Dead Girl Walking

Despite having been unconscious for a day and a half, Braith found himself surprisingly fit. He had no trouble keeping pace with Sunata.

Yumie, however, was struggling.

Screams echoed through the hospital as another gunshot cracked somewhere below. Shouts followed - some demanding, others begging - bleeding into the stairwells as the trio’s footsteps thundered downward. The hospital wasn’t large, but it was tall. Elevators were out of the question, so Sunata led them down flight after flight of stairs.

Yumie hated the stairs.

She stumbled once. Then again. On the third step she tripped outright, pitching forward - only saved by Braith’s reflexes. He grabbed her just in time, nearly losing his own balance as her weight dragged him toward the edge.

She gasped, suspended for a breathless moment, held upright only by his arm.

He hauled her back to her feet. She clung to him instantly, fingers digging into his clothes. She didn’t sound tired - but her voice trembled.

“I… I can’t…”

Sunata turned, already drawing breath to shout.

Braith acted first. He leaned close and whispered,

“I’ll carry you. Get on.”

She understood immediately.

Yumie practically jumped onto his back, arms looping around his neck as she pressed her chin against his shoulder. The sudden weight threw him off balance, but there was no time to adjust. He pushed forward, legs burning as he forced himself to keep pace.

As they burst into a long hallway lined with glass windows, Braith caught their reflection. His grip was uncomfortably close to her bare thighs, her tail bobbing with each stride.

He shoved the thought away and ran.

The chaos ahead grew louder until they rounded a corner and found a cluster of panicked civilians frozen in place. Nurses, patients, visitors - none of them knowing where to go.

Sunata stepped forward, teeth clenched.

“HEY! What’s the situation?”

A nurse - clearly the calmest among them - answered quickly.

“There’s a group with guns. They’re demanding Mahotona travel permits to leave the country. They’ve barricaded themselves in the maternity ward!”

Sunata cursed under his breath and turned back toward Braith and Yumie. The gathered crowd was beginning to notice them now - the ears, the tail, the way she clung to him.

“Braith,” Sunata said sharply. “How do you shoot?”

Braith nearly forgot how words worked.

“I… I hold her arm. Point at the target. Then I think about shooting.”

Sunata nodded once.

“Good. Yumie, take off the gloves. You two figure out the best way to shoot on the move, because we’re not stopping.”

Yumie tugged the white silk gloves off, clutching them in her left hand. She extended her right arm and rested it across Braith’s shoulder like a rocket launcher, fingers splayed.

“Will this work?” she asked.

Braith nodded.

“I think so.”

Only at close range, though. If they needed distance - like they’d been told was their role - they’d have to adapt fast.

Sunata gave a sharp nod.

“Alright. Keep moving.”

The maternity ward sat near the edge of the building - close enough to the emergency wing for convenience, far enough that the constant wail of ambulances wouldn’t disturb it. The main entrance had been barricaded shut. Braith guessed the others were no different.

They peered through the wire-reinforced glass.

Nothing.

Whoever was inside had retreated deeper into the ward.

Sunata glanced between Braith and Yumie.
“Alright. Two options. We charge in guns blazing, or we wait it out. People are already on their way, but if they get desperate, they might start executing hostages.”

Braith’s stomach twisted.

“And since this is a maternity ward,” Sunata continued grimly, “that means parents. And babies.”

Braith opened his mouth to argue - but his answer was stolen from him.

A shadow loomed suddenly behind the door.

The figure raised a weapon.

Braith reacted on instinct, ducking hard to the side - almost forgetting Yumie was still connected to him. Sunata dove the opposite way just as a gunshot thundered, the round tearing straight through the flimsy wooden door.

Yumie gasped. She couldn’t see anything - only hear the explosion and feel the violent movement. She braced herself, arm still extended, refusing to pull it back.

Braith doubled over, breathing hard. He shot Sunata a look.

Sunata grimaced.

“Want to do the honours?”

It took Braith a second to realise he was joking.

“What now?”

Sunata shrugged.

“We wait for someone with more authority and pray they don’t start killing people.”

Braith stared at him.

“You’re serious?”

“Of course. I’m not stepping into an open kill zone.”

“You say that like lives aren’t on the line.”

Sunata sighed.

“Listen, kid. When you’ve been doing this as long as I have-”

“What, a month or two?”

Sunata held up a hand.

“When you’ve been doing this as long as I have, you learn something important. You can’t save everyone. If you try, you’ll burn out fast. Sometimes… you have to let people go.”

Braith grimaced.

“That sounds like something a washed-up superhero would say.”

Sunata smirked.

“Well, isn’t that what-”

Yumie suddenly shifted.

Braith released her instinctively as she whispered,

“Where’s the wall?”

He took her hand - the one not holding the gloves - and pressed it against the cold surface beside the door.

“And the door?” she asked.

Confusion flooded his chest.

“Left. Don’t go that way.”

She nodded.

Then she walked straight toward it.

“Yumie-!”

She was already there.

The first shot hit her before Braith could reach her.

Her body jerked violently.

Braith’s heart stopped.

“YUMIE-!”

“Shoot! Shoot!” she screamed back - somehow still standing.

He understood.

He didn’t hesitate.

Shoot.

A flash - smoke - then a sharp, cracking bang as the bullet tore through the wood and screamed down the corridor beyond. Braith thought again.

Shoot. Shoot. Shoot.

Gunfire erupted from both sides.

The door splintered, wood exploding outward as Yumie cried out, her body jolting again and again as bullets slammed into her. Blood burst from her wounds, spraying the tiles, streaming down her legs. Still she didn’t move.

Braith couldn’t think of anything except the command.

Shoot.

The hallway rang with chaos-

Then silence.

The gunfire from inside stopped all at once.

Braith stood frozen, breath ragged, staring at Yumie’s trembling form.

Then she collapsed.

Her body hit the tiles with a dull, hollow thud.

Braith rushed forward, tears blurring his vision. The sweater was torn to shreds - riddled with holes, soaked dark red. He dropped to his knees and gathered her into his arms.

She moved.

Barely - but she moved.

Blood bubbled at her lips as she tried to speak.

“Ow… it hurts… it hurts…”

Tears fell freely now, dotting the blood crusting her cheeks.

Was this it?

Was he really going to lose her already?

“Yumie…” he whispered, voice breaking. “Why…?”

She tried to lift her arms, but they fell limp as pain tore through her. She hissed, then forced out a single word through a wet gurgle.

“Healing…”

Hope exploded through him.

He focused - hard - filling his mind with the thought. Green light wisped like smoke around her body. Her breathing steadied. Her muscles finally relaxed.

She exhaled deeply, eyes closing.

She was still covered in blood.

But she wasn’t dying.

“…Ow,” she muttered weakly. “I’m never doing that again…”

Braith stared at her, dumbfounded, tears clinging to his lashes.

“…What?”