind him but I wanted answers.

“If this antidote really works, why is your friend over there dead?” I cocked the gun, ready to kill him as soon as he was useless to me.

“I have variations of antidotes to test, you got the luck of the draw.” There wasn’t remorse on his face, no longer struggling against Alex.

“Are there more with you? There were at least three other people in that house earlier.”

“We went our separate ways.” I was inclined to believe him but the thought of other’s like him out there made me feel like death all over again.

“Who are you working for to do these experiments? Kruger?”

“No. I work off the black market. there’s trading from within the place where Sarin and the antidotes are developed. I just want the antidote out to everyone, not the Sarin.”

“You have a fucked up way of helping people,” Alex chimed in.

“I’m not going to apologize. I’d do it all over again if you didn’t get the right antidote.” I dropped the gun from my grasp, looking to Alex.

“I’m done with him. Kill him, if you’re so inclined to.” Alex smirked a little, driving the small knife straight into his heart.