Broken but not lost

Chapter 25, BRIAR

"What is that?" I ask Karly.

"It's Wrues Tower. It's where they declared the borders to keep us from any more wars."

"Well, it might've stopped the war but we still fight and kill each other. What was the point? Why not just let us kill each other until one side wins?"

"Briar, you're 13, why are you talking like this?" Karly asks me, shocked at my questions.

"Just curious. I thought I was old enough." I shrug, jumping onto a rock and walking across it, trying to keep my balance.

"You're not." She states simply. "Come on, we should really go back."

"No! We haven't even crossed it yet. You can leave if you want but I'm going." I point at her and then continue over the border.

"Briar, stop."

I laugh and dash across the border, causing her to chase after me.

"Briar fucking quit it!" She shouts, running behind me.

"Ooo someones gonna get in trouble for cursing." I tease.

"We'll already get in trouble for crossing the fucking border, Briar, come on!" She stops chasing me, pausing.

I stop, breathless and turn to look at her, victorious. "You said 10 minutes, it's been 5. C'mon. If we don't get caught, we don't have anything to worry about."

* * *

I sit up, gasping for air. My hair sticking to my forehead and my back. I feel strong hands grip my waist, I jump slightly in surprise, forgetting he was there. My hands are shaking and I feel weak. I turn to look at Flynn, just as he sits himself up so he can look my in the eyes.

He picks my hair of my forehead and moves it behind my ear, his eyes never leaving mine. "It's okay. It was a nightmare." He assures me. I nod my head and smile weakly. "Can I do something?" He asks gently.

I breathe shakily and shake my head no, not trusting myself to speak in case the words don't come out.

"Okay." He whispers. He looks from eyes to my lips and back, then takes the leg farthest from him and pulls it over his own, making me straddle him. He brushes the tangled hair out and pecks my lips, my chin, my neck.

I lean into his touch and rest my head in the nape of his shoulder, shuddering as he brushes a hand down my spine. He rubs my back with his fingers, caressing me in the sweetest way. I groan at how relaxed it makes me.

"I'm tired." I mutter.

"We can sleep more and then get moving, if you'd like." He suggests.

I ponder for a moment before the answer I least expected to say. "What if we didn't?"

"Didn't what?" He questions, continuing his gentle strokes on my back.

"Leave. Join my people again." He pulls back at that and stares at me in confusion. "What if we didn't join them and we just lived our lives in both borders. Far from anyone who would find us?"

"You don't want to see your people again?" He asks, ruffling his eyebrows.

"They never cared about me. Only Neo and Freya but since they have each other, I doubt they even noticed I'm gone."

"They noticed." He says quickly. "From the way they reacted to you reaching your hand into a fire pit and beating up a guy with little effort, they notice you. They could really care about you and you don't want to see them again?"

"I didn't say that." I protest. "I just— I don't entirely belong there. If you really want to go, we'll go, but it still doesn't mean they won't shoot."

"You can't leave the decision up to me, Briar." Flynn says, his green eyes staring deeply into mine. "This is your choice. Wherever you go, I'll follow you either way."

I sigh. "Must you leave it up to me?" I say dramatically. He huffs a laugh, the looks at me expectantly. I groan in frustration, "I don't know. I wanna see them again but I wanna disappear off the face of the earth."

"Okay." He responds, the wheels in his mind turning. "Then we'll go, gather any supplies we might need, you can say goodbye when you're ready, and then we ditch them."

I think about it for a moment and then kiss him and smile onto his lips. "Sounds like we have a plan." I say into his mouth.

"Good. But let's do this a while longer." He says, flipping us over.

<><>

Unexpectedly, we both fell asleep, Flynn's arms wrapped around my waist and his head on my stomach. I think it's the most vulnerable I've seen him or that he's been with me, including when he got shot.

I run one hand through his dark hair and the other up and down his tattooed arm, he breathes deeply. Unsure if he's truly asleep or not, I don't dare move.

That is until I hear gunfire.

Lots of it.

Flynn jumps awake, covering my body with his instinctively. His arms are on either side of my head, my eyes meeting his neck. I wiggle my hand free from under him and stretch my arm out, blindly searching for one of the rifles.

My hand grabs a pack instead and I make quick work grabbing the pistol. It'll have to do, I think to myself.

"Wait." Flynn's voice rumbles through my chest.

I pause, keeping the gun aimed away from us. I don't say anything, instead, waiting for Flynn to speak.

"It's not here."

"What isn't?" I ask, confused.

"The shots. They're close but they're not aiming at us. A couple miles out, maybe less." He responds, slowly lifting himself off me but not letting his guard down.

As I sit up, Flynn still nearly on top of me, I look and listen. "South." I say by way of response.

He nods his head, brows furrowed and eyes dark.

"What the fuck are they shooting at that needs that much fire power?"

"Take a wild guess." Flynn says, standing up and jogging to his rifle. He pulls back the lever, checking for ammo, then pulls the lever that loads the gun.

I tuck the pistol into my thigh holster and follow his lead and grab my own rifle. "They're not on the wrong side of the border, Flynn. They're getting further from it every second."

"I don't know, Briar. But who else would they—" he stops himself, tilting his head in thought, seeming to focus on the sound even harder. "Those aren't our guns." He states after a moment.

"What the fuck do you mean." I demand.

"My people. Those guns aren't ours. Those are heavy AR's. You can tell by the click at the end of each shot.  These-" he motions to his own gun, "don't sound like that."

"I-I don't understand. What are you saying?" I stutter breathless.

"I mean... there's someone else on the game board." He looks out, as if he can see the fighting. "There's another tribe."