Do What It Takes to Survive

(Gerard’s P.O.V.)

I had to do it. How was I supposed to let The Boss beat Lana almost to death without doing something? It was my fault anyways. She had been protecting me – my honor- when she mouthed off to The Boss.

Honestly, though! Why did she feel the need to stand up for me to them? It didn’t matter what they thought, because she was right. They were cowards and animals. But why did she have to be stupid enough to say those things to them?

And why was I stupid enough to want to protect her?

I pushed her gently into the wall, making sure she was in the smallest ball possible. I put half of my weight on my hands above her head and half of my weight on my knees below her feet, so that I wasn’t hurting her.

That was a good idea, because The Boss slammed his foot into my back, putting all of his strength into that stomp. I held myself up, though. I had succeeded; that kick had not hurt Lana one bit.

The Boss laughed. “Very good! Oh, this is excellent! Unbelievable! Who would’ve guessed he would save her?”

I looked up. He had backed away, but I stayed where I was, just in case. The Boss was unpredictable.

“Come on, get up,” he said, beckoning to us.

I still didn’t move.

He became angry. “Oh, relax. I’m done. Get up!” He yelled the last two words, so I obeyed. “Now you two sit against that wall so we can get our video tape.”

I sat up and pulled Lana up next to me. She looked lightheaded, and her eyes were out of focus, but she was still breathing. Way too much relief overwhelmed me. I shouldn’t have cared that much, but I did.

The relief was cut off when I zeroed in on her neck. It was covered in purple and blue splotches from The Boss’s fingers. Her cheeks, too, were bruised. At least she wasn’t bleeding. I don’t think I was either.

She slumped against my shoulder, still gasping. Now I wanted to kill The Boss for doing this to her. Where was that defiant, independent Lana? She was gone now. She slumped against me as if she didn’t hate me. I knew that was too much to hope for. She would hate me again soon, when she had oxygen in her system and she could think straight.

The Boss had gloves on, and he was holding a video camera. Oh, right. He didn’t want his fingerprints on it.

“Don’t talk,” The Boss ordered. “Just make sure you move around a little bit so they can tell you aren’t dead.”

I tried to keep from smiling when I got my idea. Surely The Boss wouldn’t object. When I saw the red light go on that meant he was recording, I grinned and waved at the camera. That was my goodbye to my family and friends, in case I never saw them again. Lana just lifted her head off my shoulder and looked around as if she had just woken up.

The red light went off. “Very good,” The Boss said. “Randy, Ron, take them back to their room.”

We let them tie the bandanas around our eyes. What else could we do? I wished I could help Lana, though. She stumbled more than she should have, and she even fell a few times. I guess she was still dizzy. Or maybe Ron was pushing her extra hard. I would probably never know.

They threw us into our cell and tore off out blindfolds. This was not right. I should have fought back. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to it. I knew they would kill me if I did. I had to wait until I had a plan to save me and Lana before I retaliated. And I was going to save us. Somehow. Sometime.

I thought that sooner might be better than later when I turned to face her. She barely made it to the wall before she collapsed. I caught her and set her gently on the ground.

She wasn’t looking at me, though. She had a faraway look in her eyes, as if she wasn’t really there. I sat cross-legged across from her and looked at the damage.

He bruises looked worse now. It was mostly the ones on her neck that worried me. I frowned at myself. I shouldn’t have been so worried, but I was.

I didn’t like the look on her face. It made her look like a… like a corpse. So I did what I could to try to snap her out of it. I brushed her purple cheek with my fingertips as lightly as I could, letting my concern fill my eyes.

It worked, at least a little. She looked at me, but she didn’t do anything else. She didn’t smile, she didn’t frown, and her eyes didn’t fill with distaste for my show of affection like they should have. Where was the fire, the defiance?

“Are you tired?” I whispered, trying to figure out why she was acting like this.

She nodded mutely.

I turned off the light so that she would be able to sleep more easily. I hesitated, and then shrugged. I figured I might as well take advantage of her resigned mood.

I pulled her carefully into my lap. She didn’t object, but I still felt the need to say, “It doesn’t matter how we go to sleep. We’ll wake up like this. You might as well be comfortable.”

As I said the words, I tried to believe that I was telling the truth. I tried to convince myself it was the truth, but I knew I was lying to myself. This was not just me trying to make her comfortable. Although that was partly true, I was also enjoying it. A lot. And she had probably figured that out by now.

I was surprised when she whispered, “Thank you.”

“For what?” I mean, she could’ve been thanking me for a lot of things.

She sighed. “For saving me.”

“I didn’t, though,” I replied grimly. “I didn’t help much at all.”

“That’s not true. You tried.”

“Well, you’re welcome, I guess. We just have to do what it takes to survive,” I said into her ear. The corner of my mouth came into a smirk, but she couldn’t see.

“Thanks,” she repeated. A few minutes later, I knew she was sleeping. I held her to my chest protectively. She wasn’t going to get hurt again if I could help it. I needed to get her out of here, and I needed to do it soon. I wasn’t tired enough to sleep. I think she was only tired from her beating. So I stayed awake and planned.