He looked down to see Katherine. She had propped herself on one knee and was breathing heavily. Her head was down but he could see her chest move in deep slow breaths. She didn’t seem to be experiencing the massive earthquake either. William could only hold on to his side and let the earth have its way with him. He didn’t even care about the calico at this point. The jarring of the earth seemed to force the debris that had lodged itself into his wounds farther into the gash in his sides. William closed his eyes and held on.
As suddenly as it had begun, the earthquake stopped. William opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Katherine who had collapsed on her side. William felt fire in his wound and every breath seemed to add fuel to that fire. But he had to get to Katherine. The thought rose unbidden to his mind and with the pain dulling the rest of his senses he clung to that thought like a drowning person clings to a life ring. He made his legs move and he rolled over onto his uninjured side. He pushed his good leg and propped himself up on his elbows. The movement only caused more pain but the more pain he endured it seemed the less he felt. He didn’t mind that the earth and rock around him were tearing into his fur. The only thing he felt was the pain of his side wound and his wrecked leg. His only thought at the moment was to get to Katherine. Nothing else registered to him and didn’t seem to matter.
His progress was that of an ant. Every muscle movement sent new waves of pain through his body. He wasn’t sure what getting to Katherine would accomplish. But that was the only thing his brain was telling him to do. His bad leg seemed to ride every bump and scrape across every rock on the ground sending fresh sensations through his body. He knew that he couldn’t take much more of this. Trying to get to Katherine was going to make him black out. But he wasn’t going to just lie there either.
He closed his eyes as he pushed himself across some jagged rocks. His wound screamed at him. His body was panting and his breathing was getting shallower and shallower as he moved closer to Katherine. He was going to pass out either from the pain or hyperventilation.
He kept expecting the calico to pick him up, or kick him, or do something to prevent him from completing his trek. He didn’t want to look anywhere else though. Every inch brought him closer to Katherine’s unconscious body and that was where his entire focus was at the moment. Just a little farther. The thought was comical to him. How long was just a little farther? It could take him days to reach Katherine at this speed. She was breathing, he could see that, and she was getting closer. The single thought echoed in his head driving him forward, however long it took, he would reach her.
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In front of his field of vision a grey werewolf appeared. Actually, it was the grey fur of the legs of a grey werewolf that appeared in front of him. He didn’t have any time to react and wasn’t sure that he could have even if he had wanted to. He felt himself surge upward as he was grabbed by his arms and pulled up to a standing position. The sudden stretching of his abdomen forced his wound to open farther and caused him to grunt in pain.
The grey that had lifted him up was looking at him. He supported a good deal of William’s weight and William felt suspended. The grey cocked his head to the side. William heard someone scream. The sound was alien to him. It seemed like it was very far away. He wanted to look around but he couldn’t make his neck force his head to move. William looked down to see the grey pull back one of his claws that was covered in deep red. William was amazed that the grey’s fur could have gotten that red. His mind was drifting, and he couldn’t feel his body anymore. The pressure from the grey’s grip was almost nonexistent. He felt like he was on some kind of really powerful pain killers. He couldn’t feel anything that was going on around him. His eyesight told him that the grey’s claw was covered in his blood, but he couldn’t make sense of that thought.
Where did all that blood come from?
The grey reached back and seemed to shoot his arm forward once again. William heard that far away scream and his eyes closed on their own. With no sense to tie him to what was going on around him, he felt himself begin to slip away. The darkness was so tempting, in its promise of rest. To just lie down and sleep would have felt so good.
But it would also mean death and more pain to those around him.
William forced himself back up through the blackness of unconsciousness. White light flooded his awareness and he felt pain erupt in his side once more. He looked up to see the grey werewolf still holding him and still plunging his fist into William’s side, collecting more blood with each strike.
William placed weight on his leg and found that there was a small amount of awkward strength there. He wouldn’t be able to sprint but the leg wasn’t a rubber band any more. Groggily William reached up with his right hand to steady himself on the arms of the grey that was holding him up after another punch landed, forcing the air out of his lungs. His mind was still foggy, and he felt woozy. He couldn’t move very fast, and every movement of his muscles was a trial.
The grey punched at him again and William let out a howl of pain. The howl seemed to clear his mind and release some of the restriction in his body. Before the grey could reach back again for another punch, William grabbed at the others claw. The grey whipped his arm out of reach and William used the sudden change in motion to push his body forward into the arm that was holding him up. The grey staggered back under the added weight. William swung his arm up and broke the hold. Placing more weight than he probably should have on his bad leg he shoved both of his fists into the exposed abdomen of the grey.