System Nullification

Chapter 38

"You know what ironically kind of sucks? Oh, wait, actually, I don't know if I'm using the word ironically correct, but... ugh..." Zephyr said.

I realized he was holding me in his arms. "Ha, he didn't play fair at all. His clone must've been shooting arrows at me... in those invisibility things... wait, no, camouflage... I don't know..." I mumbled.

"What am I saying... here you are, dying in my arms," Zephyr muttered.

"How far did Iris go from us?!" Brianna asked Jack through the communicator. "Oh my fucking gosh, I still need to patch Skylar up... Charlotte, can you take care of Skylar? Hello? Charlotte?"

"No, no, just go to Iris, I'm nearly completely healed-- ow, fuck," Skylar said.

"You two are fucking ten miles away and Iris is just bleeding out, I don't think you're going to make it," Jack panicked.

"Then what the fuck?!" Brianna shrieked.

Everything was getting blurry, but I could hear Zephyr and Jack slightly hyperventilating, trying to keep calm. I felt horrible, knowing that they cared about me as I was slowly about to leave them and everyone else.

"Oh, Zephyr, what was the ironic thing you were going to say?" I asked. "You seemed to have nearly forgotten."

I was starting to not feel a lot of pain from the wound. Strangely enough, it only felt numb and felt like blood was coming out. So why was I still unable to stand up? I got my answer when I tried to sit up and felt the pain hit me all over again. I cried out, louder than I had intended, and Zephyr panicked. "Oh my gosh, Iris!" he yelled. "Why are you still trying to fight?"

"I... I want a rematch... with that damn President..." I weakly insisted. "But that clone needs to go too..."

"Iris, just..." Zephyr sniffled a bit. "Oh, the ironic thing. Right. I need to tell you that. The whole Reed thing... I thought the most selfish thought. I just thought... I didn't want to be in Brianna's position."

"No one wants to be in Brianna's position," I uttered.

"Yeah, but now look where I am now," Zephyr forced a chuckle.

"I'm sorry..." I whispered, looking directly into his eyes. "You're holding back a lot of emotions, Zephyr. And I think Jack is doing the same. Actually, no, Jack isn't, he's actually screaming appropriately into the communicator."

"Very funny, Iris," Jack snapped. "You're fucking bleeding. CAN WE GET SOMEONE TO HEAL IRIS, LIKE, NOW?!"

"Ah, shit, I should've known splitting up was a bad idea..." Leanna groaned. "Where are the healers at?"

"Healing Skylar," Brianna said.

"I'm even farther than Brianna," Charlotte replied.

"Fucking DAMN it," Jack screamed. "Fucking DAMN."

"Bruh... it's okay..." I tried to reassure him. "It's seriously okay."

"No it's NOT, Iris," Zephyr said. "If I gathered all our friends including fucking Reed, they'd all agree that this is seriously not fucking okay."

"Oh..." I mumbled. "Hey, Zephyr. Since I'm looking directly into your eyes... I can read your mind. You don't need to hold back."

"If I don't hold back, Iris, I'll be crying into your fucking wound," Zephyr choked back a sob.

"Hey, Zephyr... your eyes... are really pretty," I said.

I wasn't even thinking anymore. I was blurting out every single thing that came to my mind. "I know, Iris," Zephyr sniffled. "You've told me that so much."