Wanderlust

Two Weeks Prior

“Just let me—Jaden!” Millie scolded, her hands clasping themselves against her hips. “I swear if you don’t let me help I’m just going to leave!”

He laughed, for the first time since he’s been up and clear headed. “That’s funny, Millie.”

“I’m serious,” her head ticked to the side in seriousness and Jaden’s wide smile faded, tossing the shirt to her.

“Alright, you’re the boss.” Millie giggled victoriously as she helped Jaden change his shirt, adding onto the growing list of things she has assigned herself to help him with.

Jaden acted like his burns didn’t bother him but he gets this fazed, serious look on his face. His eyes harden over as if he has to will himself to not let any other part of his face show that he’s in pain or Millie would be all over him like a mother bird on her chick. Then he’ll smile, taking a discrete deep breath.

“Marcus said he’d come by earlier, thought he’d be here now.” Jay looked to me and I shrugged, not knowing where he was either.

“How ‘bout you go find him? He’s been testy with all of us since he’s gotten back. Poor guy is riddled with stress.” Constantine gave me a little push forward from the chair he was relaxing in with his foot.

“I’ll be back then,” I smiled softly, walking out without another word.

He’s surely be either in his quarters or throwing knives at something. It’s the only places he’s been seen at consistently since his return. And I knew they weren’t exaggerating when they said he was being testy. He snapped at Rosa last week when he went in for a checkup and has been a recluse ever since. I’ve been making it a habit to visit him but he wasn’t doing much talking these days and it was worrying the hell out of me.

I knocked on his door instead of inviting myself in. Any little random acts seemed to make him crab and lash out at people. I heard him muffled a call to come in. I entered, shutting the door behind me. He was scrapping a knife against a sharpening block. The zing and screech was the only sounds that were being produced from him. I smiled to him, hoping for one in return. He didn’t even look up at me.

“What has you held up in here? Everyone misses you.” I spoke with an extra twinge of happiness to my voice.

“I’d rather be alone right now.” Again, he didn’t look up to me.

“Rosa says to take it easy. She doesn’t want you to tweak out the arm that’s been bothering you.” I swallowed hard, no longer feeling like I could produce any happy vibes with the overpowering negative one’s he was putting out.

He stopped, looking at me with a pointless gaze. I smiled but he remained stone faced and went back to his work. “It’s fine now. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Okay,” I breathed deeply, an exasperated sign coming from me with force. “Well then I’m going to go since you’re still being a crab-ass. When you decided to lighten up, come by and visit us. We’d be happy to see you.”

I waited for a response and was almost out the door when he offered me a quick statement. “Tell Jay to come by when he gets a chance, I need to talk to him.”

“Oh, if he could be so lucky to be graced with your presence, I will tell him right away.” I smartly told him as I shut the door behind me.

I felt something coil up in my muscles, wondering where my cousin lost himself along the way back to us.

“Marcus!” I shouted to him, trying to break him from his hysteria. “Look at me!”

He looked up, the tracker hanging from his fingertips. “I’m sorry—so fucking sorry.”

“I don’t understand, when did this happen?” I grabbed a discarded shirt off his floor and pressed it against his bleed arm.

“I was tagged during one of the more violent gun fights. I was dragged away, I couldn’t fight back. I was in restraints. They threatened me, told me if I told anyone they would know. If I ran, they would find out. And if I tried…if I tried to take my own life they would know. They were watching us the whole time since we got back.”

“Who, Marcus?” I anxiously looked at his numb expression.

“Who do you think?” A disgusted look came to his face and I was having a hard time telling at what he was directing it at.

“Kruger? It’s Kruger isn’t it?” I felt sick.

“We’re like rats in a sewer and they are about to gas us out and kill us all. But as soon as he sees you, Millie, Mila—oh god Jaden! Oh shit, why didn’t I say anything? He’s going to annihilate all of you, absolutely ground you to dust under his foot.”

“It’s not your fault, Marcus. There was nothing you could do. Please know that it is not your fault.” I clung to his shaking hands, understanding fully why he was the way he was.

“There’s still time,” he wiped his tears. “Get them out of here, get everyone out of here.”

I started to nod, “Okay. You need to get yourself out of here to then. Promise me?”

He pulled me into an embrace, “We’ll find some place new to call home.”

I squeezed him tightly before I got up and ran out the door. Another blast shook the hanger and I could hear the screams in the distance. I ran as fast as I could through the halls until I got to the smoke filled market area. Rumble and debris littered the floor. I almost stopped to revel in the sunlight, the sky. I hadn’t breathed natural air in so long I felt like my head was as clear as it has been, even in the craziness that was happening around me right now.

I snapped out of it though, picking my sprinting pace back up as I headed straight back to my quarters. The door was ajar and the room empty. I called out, praying for anyone to be there but there was only the new sound of gunfire leaking into the air. I grabbed all the weapons I could carry on me, checking my gun as I cautiously made my way back out into the hall. People pushed past me, running like salmon swam upstream. I went against the current though, refusing to even step a foot outside the hanger until I knew everyone was safe, that everyone would be okay.

I could hear the gunfire moving closer in an alarming pace. I started to panic, questioning my reality right now. Is this how it ends? It seemed so real but then again it always does. I stopped in my flurry of running and leaned against the wall, allowing people to run past me.

I squeezed my eyes shut, bringing my hands up around my ears. The gun shots were close enough to feel under my feet, the rapid firing piercing my skin before my ears. “This isn’t real,” I hummed to myself.

I felt a pair of hands wrap themselves around my wrists, pulling them from my forming safety net. “Stay with me, girly.”

“Constantine? You need to stay away from me, this isn’t real.” I couldn’t catch my breath, my face buzzing and my head floating into lightness.

“You listen to me,” he held my face tightly, “you aren’t imagining any of this. This is as real as it gets sweetheart, so I suggest you get with it.”

I nodded, focusing on my breathing and retracting my nails from embedding themselves into Constantine’s skin. “Okay.”

“Good, now let’s get the hell out of here.” He led me around the corner but as quickly as he appeared pulling me from the impending darkness, he entered his.

I fired back at the territorial enemy, tagging them down quickly. I collapsed next to Constantine, ready to come to his aid in any way possible but death had beat me to it. My hands gripped his shirt, balling it up in my fists as I shook him.

“Get up,” I spat through my shortening breaths. “Goddammit Constantine, don’t leave me!”

I pounded against his bloodied chest, trying to beat signs of life out of him. He was still and turning pale and cold with death in his veins and wound. My hands went up to his eyes, closing them carefully as I quickly kissed his cheek. I didn’t have time to say goodbye, bullets were practically raining on me in my wait.

I fired my gun blindly, in pure fright as I raced down the halls in the crowd. A small and powerful explosion went off a dozen yards in front of me. Bits of concrete pelted against my head as I fell to the ground from the people crashing into me and others from the surprise blast. I pulled myself from under the stranger that had landed on me, stepping and jumping over the injured and wounded, not waiting to see how my condition was. I ran and ran. My mind focused on only stopped from those I knew. I stayed away from the market, knowing that it would be no man’s land. I went down another corridor, finding it eerily empty but nonetheless noisy with gunfire and small blasts. Walls were knocked down, people lied dead on the ground. I steadily made my way down into what could be my final resting place.

The halls were hazy and small flames poked up from the piles of what was left of the rooms and people’s belongings. My finger hugged the trigger as I blindly turned a corner, knowing that even if I did stop to peek around that it was to smoky to make anything good out. I heard footsteps some feet in front of me and I froze. I didn’t know who it was and I didn’t dare fire if it was perhaps someone I knew.

I didn’t say a word and silently and slowly stepped my way forward. I wasn’t aware of how close I was to the stranger until I was knocked to the ground. I struggled against the knife that was inches from my face. My gun was out of my grip but my attacker straddled me tightly, estimating my weakness. I was substantially weaker than them and they took advantage of it by teasing me with the knife leaving the space around my face and pressing it slowly above my hip.

I struggled against them, kicking my feet wildly as I felt the knife break my skin. It seemed to drive them wild, causing them to press slower. The pain was excruciating. I howled in pain, sweat beading along my hairline. I had to do something, anything no matter how disgusting or ridiculous it could be. I couldn’t move my arms but I turned my head and saw their thigh only inches away from my face.

I took a breath, blocking the feeling of the knife driving itself deeper into my side as I used all my energy to bite down on their leg. I bit like a starving animal. This startled them and they jumped enough for my arm to break loose. I reached for my gun just as I was restrained again a hand wrapping around my arm and throat. I heaved for air, my fingers stretching as they barely grazed the gun.
The attacker collapsed on me without warning, a large knife sticking out of their back. I felt them struggled for their last breath before their full weight pressed into me. I fought to roll them off me, simultaneously grabbing my gun and pointing in the direction of whom ever had just done that.

I didn’t see anybody and the smoke wasn’t as hazy as it was before. I was alone. I rested against the wall as I looked down at the knife sticking from my side. It wasn’t too deep in but enough to cause me great discomfort. I bit the bullet and yanked it from its slippery grip, tossing it to the ground. I clasped my side in pain, dragging my feet forward as I hoped the adrenaline would be my pain reliever for the moment.

As I rounded the corner, I stumbled upon another heart wrenching sight. I knelt down, picking up one of the same exact knives that had killed my attacker. I fought the tears as I looked down to a profusely bleeding Hannah.

“Don’t leave me.” Her face was pale but it didn’t overshadow the fear in her eyes.

“I’m not going anywhere.” I grabbed both of her hands tightly.

“I’m scared,” I watched the tears roll down from her eyes. “I don’t want to die.”

“You won’t,” I lied and I knew that it was an almost insulting promise at the moment.

“Dahlia—,” she lurched in pain as blood gurgled up out of her mouth.

She coughed and breathed dryly as she struggled to catch her breath. I tried to help, I turned her over but it was too late. She just slumped into the ground as I cried, breaking down from the loss of another not only friend but loved one.