one {man's} struggle another {man's} food/// Semper

[Knuckles]

Pain surges continuously throughout my veins with every step I take as my brother, Zephaniah, guides me down the road allowing me to lean on him instead of pressing the weight against my messed up foot. It's been several days since the gun was fired sending the bullet flying through the air before piercing the delicate skin shattering bones inside the foot making it impossible to place any weight on it. Zephaniah found me locked away in an abandon building as he was searching for a place where him and his friends could mess stuff up. I could hear them talking about their plans, yet none of it made since as I slowly inched away from reality. The words they spoke slurred together mixing with the constant ring blaring in my ears. I tried shouting his name, but my voice failed me like always rarely going above a raspy whisper. When he busted through the door, his eyes widen as he stared at my horrible state. My face as pale as a white sheet of paper, bags outlining my eyes, blood pooling at the bottom of my foot, I was a mess, and his scream shared it with the entire world. "Krypt! What the fuck happened to you?" Each word spoken echoed throughout my mind bouncing off my skull etching itself into my ears as my body fell over unconscious onto the ground.

Now, he's dragging me down the road as my feet steadily move behind him. My entire foot is swollen, unable to fit in a shoe, and the ground is hot, rough, and burning my toes each time they touch the surface. Dirt particles dance through the wound destroying it, like someone has just set it on fire. It's funny, though, watching Zephaniah half carry me down the road since he's shorter than me, and his friend, Siavush, is taller than me, yet somehow, they manage to carry me without any problem. My left leg, my good one, shakes under the weight of my body as it's been days since a good meal has been placed before me. I was left for dead, yet a miracle happened and they found me before it was too late. Every inch of my body burns begging for some much needed water, some food, something to give it a spark of life wanting to keep going, but it's the farthest thing from my mind as my right foot drops against the ground. Screams erupt from my mouth flying into the air as my brother turns to face me. "Why did ya hafta get yourself shot? That could have damn well killed ya." His words are harsh, and far from having any sympathy, but I understand where he's coming from. I could easily be dead.

My face turns towards the ground as we climb up to the steps of a house. "Zeph, I can't move much longer, bro. I'm gonna fall over." A very small amount of sweat flows from my face as my cheeks burn red from exhaustion. It's been a while since I've moved this much. I stayed in the abandon building not moving drinking dirty water that flowed down the wall, however, it was never enough. It barely kept me alive. During that time, all hope fled from my sight because I knew deep inside that nobody would find me. My head turns slightly as they sit me down on the steps- Siavush knocks on the door before sitting down beside me. "Damn Krypt. You're not looking so well dude." Siavush is always the obvious one, and it never fails to make me laugh, which is needed right now. Silent chuckles flow through my body bringing a smile to my face. I run a hand through my hair trying to make it look clean, like I haven't been trapped outside by myself for days. I take pride in how I look, but now it's something I don't care much about. I really need someone to save me, to take care of me because my life is falling apart. It's only a matter of seconds before my ticking time bomb could explode.

The door opens, loudly, causing me to jump out of my skin. "Hello, what may I do for you?" My eyes glance back at a man. My heart races under my chest as my breathing becomes increased. Every muscle inside my body tremors as my eyes quickly move away. "My bro here." Zephaniah points his hand towards me as he speaks only making me feel extremely embarrassed about the entire situation. "Decided it would be fun to get shot then hide in an abandon building. He was damn near dead when I found him." They help me to my feet and the guy stares at me. My heart drops through my chest to my stomach. "Bring him inside." Butterflies dance around inside my stomach as Siavush and Zephaniah drag me to my feet. They carefully haul me through the house following the owner of it. My eyes glance around the rooms carefully wondering what happens in all the rooms. The guy stops in the kitchen, but motions for them to move forward. "Place him on the couch." Every fiber of my being wants to run away, yet I know it's impossible because I wouldn't make it very far if I tried. A lump grows in my throat as my bottom touches the couch. It's nice to be sitting on furniture, yet the anticipation of what's going to happen is killing me.

"I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Led. Zephaniah knows who I am. He's been around a bunch. I've been helping take care of people a lot over the years. What brings you here today?" My voice catches in my throat as my eyes glare at the man in front of me. I move my hands around and point down at my foot unable to talk because it's hard understanding what this guy says. My head swims through the room looking at everyone unsure of what to do. "I was shot like eight or nine days ago." My voice bounces off the walls of my skull before exploding into the air. "Trying to climb a fence running from the peacekeepers. Had a bit too much to drink. Ya know?" He squats down in front of me looking at my foot, and my heart drops as he begins slowly shaking his head. One of his hands touch my foot and loud screams fill the room. My jaw clenches down grinding my teeth periodically fighting against the pain as tears start pouring from my eyes. "Your foot ain't looking too good. I don't know how much I'll be able to save, at least from the bottom of your arch up is gone. Should have came sooner." My heart drops into my stomach as my head lowers. Those weren't the words I wanted to hear.

"Here let's have a drink." He tosses a bottle to me, and my first instinct is to throw it away because it's what made me in this mess, but he sits down on the couch next to me watching me like a hawk. I crack the lid off the bottle and hold it up to my mouth chugging as much of the stuff inside as I can. The vile substance burns my throat on the way down causing my eyes to water. Zephaniah and Siavush walk out of the room not looking back. I continue drinking from the bottle, and when I finish, he tosses another one to me. A loud chuckle escapes from my lips before cracking the lid off it and chugging that one down as well. It's like a hole appeared in my lips as the drink runs down my mouth onto my chest soaking the shirt I'm wearing. A large grin plasters against my face. It's not that bad once the stuff starts settling in, but the first drink is always the worse. I still have no idea how my father manages to drink so much. Being drunk hasn't paid off for me yet, but it's all going to be alright. "How you feeling now?" His words make little since as they pass through my ears. I just look at him raise a thumb into the air before swallowing the rest of the drink.

Led stands up from the couch and moves over towards the table sitting before us. My eyes wander around as he dances across the floor. The lights shining brightly in the room swirl around my face like a rainbow. Heat radiates from my cheeks as the blood begins rushing through my body as my heart slows down rapidly. I take a deep breath as he moves forward and starts poking at my foot. Surprisingly it doesn't hurt compared to what it was like before. He places a band around the bottom of my foot, a bunch of cotton under it, and picks up a knife. He tosses me another bottle, and without thinking, I crack the lid off and start drinking. Double of everything flashes before my eyes as my eyes look around the room. I'd be arrested for sure if a peacekeeper walked in for underage drinking, but that's beside the point. He grabs a rather large piece of wood and places it in my mouth under my teeth and tells me to bite down on it. I clench my jaw tight as my teeth grind into the wooden surface. He takes the knife and moves it through my foot carefully. It's all going well until the first bone snaps. Shrieks escape my lips as I bite down into the wood. Tears pour down my eyes before slipping into a dark abyss.

"Krypt, wake up bro." My eyes flutter open gazing around the room before stopping on Zephaniah. A large grin plasters itself against my face. "Thank goodness. You've been out for a few hours now. We gotta get home before dad starts worrying." My head turns around the room looking up at Led. He places a wet wash cloth against my face wiping away the sweat, dirt, tears, anything. He carries a bag beside him as he sits down on the couch. "Here ya go. I was going to expose of it, but I figured I'd let you since it's your foot after all." My eyes shoot towards my foot and notices white bandages covering it, and it's way smaller than the other foot. "It may take you a bit to get used to walking without your toes, but it's possible. You lost from the middle of your arch up. Zeph, here, can help ya around." All I'm able to do is stare at him. It's impossible, but now that it's over, I can at least start feeling better. "Thanks. I'll be going now." Zeph helps me onto my feet and I snatch the bag from the couch before heading out of the house. "Come back and see me in a week or two. I need to make sure it's healing good." With a quick nod of the head the door closes behind us.

We walk through the alleys of the district hiding from anyone who could possibly see us. I'm sure many people think I'm dead, and it's best that way. Maybe it'll even prevent me from being forced into the reaping. I take a huge breath as we walk around. A bunch of trash cans stand before us, and I move over and sit down beside one of them laying the bag with the foot down on the ground in front of me before removing the foot and laying it on the ground. I slide behind the trash cans and hide away. My bro stares at me wondering what I'm doing before coming over and sitting down beside me. "Bro, I know you've been through a lot, but I'm here for you. I know dad is hard to take care of, and I know that I'm never really at that house because I live with my mom, but I'll be there helping you. Just relax and take it easy for a few days. Eventually people will never know you are missing part of your foot. Hey, at least you can still walk right?" It's hard not to laugh when he tries cheering me up because he knows exactly what to do. He picks me up off the ground, and we head home leaving the bag behind because it's best to wipe away all painful memories than to carry on with them.


OOC:
Credit for the amazing graphic goes to Cass :3
Omg Semper... I'm so sorry for how long this is o.o