Monotone | ✔️

Chapter Twenty Seven

I heard Robyn made a guttural noise from beside me; her gun remained raised. I felt all hope extinguish, the fruitful notion replaced by gruelling speculation and wonder. After meandering my gaze around the quiet streets, I motioned for them to venture to us. They did so promptly - there were five of them.

"What the Hell are you doing here?" I hissed as they nimbly entered the safe nook in which we were residing, unsure of what to think at this development. My mind was still on Chris...

"Hello to you to." Stephen muttered, flashing a small smile. "It's a long story."

"We have time."

"Well then." He replied. I wasn't sure whether I liked him; suspicion ignited in my system. "My companions and I were keeping watch when this shrill droning sound split the air. We didn't know what it was, but we were alert. Then, we saw all the robots in our part of the city just stand up and salute, before they all walked in the same direction, in unison... Later, I remembered what you had told me. I inferred it may have been your group making a breakthrough in the city. I gathered together a small team --" He motioned to the other people, "and we made our way over."

I raised an eyebrow. Yes - that would certainly explain the plethora of robots trundling after us, but why would they all group together to catch us? We were a meagre team of three - possibly two - and surely killings of robots happened often... "I don't understand." I whispered lamely, wringing my hands in a turbulent manner.

"You have to." Stephen looked past me to his friends. I saw one of them crouching over Robyn, attempting to view her leg wound. Unsurprisingly, she was vastly objecting to this, shuffling away and muttering wild curses.

"Robyn." I murmured. "Let them." I doubted my words would have any effect, but to my esteemed astonishment they did. Glaring, Robyn calmed down, despairingly pressing her palms to her eyes.

"Belle's a medic." Stephen explained softly, pointing toward the woman beside Robyn. Nodding vaguely, I looked at the others. "The other girl is Clara. The guys beside her are Andrew and Noah. Andrew's the big one, Noah's the small one." He supplied helpfully. "I would've taken more people with me, but they weren't so enthusiastic... You see, many people didn't believe my tale of meeting you. Besides, most people have families. They didn't want to leave them on my stupid whim." His last words sounded bitter.

"How do I know I can trust you, trust them?" I asked. My gaze averted to my feet; Belle was wiping away the congealed blood around Robyn's wound.

Subtly, a small smile slithered onto Stephen's face. "Because I didn't come all this way to get my canoe back. I want the normal world back too. We're willing to follow you if it means a positive outcome."

"So you're willing to die?"

"Yes."

"Are they willing to die too?" I inquired sceptically, looking toward Clara, Belle, Andrew and Noah.

"Yes."

My hands continued to convulse in my lap, my fingers still bloodied. My face was convulsing with blatant dread - I didn't want more deaths on my shoulders. I wanted this to end... "Fine." I croaked after a pause. "Robyn needs time to heal, so we're waiting here for two days." I left out the part about Chris. "I know her leg won't be fully functional by then, so we'll need a stretcher of some sort to transport her on. Robyn knows the plan - she needs to stay alive."

"Wait, you don't know the plan?" Stephen asked dubiously.

I nodded. "I know it sounds stupid but... but just go with it. She'll tell me in time." Wanting to change the subject, I looked him up and down. "Did you bring any supplies? We're running low on food and ammo."

Motioning over Andrew, Stephen nodded. "Obviously, Belle has healing supplies. Big guy here has every bullet from here to the centre of the earth." He grinned at Andrew, to which he rolled his eyes in return.

"Hi." Andrew said to me, his voice strangely soft. "You must be Tempest."

I nodded.

"Also, the other two are carrying good and weapons of their own. So, you said you needed a way to transport Robyn?" Stephen then inquired. Guessing it was rhetorical, he then carried on. "Right. Andrew, take Clara and go find something we could use as a stretcher. Belle, keep healing. Noah and I will do some guarding." How could he sound so jovial? We were in a battlefield, the threat of death looming upon us. "That is okay with you right?"

Shaken out of my spiralling thoughts, I looked at him. "Oh. Yeah, sure."

Stephen frowned. "Get some sleep. You look like you need it."

Nodding slightly, a yawn crept from my mouth, the dying light of day showering me in its spectral rays. I barely noticed the others departing. I was encased in my own little bubble, yet this bubble was made of concrete, and it was hurting, trapping me in a torturous chamber of my own daunting thoughts. Not for the first time, I felt dread laugh at me, the inklings of failure seep into my mind. Everything seemed so impossible, so... unsustainable. I wish I could sleep forever, or wake up and realise everything was a dream. I would open my eyes and be back in my old bed, only the necessary technology present, my parents loving. The idea was bittersweet; I could almost feel the feathery feeling of my mother placing a kiss on my forehead...

Biting my lip, I rifled through my slowly emptying backpack and found the picture. I'm sorry. I thought. I shouldn't have done what I had done. I was stupid, so stupid... And now I've left you. Do you even miss me? How long did you search before giving up? I'm sorry. But I won't give up, however much I want to. I'll fight; I'll fight for you.