Btw Whumpee isn’t a minor, Caretaker calls em kid just cuz. I don’t condone the whumping of actual children, just a disclaimer.
Whumpee felt their back hit the wall, felt their knees giving out, heard the tell-tale ringing in their ears. The ringing of a gunshot. They realized numbly. Their hands were still secured tightly behind their back, the zip ties so tight they were beginning to lose feeling in their finger tips.
“Shit!”
“How did you miss? They’re ten feet in front of you!”
Whumpee heard the two arguing, but it was far away, underwater. All they could focus on was the burning sensation that was bubbling up in their abdomen and the feeling that they were losing too much blood.
“They ducked! Caught me off guard.”
Whumpee felt eyes on them as the two looked over.
“What’s it matter? Gonna die anyway and it’s not like they can scream.” One knelt down in front of Whumpee, frowning. They were right. Even if they hadn’t gagged Whumpee, their throat felt closed completely. Like their vocal chords were already sealed shut in preparation for ‘dead men tell no tales.’
As if to prove their point, the first one dug the barrel of their gun into Whumpee’s stomach, into the bullet hole. Whumpee curled into themselves, mind screaming as they felt their skin splitting. But all that came out was a muffled whimper, eyes squeezed shut.
“Whatever. Just put ‘em out of their misery already. We gotta clean up all this blood, ain’t got time to just sit here and watch them die.”
“Okay.” They both rose as the first one pressed the gun against Whumpee’s forehead. “Whatever you say.”
Three shots rang out. Whumpee flinched, expecting the bite of a bullet. It never came. Instead, they felt gentle hands pulling the gag from their mouth and cutting through the plastic around their wrists.
They opened their eyes slowly, blinking. Caretaker was kneeling in front of them, eyebrows furrowed as they assessed the damage.
“Thanks.” Whumpee rasped.
“Ambulance is on the way. You’re gonna need to stay awake, okay kid?” Caretaker raised their brows and looked them in the eyes. “Can you do that for me?”
Whumpee smiled weakly and licked their lips to say, ‘‘sure think, boss’ or something but the words died in their throat. Their eyes were getting heavy, and they felt tired. It would be okay. They brought their hands up, reaching for Caretaker feebly before they slumped forward and their eyes rolled shut.
