C's breathing was ragged, each inhale scraping his lungs like swallowing shards of glass.
His trembling hand pressed against the bleeding wound in his shoulder as he slumped against the rough bark of a massive tree.
His featureless eyes stared into the darkness around him, but his vision was starting to spin, clouded by blood loss and exhaustion.
He could hear them. Heavy footsteps crunching through dry leaves, labored breaths, the rustle of bushes pushed aside. Six police officers.
They were getting closer. Each step was a hammer striking C's faltering heart. Pain radiated from his stomach, shoulder, and leg. A constant, paralyzing agony.
He tried moving his hand. His muscles screamed in protest, stiff with pain. Despair loomed over him like a storm cloud, but his will remained unbroken. No… this wasn't the end.
He couldn't give up now. Not after everything. Not after all the loops. Not after all the sacrifices.
