The Extirpated

Chapter 79-Conflicting Compassion

The sound of stifled sobbing enters my ears, although they appear to be similar to my own, my lips remaind sealed, two hands enter my view, one slender with hands unfamiliar with labor and the other calloused from unspeakable horrors, they mend together, immensely surpassing a level far more intimate than physicality, merging into one to create a breathtaking piece of art, one more beautiful and aesthetic than anything I know or understand, coiling around each other into a mass of reassurance and security, I stare at them in awe, astounded by the display of compassion, envious of their strength. I flicker my orbs around the image, attempting to reveal the identity of these two souls before me, I can only assume the more feminine one belongs to me since the sound of the whimpering is familiar in my ears, the more masculine hands rub soothing circles around her knuckles, but her cries only worsen "hey, it's okay", the sound of his voice sends a shiver down my spine and a wave of pain to the center of my forehead, causing me to wince at the silky, reassuring sound of the boy "you'll be okay without me, you've proven you can be". The girl sniffles, tightening her grip around the boy's hands "but this is different and you know that", the girl remains unaffected by the gentle skims along her knuckles, becoming more emotional by the second "I know, my darling, but you have to be brave for me, I'll see you again, you know that" the boy attempts to reason with the girl "but it won't be the same, nothing will be the same if you go along with this" the girl weeps "I have to, my beloved, you do understand that I'm unwilling with this? I would never consent to abandoning you. But it may very well be the answer we need to prevent others from living identically to us, don't you want that? To be able to say you saved an entire generation and paved the way for future ones with your sacrifice?", the girl sniffles "no, because I would rather die than have you taken from me! I'm going to be all alone!" The girl exclaims, there's a silent moment between the two, both wishing for a form of nonexistent comfort "no, my darling, you won't be alone, you wanna know why?", the girl sniffles "why?". "Because, it doesn't matter where either of us are, together or not, I will always be with you, where you go, I go", the wails of the girl have dwindled into faint sounds of fear, mere whispers within the space of my head "promise?", "until my last breath", I am suddenly flung back into reality, it's harsh, icy hand slamming against my chest, I blink rapidly, a bit dazed from the strange occurance, but when I become adjusted, the sight of Newt's receding back floods my vision, causing my chest to constrict with flaring panic, my thoughts rapidly becoming untamed. "I may not know much about my past, but I do remember someone once promising me that they would go where I go, with only their last breath as a prevention", the words spill from my lips before I have a chance to restrain them, but I don't regret them, for they cause Newt to halt in his tracks, my chest lifts, noticing his falter "you made that promise once, I won't let you break it, not again", at this, his shoulders stiffen, my peripheral vision becomes obstructed with desperate tears, my lower lip begins to quiver with oncoming sobs. As anxiety escalates inside me, I struggle to sustain my rhythmical breathing, hands quaking from overwhelming stress "Newt...", tugging the strap of his Launcher over his shoulder and across his chest, Newt swings the weapon onto his back, shifting his gentle gaze towards me, gripping the strap tauntly, Newt remains there, standing in silence, he appears almost frozen, with his gaze locked onto mine, unmoving with his unreadable expression, indecisive on his next decision, evaluating several options that I fail to notice "Newt, are you coming with us?" Thomas shouts from somewhere down the hall, entirely out of sight "give me a bloody minute!". Newt's sudden snarl over his shoulder towards Thomas causes me to flinch involuntarily, however, when he adverts his gaze back towards me, it immediately softens, adjusting his posture, I notice something alter in his stare, revealing an internal conclusion, he places his helmet back on the desk before slipping off his ebony gloves, discarding them carelessly onto the desk's surface "are you staying?" I question him in a moment of momentary hopefulness, staring at him in concerned puzzlement, Newt remains silent as he rubs his hands off on his pants, turning and limping towards me swiftly. A world of brown clashes together, one curious and evaluating, the other, staring directly into the curious one in a manner that's indescribable, I frown, heart pounding as Newt remains there, unmoving and silent, it begins to unnerve me, but I restrain myself from faltering in the intense exchange of our connected gazes, I suddenly become flushed with nervousness, to the point my lips release words without my consent "Newt, what are you-", before I can finish, Newt clasps his hands over my cheeks and slams his lips onto mine, taken by surprise, my body stiffens and my orbs widen. My lips begin to tingle with a strange sensation unfamiliar to me and my heart leaps out from my chest, chaotically fluttering and melting simultaneously, although the gentle touch of Newt's lips are familiar to me, in this moment, I'm rendered entirely immobilized by the warmth of his skin, almost as if I'm being figuratively flung back to the very first collision of our lips, the worry tensing every fiber of my being melts away, becoming obsolete and irrelevant at the brush of his lips, including our precarious situation, which is reduced to a single speck in time, effortlessly forgotten.