The next few hours went by with barely any conversation. Andrew felt tired and sore, but the pill did wonders to dull the pain in his hand. Whether the fogging effect it had on his mind beneficial or not… He didn’t bother trying to figure it out. Thinking wasn’t really necessary right now. His feet were moving automatically, and he couldn’t think of anything worth saying. They passed a few alcoves along their way, which he used to roughly plot their position. By his recollection, they’d pass one more, then walk for half an hour before it was time to rest. He turned his head to look at Amelia. After a brief delay she looked back at him with unfocused eyes.

“We should rest soon.” Andrew said, struggling to find the words. Amelia opened her mouth and was silent for an uncomfortably long time.

“Yes...” She trailed off, staring at what he assumed was his forehead. He slowly nodded at her, then looked away to start a stopwatch on his phone. A few minutes later they passed an alcove. Andrew looked down at his pajama pants as he walked. They were dirty and a little worn in spots now. How long had he been here? Just a few days and his pants were starting to give out on him. It would make more sense to wear jeans. Maybe he could make an armband or something to keep the aesthetic going. That would be nice… take a few shirts and do a little home sowing. He didn’t know how to sow, but Yui probably did. She seemed like that kind of girl. He wondered what Yui was really like. He hadn’t been with her for long, and that was under… strained circumstances. Maybe a casual date night was in order. The best and only place in town seemed like a sure spot. He glanced down at his phone and saw that almost three hours had passed. Had it really been that long?

“Stop.” He said, blinking his bleary eyes. When did they even get bleary? Amelia dropped her bag on the ground, making a rather unpleasant sound because of the guns inside. He winced.

“Camp?” She tilted her head at him. He started to say something, then lost himself in her eyes. Her pupils were unusually small and still, seeming to look through him without actually seeing him. Around the black was a rough ring of light brown, which gave way to a grayish green. They were very easy to gaze into and Andrew wondered why he hadn’t noticed them before. Come to think of it, he couldn’t remember what Yui’s eyes looked like, or anyone else’s for that matter. “Andrew? What are you smiling at?” He blinked and looked over her whole face. It was very well arranged.

“Oh, just your eyes. I’m just now noticing how… well composed the colors look. I don’t think there’s an artist that could mix paints well enough to capture them.” It took her a bit to process what he said, but when she did a wide smile formed across her face.

“Let’s sleep together!” Amelia blurted out. Andrew blinked, looked away, then turned back to her.

“Sorry what?”

“My sleeping bag is under all the guns, so we should just share yours.” Andrew considered this for a moment, then gently laid his pack down on the floor. With great effort he was able to remove his bag without spilling any of his loot. He rolled it out on the floor, then realized it wasn’t big enough for two people. The zipper seemed like a solution here, though he wasn’t sure exactly how. He stood motionless for a minute, then realized it wasn’t actually cold in the tunnels and that they really just needed something to lay on. He unzipped his bag and spread it out like a blanket. He kicked off his shoes and laid down on it. Amelia sat down as close to him as she could get without actually touching him. Did he hear a giggle? He felt like normally he’d try to do something in this situation, but right now all he could do was close his eyes and pass out.

The burning feeling in Andrew’s hand slowly returned to him and he gradually regained consciousness. Waking up seemed really unappealing, so he purposefully kept his eyes closed and stayed still. It didn’t do him any good; He was forced out of the oblivion of sleep and back into the real world. Reality wasn’t that bad though; a rather warm girl was spooning him. He tried opening his eyes to see the arm wrapped around his stomach, but they were crusted shut. He considered moving his hand out from under his head to rub his eyes, but the sensation of her head nuzzling against his neck was too pleasant to interrupt. She was breathing through her nose, exhaling directly onto his exposed skin. It was an oddly calming feeling. He laid still and enjoyed the intimate comfort.

Eventually Andrew started to get thirsty. At first he ignored it, but eventually it became so severe that he had to get up. He moved his hand out from under his head, then cleaned off his eyelids. He cracked his eyes open and felt Amelia stir. As gently as he could he took her arm and moved it off of him. She murmured a protest, but he still rolled away from her. Their bags were a few feet from the sleeping bag. Andrew dug through his until he found a plastic pint bottle, then downed the whole thing. He felt incredibly groggy, and Amelia didn’t show any signs of getting up. Faintly remembering when they went to bed, Andrew found his phone and checked the stop watch. It had been sixteen hours since they had went to sleep. Christ.

He dug up another bottle of water, then turned around to look at Amelia. After he left she had curled up into a ball, cradling her injured arm in her hand. He dug around his bag until he found the bottle of Vicodin and a spare sock. He dumped the contents of the bottle into the sock, then tied up the sock and put it inside the container. Hopefully it wouldn’t be as noisy this way. He went into Amelia’s bag and dug around for the gun and bullets, then stuck them in his pack. It sucked only having one hand to work with, especially when he was trying to be quiet. Hopefully he’d recover quickly. He grabbed another water bottle, then knelt down next to Amelia and shook her. She slowly came to.

“Why,” She yawned, “Did you have to wake me up?” She looked at him with a dazed smile, as if she was still in a dream. He held out the water to her.

“It’s been sixteen hours. You should take your beta blocker, then drink this.”

“Why don’t you come back to the blanket and make it seventeen hours?” She reached out to him with her good arm. Andrew reached out to grab it with his wounded hand, then realized what he was doing. He pressed the water bottle into her hand instead. She received it, then took a sip. A moment later she titled her head back, trying to get as much into her as quickly as possible.

“Slow down, you still want some for your medicine.” She put the bottle down and nodded at him as she swallowed, then took a mint tin from her pocket. She slid the top of it off with her thumb, then put it up to her mouth and withdrew a single pill with her lips. While holding the capsule between her teeth, she set the tin on her lap and took a swig from her bottle. She gulped, then finished off the rest of the container.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“Thank you.” She said, putting on a warm smile.

“Hey no problem, just trying to keep you healthy.”

“That’s nice too, but I meant thank you for saving me.”

“Well, you saved me too.” He felt a pang in his neck as he remembered how close he came to death. For a split second his expression darkened, but he managed to suppress it. Amelia looked at him for a moment with a bit of concerned. “Huh? Is something wrong?” He feigned confusion.

“Ah. No, nothing.” The smile returned to her face. Andrew considered saying that if she had finished the job when she rescued him she probably wouldn’t have needed his aid in the first place. Telling her that now wouldn’t do any good though. He could save it for later.

“Amelia, you really are a girl worth saving.” He put on a warm smile, then held out a hand to help her up. She took it and rose.

“I’m so glad I went on this mission with you. Not only did you keep both of us alive, but you’re so sweet afterwards.”

“Aw, thanks.” He rolled up his sleeping bag, then put it back in his pack.

“Andrew, my arm is starting to hurt again. Can you give me another Oxy?”

“I donno, I felt pretty out of it last night, and we’re only a few hours away from The Diner. I’m no anesthesiologist, but I think these pills might be extra strength or something.” Andrew fiddled around with the straps on his gun bag until he was able to get it to hang off his loot pack.

“Please? I’m really in pain here.”

“Maybe after we get done with debriefing. Until then it’s a no.” She looked down at her feet, then cradled her arm in her hand. He passed her the pack, then they started walking. After a good two hours of trekking, Andrew saw what he was pretty sure was the closest alcove to The Diner. He motioned for her to stop, then went inside.

The ceiling of the tunnel was about ten feet off the ground, so he expected the same to hold for the alcove. Andrew stuck his arm straight up and jumped, touching nothing. Perhaps he wasn’t getting high enough off the ground? He grabbed his pole by the end and pushed it straight up over his head. Still nothing. He walked out toward the entrance of the alcove, with his rod held over his head. By the time he got to the very threshold he hit stone again. He traced it with the end of his stick, finding it to go from a sharp upward slope to a level surface almost instantly. He would have to come back later to investigate though; If he spent too long in here Amelia would be liable to ask questions. He used an old tee-shirt as a container for the loot, stuffing it inside. Then he taped the openings shut and stuck it to the wall some eight feet off the ground. He reemerged into the unexplained light.

“That took you a while.” She said, mildly annoyed.

“Have you ever tried to use duct-tape in the dark? It’s real bitch.” He cracked a grin then started moving. She walked close to him, as if she wanted to hold his hand. Seeing as his right hand was holding his pole and his left belonged in a burn ward, he didn’t do anything. She got a little closer to him and started rubbing her shoulder against his as they went. The contact aggravated the wound on his shoulder and he gave her a look telling her to knock it off. She fell back a little, hanging her head in embarrassment. After a long silence, she spoke up.

“Hey Andrew, you should put your stick away.” She started to move up towards him again.

“Why’s that?”

“We’re almost back. I think you should come out holding the mask high for everyone to see. You know, give them something to talk about.”

“Maybe we should come out holding hands instead, give them something different to talk about.”

“A-Andrew!” Her face turned red.

“What?”

“You can’t… It’s not like…”

“I thought you liked me.”

“”I do! It’s just that-”

“I’m not the kind of guy you want to show off? I get that.”

“No, it’s that it could be construed as unprofessional, and I can’t risk that went I’m in the shit.”

“Okay, that’s fine. But can you hold up the mask? I don’t want to do it.”

“Why?” She asked. He averted his eyes, then spoke.

“Actually, forget I said that, I’ll hold the mask.” Andrew stuck his rod in the bag, then received the mask. He tried his best to not look at it, but he could still feel the bruises on his neck. As long as he didn’t close his eyes he could keep the images out of his head. Eventually they started to hear the distant sounds of the lively cavern. As they approached the entrance and guards came into view people started pointing. Once they got closer Andrew held the mask in front of him.

“No fucking way!” Somebody shouted. They walked through the guards. Almost immediately the rest of the populace noticed them. The standard day to day noises of the cavern dropped to a stunned whisper. Hundreds of eyes were on them. This was their spotlight, their stage of honor. Andrew decided to make the best of the occasion.

“Heil Merchant!” He lowered the mask to his side and threw up a roman salute with his wounded hand as he shouted. Amelia turned to him in shock. “Heil our people! Heil victory!” Everyone was dead silent, until a man in the commercial “district” answered him.

“Yeah! Sieg heil!” He saluted, then looked around after a second. When he saw nobody else was going to join in he sat down and pretended to be busy arranging his wares. Andrew chuckled, then grabbed Amelia by the strap and led her to The Diner.

“What the hell was that?” She hissed under her breath.

“You said to give them something to talk about, so I did.”

“You’re fucking nuts.”

“The Merchant gave me the name Psycho Nazi. I’m just living up to it.” He shot her a grin as he trotted up the steps and opened the door. Inside The Merchant and his secretaries were sitting at the counter with their computers. Sam and Dragon were playing poker at a booth, and Wiseguy was no where to be found.