A Story of Cinders: From the Ashes

Chapter 33: This Means War

     Charlie and Ana were out of earshot of Gael, as well as his line of sight. "Okay, I gotta ask. Why were you here?" Charlie started. She immediately threw a sucker punch at his ribs. He fell to his knees, groaning in pain. "Dumbass!" she screamed. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"What the fuck are you on about?" Charlie groaned, clutching his shattered ribs.

"This! Do you have no sense of self-preservation? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Still alive, aren't I?" Charlie said, slowly standing up. "Honestly didn't think he'd kick my ass this bad."

"You never fucking think! What would happen if one of these days someone actually killed you because you DIDN'T FUCKING THINK THEY COULD?!"

"That'll be the day..." he muttered. She punched him in the ribs again. He fell, screaming. Then stopped, because it hurt to scream. "Why the ribs?"

"Because they're broken and an easy target, dumbass. Can you even comprehend what it would do to the rest of us if you got killed?"

"People die all the fucking time out here, Ana. Why should they mourn me any more than anyone else?" He climbed slowly back to his knees.

"Maybe because you mean something to them. You may not care about them much, but to them, you're a friend. A teammate. A..." She trailed off, stopping herself. Charlie looked up at her, tilting his head. He knew what she would have said next. He cracked half a smile. She grabbed him by the collar and brought him to his feet, staring him in the eyes. Two deep brown circles hung in a field of weary white. The look in his eyes held a mixture of shame, agony, and a deep seated sadness. A despair and sorrow and loneliness that laid roots deep within him. He stared back at her icy blue eyes. They were full of anger. Anger at him and his callousness. But beneath this anger was concern for this poor broken wretch. He always loved those eyes of hers.

"If you ever do something that dumb again, I'll kill you myself," she said.

"I thought you'd be pretty torn up if I got killed."

"You want me to break the other set?"

"Not particularly."

"Then shut up and get moving. Where are your friends?" Charlie took a step forward and immediately collapsed. Ana's eyes widened with terror. Charlie screamed in pain. "Internal damage?"

"Like you wouldn't fucking believe..." He propped himself into a seated position, then pulled out a half-broken cigarette from his pack, lighting it with shaky hands.

"You know, those are gonna kill you one of these days."

"Believe me, sweetie, I'm gonna be dead long before these get the chance." He looked at her. She scowled at him. Slowly, he lowered his arms to guard his ribs. She shook her head and started looking for help.

Louis was stirring, awakening from unconsciousness. The early desert sun was nearly blinding. His head was throbbing. Probably had a concussion. At least the Baron was being quiet. He probably also had a concussion, if that was at all possible. There was a murmuring. Two muffled voices. Slowly, they came into focus. John and Red. John was standing over Louis, waving his hand, seeing if Louis was responsive. Louis groaned. "Well, he's alive, at least." John's other hand was clenching and relaxing, slowly trying to work some feeling back into it. No telling just how bad John's nerve damage was. Damn shock gauntlets... Red was bandaging her leg and stomach, hoping she wouldn't need stitches. The one on her gut was still bleeding. "Did we win?" Louis asked, his head still swimming. "Yeah, we won. For what it's worth," John muttered, picking bits of Seo out of his hair and uniform. "I think we can kiss secrecy goodbye, though." Smoke still rose from the burnt out shells of the tanks.