She Listens To His Story. As She Does, Her Expression Changed From Solemnness To That Of Subtle Shock

She listens to his story. As she does, her expression changed from solemnness to that of subtle shock and horror. 

“That terrible thing Fahz mentioned. This was it, wasn’t it?” She softly asked. The cup she held in her left hand started crack as she held onto it tighter. There was anger, knowing all of this now. So many questions swirl around her mind, most of them equating to ‘why’.

At the end of it all, it always equated to human error and emotion. Something no one has no control over.

She remembered what she said at Fahz, that whatever terrible thing, she would make sure he earned her trust all over it and that he would have to tell her on his own time. And this was the time. Setting the cup aside, her expressions softened as she asked him.

“How long... would you have kept this buried deep down? How long would have allowed this to eat you up knowing this.”

“I have to tell you what happened at Settlement 2. I kept it secret from Del and Kait and… look where that got me.”

“I was running a squad of Deebees, trying to keep the peace. There was a protest. It started out peaceful, but then they started throwing firebombs. I panicked, and… ordered my Deebees to open fire. By the time I reined them back in, Fahz’s squad had opened fire, too.”

“People died. Because of me. That’s what happened, why Del and Kait hate me now. Not to mention the Hammer incident at the evacuation before my coma…”

“And we need to get you to a hospital, now,” She emphasized concern, as she takes an arm and wraps it around her should as she uses herself as a crutch to help him up. She did not see it as relief or a chance to celebrate their victory. The blood is a reminder of time. And another that needs to be taken with an immediate action or serious consequences will fall.

It would’ve reminded her of the blood Jean spilled for her. It was a mirrored memory of what would happen with him if they didn’t get him the help he needed. But she took her time taking him to the truck at the pace he was now. She didn’t want to rush him in his current condition out of concern he could faint and that would be game over.

Looking back at Jason, she gave him a thumbs-up, “Great job tonight. Thanks for that. How you holding up?”

me_irl

She kept running until she tripped over a dead trunk. Her speed and the sudden tripping forced her body to slam to the ground. It knocked the wind out of her lungs and her heart felt like it stopped. It hurt, really bad. She looked back and saw no one at the moment, but that scared her. She knew Michael was silent, and there was the chance he could pop at any moment. Provided she knew where he was at the moment. Providing she even knew where she was as well.

She struggled to get back up, but it was hard having the heart pumping at the speed of light and a lack of air in the lungs.  She gripped at dead branches desperate to pull herself back up as the fear still continued to take her mind over.  

It was only until she started to take deep breaths did she slowly start to calm down, steadily crawling, continuing to try and cover as much as she could, with the rock in her hand. Calmer now she can stand up, wondering if JD was faring better than she did right now, aside from the wounds.

Part of her does feel bad, for being here and not there trying to help any more than stopping blood flow and evacuating those people in the diner.

“Sometimes we tend to do things either knowingly or unknowingly whether we want to or not. The mind is funny like that.”

“One way or another we have to face them, and deal with the aftermath after it’s all said and done,” She added. All of this is a lot to take in for her, but it’s important for him. So she doesn’t react or say anything. Even though she also shared her experiences, at the end of this conversation she was going to take a nap.  A long one at that.

But she does tilt her head in question. “Yeah, I guess you could if you want. Depends on how comfortable you are about it. But either way I’ll be happy to listen. What is it?”

Whatever it may be she honestly hopes it isn’t as heavy as what she’s had to hear.