Nepenthe | Sapnap |

Let it Fly

"Do you get nightmares?" I asked as I sat on the table off to the side of the shooting range, watching him pull the string of the bow back. However, my question must have broken his concentration as he let the string go abruptly and it snapped back in place.

"Fuck!" Nick hissed as he rubbed his wrist where the string slapped him as it returned to its proper place, dropping the compound bow in shock. He looked over at me with his hand applying pressure to the now welt on his wrist, his face scrunched up in pain and confusion. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"Do you get nightmares?" I repeated as I pulled my legs up to hold my ankles as I moved to sit with my legs crossed under each other.

He furrowed his eyebrows as he reached down to grab the arrow that flew out of his grasp and to pick the bow back up, "Sometimes, I do, yeah."

I swallowed, "Are they memories or just random scenes that your mind creates?"

Drawing the bow again, with the string and end of the arrow leaning against his mouth to use it as an anchor, he answered me as he focused on the target, "A little bit of both." He released the arrow. It buried itself in the seventh ring as Nick cursed under his breath before throwing a look over his shoulder, "Why?"

I shrugged, "Just curious. Take a deep breath just before you release."

Nick nodded, acknowledging my tip as he reached behind the small of his back to grab another arrow from his quiver, "You having nightmares?"

"Maybe." I answered quickly as I fiddled with the cuff of my jeans.

Very few people know about what happened in Pittsburgh. Obviously, Mom and Mike know about what happened. Phil and Techno are the ones who saved me when they heard the gunshots as they passed by the warehouse with their Fireflies unit.

I wonder what's going on with the Fireflies these days? Phil mentioned they are based out in Boston these days since every now and then a troop passes by to get some resources and rest up before moving on with their task. Phil, Techno, and Kristin left the Fireflies on good terms a couple months after my family arrived here. Jackson is considered an ally to the rebel group, but we haven't had any stop by in about a year.

"Wanna talk about it?" Nick softly asked, lowering the bow and relaxing his stance.

Nick, obviously, doesn't know what went down in Pittsburgh. Clay doesn't either. Neither does Alex. Morgan knows the bare minimum. The boys pretty much know that I was at the Pittsburgh QZ and some awful shit went down while Morgan knows that along with me almost being killed. That's it. No getting whacked in the head with a piece of wood. No Jon. No watching four of my friends get killed by my actions. Just that I had a gun to my head and Techno shot the guy before the trigger was pulled.

I shrugged, still messing with frayed ends of my pants, twisting the loose threads around my pointer finger, "I don't really like to talk about it."

Nick scratched the side of his face. The sound of his nails scraping against his beard filled the room since none of us were really saying anything. He trimmed his beard sometime after the last time I saw him last night. It looked good. His facial hair has really come along in the past year. He couldn't really grow anything past his chin and jaw for a long time, and that, I won't lie, wasn't a good look.

He leaned his chin against the side of his shoulder for a moment before reaching behind him to grab another arrow. "I know some awful shit happened in Pittsburgh." He paused as he notched the arrow between the string on the bow.

Drawing it back and starting to aim, "That some really traumatizing shit happened to you." I shot my head up with my mouth dropping open. I was about to say something when he continued to talk. "I asked Morgan about it last time you looked like you were about to drop at any moment from sleep deprivation. It seems like every six months; you don't sleep for like two weeks and then you're back to normal." He released the arrow. It landed in the seventh ring again but on the exact opposite side of the bullseye this time.