Mirage

Chapter 7

Northern California, 1 ½ years later

"She's going into shock!"

"Put pressure on the wound!"

Blurred figures surrounded the young woman lying on the ground as they tended to her. With each passing moment though, the pool of blood beneath her continued to expand. One, in particular, stood out to her. He had dark hair and was dressed head to toe in black clothing. His hands moved quickly as he undid a roll of bandages, proceeding to cut them and pushing them into her abdomen. There was pain there initially; the pain was so sudden and so great that she had collapsed without realizing what had happened.

She lied there with wide eyes ready to burst from her head as she wheezed trying to soak in as much oxygen as she could. The man with the dark hair glanced worryingly at her, snapping his fingers at the others who attempted to help.

"Tilt her head to the side in case she hurls. You two, lift her legs, we need to get her blood flowing to her heart."

One of the man's companions tilted her head, her outstretched arm now on her field of view. Despite being Unable to move, she found herself distraught as the Greying tone of her skin. Past her arm, her hand was snatched shut, appearing to be holding a pamphlet or something similar.

No you idiot,, she berated herself, It's a comic book.

Captain America. Number 16.

Her fragments of memory began to fall into place as she began to come back to some semblance of consciousness.

She had entered the fighting ring, ready for another night of mindless bloodshed. At this point, she was a prized fighter, winning each match she was put in. Only tonight she did something unthinkable; she refused. Because the opponent on this night was none other than little Bee.

The only reason Bee had even made it another year was because Mai always volunteered in her place. Thrusting Bee into the fight tonight was the Raiders way of severing the last bit of Mai's weaknesses.

Bee had been standing there, the Captain America comic in hand that Mai had given her, trembling in pure panic. Raiders weren't known for patience obviously, so after thirty seconds, they simply shot Bee on the spot. Despite bleeding out, she could perfectly describe what followed. She ran to the girl's side, clutching her body to her own, followed by picking up the bloodied comic. She couldn't even process the fact that she was holding the body of her friend in her hands. To be honest, she felt like she had lost the ability to mourn. Mai gently laid Bee down, standing up to face the repercussions.

For better or worse, everything went to shit right after.

Multiple raiders began to shout, "Intruders!"

"Is it the highwaymen?"

"Nix the kiddos before they get to them!"

Wasn't long till she too was stuck with a bullet.

"We got the blood to stop." A woman sighed in relief.

"Good, go check on the other kids. We can take them to one of the settlements once we're done here. I'll keep the pressure on it and stay here with her till the others arrive." the dark-haired man spoke.

The other blurred figures left her with the man clad in black. He turned her head back to a normal resting position, removing his jacket before placing it under her head as a makeshift pillow. He was gentle as he pushed down on her abdomen where the bullet had hit her.

"You got a name kid?" he knelt beside her, speaking loud enough for her to hear over the remaining chaos.

Mai was too weak to speak, making a slightly rasping wheeze when she did. Instead, she simply nodded. The corners of his mouth upturned, the faintest hint of a smile as he looked about.

His eyes seemed to settle on the comic she had, his smile enlarging, "Captain America fan? Lord knows we could use him now."

He looked back at her with the same warm smile from before, "You're a tough one. I've seen too many good people go down with a wound like this."

He removed the over-saturated gauze, digging out some fresh ones from his backpack. He placed them gently over her wound, once again applying pressure.

"How 'bout I call you Captain or Cap for now? How's that sound?"

Again, the young lady nodded, this time a weak smile forming. Sounds good to me..

"Alright we're getting somewhere." he grinned, "Name is Thomas Rush. We're gonna get you somewhere safe okay?"

He sat with her until the sound of motor vehicles approached, the light illuminating his face. The man's face was without a doubt very pleasant to look at. He had a mix of both soft and angular features, his eyes being the focal point. The arrival of the vehicles tore his attention away from her for a millisecond.

"That's our ride." He looked back down at her, "I'm going to pick you up and it's probably going to hurt. You ready?"

Well, doubt I really have a choice bub, she thought. She nodded her head, bracing herself as he slid his hands under her body. The surge of movement caused her to howl in pain as her hands grasped the bandages that kept her from bleeding out. The man gritted his teeth, wincing at the sound of her yells, It's okay. You're gonna be just fine. she could hear him assuring her as she settled down to a whimper.

He was approached by others as they tried to help but he directed them to help with the other children and adolescents. He loaded her carefully into the back of a humvee, once again placing his jacket under her head for support.

"Guess we made a good call making a detour," he spoke more so to himself than to her as he strapped her in.

Once she was secured, he gently patted her shoulder, "You're safe now, Cap."

As he began to withdraw, she shot her hand out, grasping his wrist. Despite her view of him now being upside down, from the way he was positioned and the way she was laying, she could see that he looked startled, both at the suddenness and by just how hard she had grasped him. She parted her lips, a raspy voice that was barely audible making itself known.

"Thank you." she stuttered, releasing his wrist.

Exhaustion began to overtake her as her eyes fluttered, fighting another oncoming wave of darkness that threatened to overtake her; her body fought and fought, afraid that she would not wake up if she shut them. Only the sound of her new friend's voice eased her into sleep.

"It's my honor Cap." His voice trailed off as he began to back up softly shutting the door, "I promise you'll be safe with me."