Day Three: Morning

[Android 17]

The sun was nearly at its apex in the morning sky when the twosome finally came to the conclusion that they were too tired to keep on moving. With a pair of grunts, Seventeen and Super Buu toppled gracelessly onto the cold, unforgiving floor of the jungle. The cyborg let out a gasp as he toppled a few yards away from his friend before rendezvousing with the earth. As he frantically tried to draw breath into his lungs, the android?s vision began to blur. All the colors of the forest?s overgrown plants began to swirl and mix as the cybernetic warrior tried desperately to stave off oblivion.

?Get the fuck up, maggot,? the android pleaded to himself as he squirmed and twitched on the ground. Despite his best efforts, the machine-hybrid was beginning to lose the sensation from his extremities. Slowly but surely, his life was slipping away through the grotesque hole that had, quite literally, been punched through his abdomen.

Although he had tried to act stoic throughout the length of the retreat, Seventeen could only deal with the realization for so long?he was going to die. Rolling onto his side, the android clasped both of his hands over the wound, but even still, blood continued to ooze through his trembling, ensanguined digits.

?I don?t want to die,? Seventeen cried as he squeezed his fingers in a frantic effort to quell the loss of fluids. As he squirmed on his side, the cybernetic warrior?s tears began to stream down the side of his dirtied countenance. Clenching his eyes shut to prevent any of the fluid from obscuring his vision further, the android began to whimper quietly. ?God damn it,? the cyborg lamented softly as his thoughts ventured back to the battle. ?I should have just skedaddled on out of there.?

But you went with you heart instead of your gut, and because of that, you?re going to suffer. The blunt honest of the remark cut deep into the android?s mind as his blood continued to pool out over his clothes and onto the ground. You talked the talk about wanting to stand for yourself, but in the end, you cracked under the pressure. You stood alongside someone else, and as a result, you fell alongside someone else.

Opening his eyes, the android clenched his teeth and pivoted his neck in such a way to afford him a quick glance at his fallen partner. Super Buu was lying on his stomach only a few yards away. Despite the shallow upward and downward motions of his diaphragm, the puttalin golem was motionless. Even the usually emotionless visage of the monster was wrought with a depressing expression of pain and agony.

I shouldn?t have got involved. Seventeen deliberated as he tried to muster his failing strength.

?I deserve this,? the android whispered beneath his beleaguered breath as he reached out toward his duffel bag with one of his bloody, shaky hands. After what felt like an infinity of slowly stretching his quavering fingers, Seventeen wrapped them around the bag?s shoulder strap and proceeded to pull it toward him. Although the oversized satchel only moved a few inches, it was close enough that the machine-hybrid could reach inside and pull out a small canteen.

Pulling the container closer, the android clenched his fingers around and lid and twisted the cap with all the might he could muster. Unfortunately for Seventeen, the metal cap had more fortitude than he did. Unable to accept his lose, the raven-haired warrior began to recklessly twist and yank at the canteen?s stopper. After a few more moments, fresh tears began to stain the android?s face.

?Why do you hate me?? The cyborg lamented, discarding the canteen as his half-closed eyes began to wildly dart to and fro?vividly displaying the panic and fear coursing their way through the machine-hybrid?s veins. After a few moments, Seventeen threw out one of his bloody hands. With a wild, dread-laced expression on his face, the android dug his mangled fingers into the ground and began to drag his bloody, unreceptive body across the ground.

Even as his fingernails snapped away and fresh blood was spilled, Seventeen ignored the agony and helplessness. The android clenched his teeth as a means to help swallow down the fresh screams of pain as they exploded forth from the depths of his being. Although it took over five minutes of brutal, endless misery to drag his lifeless form across the ground, the cyborg eventually traversed the distance between him and his companion.

?Fuck,? Super Buu groaned?opening his eyes upon hearing and feeling the android?s labored breathing on his face. The puttalin golem tilted his head over to see his former leader lying on his side and hovering over him. From the expression on the cyborg?s face, the bubblegum-colored monster knew that the going had just gotten tough.

?We have to?? Seventeen started, pausing to refill his already emptied lungs. ?We have to get up and find some means to patch ourselves up, Buu.?

?We?re lying on it,? Super Buu snickered, lifting on of his oversized hands and letting it fall on to the ground beside his fallen figure. ?Ore deposits,? he uttered?a smile fighting to form upon his agonized visage.

?Fuck you,? the android chuckled, and even after blood began to bubble up out of his throat, he continued to laugh for reasons he couldn?t even explain anymore.