22 Chapter 22: Kindness In A Cruel World? Are You Mad?

Zane's one thought was to grab onto Serenity's hand and run. His heart pumped adrenaline through him like a fully charged battery. They needed to get away.

Zane and Serenity breathed the misty air as they ran. Sweat mixed with the moisture from the air formulating on their skins. Their lungs crying for better air as they stung from the lethal cold. They had managed to bury the offering but at what price did it come? To be eaten alive by the Apocrypha? A slight feeling of regret made its presence known in Zane. If he were to be caught then Layla would be the only hope for humanity left.

Zane glanced back at the Apocrypha. They were jumping over fallen logs and dodging oncoming trees as if they were vampires from a movie. Zane averted his eyes to Serenity. Her face had horror written all over it.

"We'll be okay!" cried Zane trying his best to comfort her.

Serenity looked up at him in the eyes with an extremely timid look. Words alone wouldn't be enough to comfort her. For the short moment Serenity looked away, her foot slammed into a log. Her hands flew in front of her and her feet swept from beneath her. She fell flat on her stomach burying her face in dead leaves. The Apocrypha were now only an arm length away from her. Zane stopped himself like a car jamming it's brakes. The leaves underneath his feet weren't happy with his decision. He slipped like he was walking on ice and fell flat on his stomach. Panic clinging to him like a baby to it's mother's bosom.

"Serenity!" he cried in horror.

The Apocrypha grabbed onto her legs pulling her backwards. She kicked and flung her hands screaming bashing in the pile of leaves.

"Zane! Help me please!!"

Zane scurried to his feet kicking leaves out of his way. What was the best decision? Leave her so he could escape or rush into the mouth of danger to be some kind of hero? The wisest decision was for him to run. He had the hopes of all remaining humans on his shoulder. One little fourteen year old girl compared to the billions of lives that he held on his shoulders. One life that could be sacrificed to help many more. It was the best decision to leave her and save himself right?

Not to Zane. It was his fault for not stopping her in the first place which meant it was his duty to protect her. He didn't have his gun since it had been crushed by the rank 4 Apocrypha but he had the knife Serenity had given to him.

"Make use of one damn knife Zane!" he screamed to himself.

He charged the twelve Apocrypha as they latched a metal bracelet onto the arm of Serenity. Her head bobbled as she fell into a state of unconsciousness. One deep breath and press forward. Zane leaped into the small army of Apocrypha knocking six of them over with his body. He tumbled and rolled as he grasped the knife in his hand and slammed the blade down into one's head. Eleven against one, but they were all rank one Apocrypha. Fighting and winning wasn't such an impossible task with all he had experienced so far.

Zane quickly arose back onto his feet. His leg stung him like a bee from his overexertion. Two Apocrypha came forward using their bodies to pounce against his. Zane stood his ground as they pushed him back, but like a stubborn rock he refused to break. He head-butted one of the Apocrypha and slashed the knife at another. They staggered backwards, one losing a finger and another holding it's delicate head in agony. Zane took his chance; he dashed forward embedding his knife into their craniums. Purple blood spewed to the ground like blackberry juice.

The remaining Apocrypha bellowed to the two behind them as if signaling to take Serenity away. Her body began to levitate through the air as they grabbed onto her and ran in the opposite direction.

"Serenity!" screamed Zane as he charged towards her.

The Apocrypha weren't about to let him. One took up a broad-broken piece of tree limb and slammed it into Zane. His hand's took the brunt of the impact as the limb broke into pieces. Zane screamed in agony as pain held him in its arms.

The remaining six then dived onto him simultaneously clamping him to the ground. Dead leaves scattered as they made contact. Zane struggled with his movements desperately flinging his limbs around wildly. The Apocrypha dropped their dark-shadowy knees onto both his arms and feet. Zane screamed in pain as his fractured leg burnt him like a hot flame. One Apocrypha came over Zane with a metal bracelet ready to latch onto his arm.

Zane breathed heavily like he was having an asthma attack. Sweat trickled down his face washing the dead leaves under him wet. Was this the end for him? Was he about to become processed meat? Zane didn't like the idea but he was pinned to the ground unable to even wiggle his fingers. He watched in horror as the Apocrypha brought the metal bracelet closer to him. With one final desperate wail he spat into the Apocrypha's face. It stopped mid-way with an extremely displeased look across it's face. It wiped Zane's spit out of it's face and flashed it to the ground in anger.

The Apocrypha walked around towards the head of Zane staring down at him with disgust before sending it's foot crashing down into his skull. His head swung from left to right almost snapping his neck. The Apocrypha slowly stooped down once again. It got it's metal bracelet closing in onto Zane's pinned right arm. Zane closed his eye's realizing how terribly he had messed up.

"I'm so sorry Serenity..." he cried to himself.

Bullet's were then heard flaring through the air. The Apocrypha bellowed as Zane's eyes shot back open. To his surprise each and every Apocrypha that had held him down were now laying flat on the ground beside him. He slowly got up looking around bedazzled as to what just happened. Loud and aggressive footsteps were then heard approaching him. He looked up adjusting his eyes through the thick mist to see Layla, Nick, and Almarie. Almarie even had Serenity laying unconscious in her arms.

Layla came closer to him as he looked up at her thankful for saving him.

"Lay-"

Before Zane could even utter his first word, Layla's right hand came swinging around slapping him across his face. His head swung to the left as the sound of the slap was so loud it rivaled the gunshots that had just been fired.

"What the f@ck were you thinking you idiot?! Coming all the way out here with a fourteen year old girl to bury some stupid offering?!"

Zane was speechless as he stared blankly from the slap. He knew he had messed up but this was bigger than the last time. He had not only almost lost Serenity, but was almost killed himself sending half the hope of humanity down the drain.

"I-I'm sorry..."

Layla clenched her teeth and draped Zane by the collar, "You're sorry?! What would be of us right now if I hadn't decided to get up and check on you? Do you even know the shit we went through to get here? The Apocrypha found the house because they saw both of you exit through the yard! We had to abandon it taking supplies in a fricking rush Zane!"

Zane clenched his teeth in regret. His actions had almost gotten not only himself killed, but the entire group.

"I knew you could be a bit much, but this... this is too much even for you. I was wrong about you... you're just an immature kid in a nineteen year old body who acts based off emotion! What would we have done if you died?!"

"Layla... we need to hurry and move. The Apocrypha will be swarming this area any minute now with all the noise we made." declared Nick in a low-tone.

Nick didn't even look at Zane. The disappointment was very much evident on his face. He turned around alongside Almarie who looked exactly the same way. Zane finally looked into the eye's of Layla. When he did, his heart sank. Layla was shouting at him as if she could kill him but her eyes told a different story. It wasn't disappointment or rage, it was sadness and worry. She slowly released Zane's collar and walked off into the mist behind the others.

Zane whimpered. Terrible choices with terrible outcomes. He only wanted to help but his help ended up being much more of a hinderance than anything else. Was this situation trying to tell him that it was best not to be so kind? That's how he felt about it and he hated the feeling. He placed his eyes down towards the dead Apocrypha below him and picked up the metal bracelet from it's hand.

He didn't know why he picked up the metal bracelet. Maybe it was to try and cure the guilt he felt by seemingly helping. He pocketed it and walked off in hurry to catch up to the others.

The group walked in dead silence. The only noise to be heard was the crackling of small twigs and dead leaves under their feet. They were eventually lead onto a concrete trail which they slowly followed. The tension between them was as thick as hot porridge.

"We need to find a vehicle. One that can hold all of us." declared Nick.

"Where are we going to find something like that out here?" inquired Almarie. She groaned as if she was having trouble carrying Serenity.

"Let me carry Serenity for you Almarie..." insisted Zane.

Almarie looked back at him as if questioning if it was a good idea. She stopped and placed Serenity in the arms of Zane. He was in pain but he didn't want to show it as he desperately wanted to make it up to the group. Nick turned and looked at him suspiciously.

"You don't have to overexert yourself Zane. You messed up but that doesn't mean we hate you nor does it mean you have to punish yourself for it. We all make mistakes sometimes, besides your heart was in the right place. I'll carry her if you're able to shoot a rifle."

"It's fine... I'm not the best with guns."

Nick gave a nod to Zane accepting his request. They all continued to walk for a couple more minutes until they saw a black jeep parked alongside the road. The drivers door was open but there was no one near it. It also had a few dents and scratches to it's exterior as if it was attacked by something. Layla signaled to the group to be careful as she got her gun out and crouched towards it. Nick did the same leaving Almarie and Zane with Serenity. Layla made her way around the vehicle like a special-ops soldier. She glanced towards the ground to see a river of human blood.

"Wait" she cautioned Nick.

Nick stopped in his tracks like a deactivated robot. Layla carefully used her gun to widen the drivers door as she peeped inside. She got her gun in front of her and waved it around in a composed manner as she inspected the interior. Fortunately, nothing was found but there were signs of a struggle. The key's laid on the floor mat of the vehicle stained in a bit of blood.

"Nothing's here... It seems whoever was driving this was taken by the Apocrypha. We should use this and get out of here." she declared.

Nick nodded letting Zane and Almarie know it was safe to proceed. They opened the backdoors and placed Serenity inside with Almarie. The seats were ice cold as if the jeep had been there for quite a while. Layla got into the drivers seat as she roared the engine to life checking the gas percentage. It was less than half way down. She snickered knowing it wouldn't take them very far. They would need to find the nearest gas station and refill when possible.

Zane watched Layla hoping she would say something to him as he let himself onto the backseat.

"Front seat beside me" she declared in an unamused tone.

Zane was confused as to how Layla actually felt about him at this point. A few minutes ago she seemed as if she didn't want him anywhere near her for. Now she was acting like a mother who was aggressively disciplining her child. Zane looked over at Nick who was waiting for him to make a decision. Nick shrugged showing his uncertainty as well. Zane slowly went over into the front seat and sat beside Layla. Nick closed the door behind them as Layla drove off.

Zane was curious as to what was going through Layla's head. Was she planning to say anything to him? Why did she ask him to come beside her in the first place?

"Girls are so confusing..." muttered Zane to himself.

Layla remained quiet as they drove towards their next encounter. Zane had made the road ahead of them much more difficult than it needed to be. Even so they had to keep trying and push themselves to survive no matter what.