Chapter 8 - Damn it Liam! I Was Actually Getting Quite Fond of You!

                                    

                                          
Chapter 8 - Damn it, Liam! I Was Actually Getting Quite Found of You!
                          
Panda's P.O.V.
                          
So, apparently escaping your kidnappers wasn't meant to be easy. Figures. 

                          
Just when I have sunken to the depths of my unconsciousness, Liam wakes me up, claiming it is his turn to sleep. I don't really have any way to tell if it has actually been fifteen minutes, so I just take his word for it. 
                          
As soon as he closes his eyes, I start counting to sixty in my head. When I reach it, I start again, holding up one finger. I repeat until fifteen minutes has passed, then shake Liam's shoulder. He wakes immediately, looking sad. 
                          
"Has it already been fifteen minutes?" He asks, rubbing his eyes dejectedly.
                          
"Yeah," I say, rising to my feet and putting my backpack on. Liam follows suit a moment later, and I frown. Now I have no idea which way to go! 
                          
"Liam.. which way are we supposed to be going?" I ask slowly, looking in all directions for any clue of the way we had come. Liam shrugs helplessly, looking panicked. 
                          
"How do I know? I thought you knew!"
                          
"I thought you knew!"
                          
I sigh, stalking off towards the closest patch of light, and a minute or two later, I'm standing at the edge of a small, paved road. 
                          
"There might be a sign somewhere," I explain in a clipped tone, very annoyed. It seems like Liam is relying on me to do all the important stuff, just because I kept taking on the blokes. 
                          
I spot a sign at the opposite side of the road in the distance, and I stomp across the road. I don't wait for Liam when I reach the other side, just continue towards the little sign.
                          
"Hey! Wait! Where are you going?" He calls, hurrying after me. I quicken my pace until I'm sprinting faster than I ever have before. I'm a runner at heart; walking annoys me. It's too slow. 
                          
I run to my heart's content, not caring about anything else besides my feet pounding against the earth. I shoot like the bullet I had fired into Cole's neck, speed like a cheetah escaping a larger predator. I run like a human overloaded with stress, overloaded with injuries, one that is angry at the whole world. Nothing matters anymore. All that matters was that my feet kept carrying me as fast as possible from everything. 
                          
I don't realize how fast I am moving until I hear Liam's heavy pants in the distance. I glance behind me for a split second. Liam is far behind, but he is running at top speed. Liam, the man who had qualified for the Olympics, can not catch up to me. 
                          
I am filled with a sense of relief, a sense of smug satisfaction, and a sense of carefreeness. 
                          
I am running so determinedly that I don't realize what's happening until it's too late. 
                          
First, a dark van pulls up a ways behind me. There is the sound of doors being pulled open, followed by feet hitting the ground. I try to stop and end up skidding a few metres on the grass. As soon as I regain my footing I whip around and charge in Liam's direction.
                          
The blokes are on either side of him. Liam has his gun aimed shakily towards Jared, but both have a gun trained on him. Liam catches my eyes over John's shoulder. "One, two three," I mouth to him. At three, Liam presses the trigger. His bullet misses Jared by a long shot, but my bullet aimed for John hits him dead in the head, which was a rather good bit of luck - or skill - on my part. 
                          
Sadly, both Jared's and John's bullets hit Liam. Jared's hits him in the upper arm, due to the fact that Liam had twisted out of the way when Jared had aimed for his heart, and John's had went off course when he fell but still hit Liam's foot. I watch in horror as Liam stumbles and falls over, still being too far for me to do anything useful. My feet keep pounding against the ground, but I'm not enjoying my run this time. 
                          
I collapse a foot from Liam's side, clutching his arm with both hands. I am dimly aware of Jared a few metres behind me, but I don't care.
                          
"Perfect," I think I hear Jared say behind me, no evidence of sarcasm in his tone. Large hands grab my shoulders roughly, and I kick and flail with low energy. The running drained me in my weakened state. I'm surprised I'm not bleeding again.
                          
"Move and I shoot the boy," Jared threatens in a low voice, right in my ear. An involuntary shiver runs down my spine.
                          
The barrel of a gun is sat on my left shoulder, aimed directly at Liam. I think this is a stupid move on Jared's part, because I could just jerk my shoulder up, but then I feel a needle pressing into my right upper arm. 
                          
My body tries to fight with the serum, desperate to stay conscious, but it turns out I don't have to fight. This must be a modified serum that doesn't put me to sleep, only temporarily paralyzes me. My body stiffens and freezes, stuck in its current position. 
                          
Before my eyes, Liam gushes blood, coughing feebly on the ground. I want to cry out, to say something, but the serum takes a heavier toll on my body this time, maybe because I'm so weak and tired, and it's a huge effort to breathe, never mind talk.
                          
Liam goes limp on the ground, but the blood continues to drain from his wounds. I wish desperately that someone will come by, but our general location was chosen well. Barely anyone will come by here. 
                          
The life continues to slowly drain from Liam, and I can't even cry. 

                          
A/N: okay it's short but I guess you guys expect that from me by now right? I don't have much to say.. so Baii my little cookies! 
                          
------Omnom