Triple Point

Chapter 71: Disturbing the Peace

Content Warning (see in-line comments for details)

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"Camilla!" a voice frantically called, both from far away and through the static in her ear. "Camilla, come quick!"

It was Mack. As Camilla struggled to her feet, the situation began slowly coming back to her in bits and pieces, and she ignored the pain as she ran over to the park where she last saw them.

"Camilla, here!" Mack called, this time forgoing their comms.

Camilla spun around towards the direction of his voice, and she felt her heart drop at what she saw. She saw Mack and Nakia struggling to lift a slab of concrete, the bottom of the cream-colored stone starkly stained with red. And beneath it was Finn, looking much smaller than normal with only his head visible.

"What happened?" Camilla exclaimed, running towards them.

"He—he saved us," Mack stammered. He heaved again at the concrete, trying to time it with the shockwaves from Nakia. "He made a wall from the dirt, but this thing... it broke right through. We didn't even see it coming."

"Move," Camilla ordered, and she lifted the slab as soon as they were clear.

Beneath the stone, Finn was a tattered, bloody mess, and red had seeped through his clothes and onto the green grass around him. As soon as he was free of the concrete, he let out a ragged cough, and he blinked at them slowly through the blood that streaked across his face. With every strained breath he took, his chest seemed to rise and fall a great deal, or maybe that just seemed to be the case when one of his arms and legs had been crushed flat.

"Ouch," he said softly with a small smile, his voice sounding like sandpaper. Almost immediately, he began coughing again.

"Don't talk, you idiot," Mack scolded, his voice filled with worry as he dropped to the ground beside Finn.

His hands trembled as he gingerly placed them on Finn's crushed arm, taking care to avoid jostling the porcelain white bones that jaggedly protruded from the thick mixture of dark red blood and flesh.

"Base, Wyatt Squad," Camilla said over the base channel, struggling to keep her voice even. "There was an explosion. Multiple casualties, civilian and guardian. Request ETA on backup."

But there was no answer.

"Base, Wyatt, come in," Camilla said, more urgently.

But there was still no answer.

Camilla was lost. They only had one healer and two other able-bodied guardians, but there were at least a hundred injured civilians and a burning building to deal with. Plus, with no way of knowing if backup was coming, they had to prioritize and do what they could. And after all of those months of jumping from one battlefield to the next, all Camilla needed was one look at Finn to know he was minutes, maybe seconds, away from black status.

As if Finn could read her mind, he looked up at her with a feeble smile before glancing at Mack.

"Mack, stop," he said, his voice almost inaudible. "Mack, please... it's fine."

"I'll be the judge of that," Mack said stubbornly, refusing to look at anything except the injuries in front of him. "You just stay still and stop talking."

"You have to... take care of... everyone else," Finn continued roughly. "Logan... Taylor... Jay..."

At his reminder, Camilla numbly looked to the side. It looked like Finn's defenses had protected the two kids from the explosion, but Jay's posture mimicked Finn's, and the man lay sprawled out in the grass, only moving when Logan and Taylor tried to shake him awake.