Holding Grudges

Zenos and Damien turned their flashlights all the way up, lighting up the entire room.

The creature beside Killian had a long red needle for a right arm.

That needle was currently skewering Killian.

Killian's suit cracked from the point of impact and was leaking blood.

There was also another creature with a red needle arm a few meters away that was waking up.

On the other side of the room were Zenos and Damien. A red needle-armed creature was gurgling and began to charge at Zenos and Damien.

Zenos pulled out his snub-nosed shotgun and waited for the creature to get close.

When the creature was two meters away, its red arm suddenly extended, aiming for Zenos' chest.

A sharp clang rang out.

Damien's katana had blocked the attack.

Then, Zenos fired his shotgun.

A loud blast filled the air.

The creature's head exploded into pieces, sending black blood everywhere.

Meanwhile, Killian was using one hand to try and pry the creature's arm out of him while his other hand pulled out the katana from the creature's flesh.

With a groan, Killian plunged his katana into the creature's neck.

The katana pierced the neck, but was stopped by the bone.

Killian frowned and pushed harder on the katana.

The creature's head began to tilt back under the force.

However, Killian was also being lifted up by the creature's arm, leaving his feet dangling in the air.

With a bellow, Killian pushed on the katana until all his knuckles were white. After a series of frightening cracking sounds, the creature's head snapped off and Killian fell down on his rear.

Another creature began running towards Killian, all the while the red arm of the previous creature was still stuck in his stomach.

Adonis crossed his arms, clearly showing he did not even have the intention to help out.

On the other hand, Damien pulled out his pistol and took a second to aim.

The creature extended its red arm and was about to pierce Killian's face, but a bullet hit its body, sending the attack off course.

As the red arm passed by Killian's face, he furrowed his brows and pulled out his shotgun.

With one hand, he pulled the trigger.

A grating explosion resounded.

The creature's body was blown away and exploded into red mush. The shotgun flew out of Killian's hand from the recoil, but all the creatures were dead.

With a groan, Killian slowly pulled out the red arm from his body.

"Stop."

Damien was frowning.

Killian raised an eyebrow.

"What the fuck do you want?"

Damien shook his head.

"If you pull it out now, you will bleed out. Get your medkit with the tools ready to treat the wound."

Killian frowned, but stopped pulling out the red arm.

"Alright."

Killian reached into his backpack and pulled out a black box labeled 'Medical Kit' with a white cross painted on top.

Killian groaned in pain.

"Dammit... can one of you guys help?"

Damien walked over to Killian and inspected the box. He pressed a button, making the lid retract, revealing the contents.

The various supplies were divided into separate compartments.

One section held three antiseptic wipes, for cleaning wounds. There were two large pieces of dressing and two medium plasters stacked on each other. These were used to cover wounds directly.

There was a roll of bandages, with a pair of sleek metal tweezers and small scissors tucked within it. The bandages were to hold dressing among other things in place while the other things were tools.

There were also two metal rods that were connected by a black wire. This seemed to be a mechanical splint.

Unfortunately, there was no manual and Damien only had superficial knowledge about medical supplies.

He furrowed his brows.

"Are any of you professionals in medical stuff?"

Zenos shook his head and Adonis shrugged his shoulders.

Killian furrowed his brows.

"You've got to be kidding me, none of you know how to do this?"

Damien sighed.

"I suppose you just have to trust me."

Killian frowned bitterly.

"Hah."

Damien took an antiseptic wipe and cleaned the hands of his mechanical suit. He then examined Killain's wounds, finding that some black blood from the creature was seeping into the wound.

"Some black blood is going into your wound. I'm going to try to get it out, bite on this."

Damien tossed the metal rods to Killian, which he caught.

Killian sighed before he bit down.

"Well fuck me I guess."

Damien slowly pulled out some metal pieces stuck in the wound. As he did so, Killian furrowed his brows but did not make a sound.

Once that was finished, Damien rubbed the antiseptic wipe against the wound, pushing against it firmly to remove the blood all at once.

Killian grunted, but was otherwise composed.

Damien frowned.

"The mechanical suit is interfering more than I thought it would."

Killian spoke while the metal bar was in his mouth, making it a bit muffled.

"Is there any way you could remove the suit?"

Emmett popped in.

"Hey! If you wish to remove your suit, you can do so by stating, disengage suit!"

Killian narrowed his eyes.

"You couldn't have told us earlier?"

Emmett was as cheery as ever.

"You didn't ask!"

Killian sighed helplessly.

"Disengage suit."

The mechanical suit automatically unfolded into multiple pieces, leaving Killian in his black clothes. The wound appeared even worse once the suit was off, fully revealing ruptured blood vessels around the wound.

Damien took the two plasters and held one in each hand.

"Pull out the red arm without hurting yourself."

Beads of sweat began to form on Killian's head. He slowly pulled out the red arm with both hands.

Killian made muffled groans as the red arm was slowly pulled out of his stomach. Once the whole arm was removed, his eyes became bloodshot, and muffled screams seeped out of his mouth.

His wound began bleeding heavily once the red arm was removed. Damien furrowed his brows and quickly slapped plaster on each side of the wound.

The white plaster was immediately dyed red like oil spreading in the ocean. The plasters stuck on, but they bulged, ready to come off at any second.

Damien noticed this and immediately unrolled the bandages to wrap around Killian. He did so quickly and tightly, prompting Killian to grimace.

"Damn, too tight, too tight. Loosen it before you kill me."

Damien slowly unwrapped the bandages and then focused on wrapping the bandages properly.

After a few wrap arounds, Damien took out the scissors to cut off the bandage and tie it securely.

Killian let out a sigh of relief.

"...Thanks."

Damien's expression did not change.

"No problem."

Killian put his hands gently above the wounds.

"But..."

He smiled dangerously.

"How come one of us here is just watching while the rest are fighting for our lives?"

Adonis frowned.

"What are you trying to say?"

Killian laughed.

"You couldn't even try to help me when a monster charged right at me?"

Adonis scoffed.

"As if my bullets could be wasted to save you. Frankly, it's best if I use them to save my own life over yours."

Killian narrowed his eyes.

"Oh really? Well, you're going to need them to save your sorry ass right now."

Killian used one hand to pick up his shotgun and aimed it at Adonis.

Adonis' face twitched and did not delay in bringing out his desert eagle.

Adonis' and Killian's weapons were pointed at one another. There were a few seconds of silence while the tension in the air rapidly increased.

Damien sighed.

"Can you guys stop? You both know the consequences of pulling the trigger."

Adonis frowned, but did not lower his desert eagle.

"What consequences? Losing a weak link doesn't matter to me."

Killian's smile grew bigger.

"This guy doesn't have our backs anyway. I don't see how this is a loss."

Damien rubbed his temple with his knuckle.

"Adonis, you should at least be prepared to help. If we don't have each other's backs, nobody will."

Killian smirked.

"Haha, hear that you dumb goof?"

Adonis' eyes were filled with derision.

"I can watch my own back."

Damien raised an eyebrow.

"Can you really watch your own back? Last I saw there were no eyes on your back."

Killian laughed.

"Do you hear that? You-"

"But!"

Damien raised his hand.

"Killian, you must understand that he was not in a good position to help. He was far away with an unscoped weapon, not to mention he is unfamiliar with it. Whether he would hit you or the creature was not up to him."

Killian clicked his tongue.

"...I guess that could have been true."

Adonis' face relaxed somewhat, but there was still a deep frown plastered across it.

"Don't assume that I can't aim properly."

Both weapons were still raised and the air in the room got heavy.

Killian and Adonis glared at each other.

Then after a few strenuous seconds, they slowly lowered their weapons.