Shai Soi

Chapter 42

We had to stop twice. Once, I blamed it on my converse being untied. The second time, I intentionally caught Sadie's foot on a root and let myself trip as to take a break from the pain. It didn't help much. Sadie fell on her face. Ouch. When we picked her up, her lip started to bleed again. Though my fight with her was brief, we'd both dealt some pretty hard blows. She was mostly affected on her right side, the one Nathaniel was careful to avoid touching as much as possible. I was banged up mostly everywhere. But if that was what it took to bring Sadie back, then fine.

We met no one as we stumbled over brush and through thick foliage. We couldn't do much else. Although Nathaniel didn't say it outright, I got a sense that the shock from the gun earlier still hadn't worn off. With that and my... condition, all we could manage was to keep on walking.

For the first time in weeks Arnold, the imaginary voice in my head, chanted "Yes, keep on walking, walking, walking. Keep on walking."

Since when was the last time I saw Nemo?  I shook my head before taking another step. Jagged pain ripped through my calf and I muffled a scream. Just one more step. Just one more step.

" Put one foot in front of the other! And soon you'll be walking across the floo-o-or!"

Okay, I didn't even remember the name ofthat movie. It was one of those old stop motion animated Christmas specials that I hadn't seen in years. It wasn't even a Disney movie! Pain raked its fingers across my chest making it hard to breathe. I gasped. The shara  inside me crackled like fire.

"This girl is on FIYYYYYYAAAAAAAA!!!"

"SHUT UP!" I stumbled, and Sadie almost fell. I readjusted my grip. Only now was I aware of the sweat that poured from my thick hair. I visably shook. My face felt sticky and ugly as Nathaniel set Sadie down then cupped my cheeks with his cool hands. I let myself close my eyes. It felt nice with his hands there. It was soothing enough to dull my pain, if only for a minute.

I knew I was gross, all bloodied and sweaty, but he didn't care. He kept his hands right on my cheeks. "Bec, please stop. You're killing yourself." Oh, so he had noticed. I should get better at hiding stuff. "We have to leave her behind," he cocked his head towards Sadie. She lay on the ground. Her lips slightly parted, her long eyelashes casting shadows across her cheeks. She looked almost at peace when she was asleep.

I drew away from Nathaniel. "No, we can't."

I stepped forward to pick her up again, but Nathaniel put a hand on my arm. It was a calm gesture, one meant for soothing, but pain flashed up into my neck and whipped away. Nathaniel tried talking again. This time more irratated. "Bec, in case you haven't noticed, she betrayed our kind, she nearly had us killed, she is to blame for all of this."

I huffed. "Why are you so set on leaving Sadie? She's your girlfriend. She's our friend! Why do you want to let her go?"

"Because she's already gone! She's hateful and twisted!"

"Sadie's been expirimented on!" I screamed. It echoed their the woods. We should probably just send up a flare. 'Hey, guys with guns! We're distracted! Come kill us!' That may have made things a little simpler. But I didn't care. We had  to get Sadie back. If we could save her, then anything could happen. "If we don't give up on her, she will have a chance to be fixed!"

He stomped closer using his towering height to look down at me. Nathaniel ran a hand through his messy hair. "No! You don't understand. What's left of her now... that's it! Her mindset has changed and so has she. You can't undo what someone is!"

I stood on tiptoe to get almost eye level. I didn't try to hide my shara.  I let him feel it for all it was. "Well, maybe you can't undo it. But then you can forget it and add something new! Make something better on top of what you were made into!"

Nathaniel's eyes literally glowed in the fading afternoon light. (Had it really been one day? It felt like a millennium.) They darted to Sadie's limp form, almost scared. Then he shook his head and turned back to me. "We have to save ourselves. She's already one of them."

"No, she's not. She's still Sadie Orin. And if we leave her, the Namuhi will think she came with us and she'll be put under the needle like everyone else who was stupid enough to stay. I don't care how many mistakes she's made and how different she is. We have a job to do and a friend to save."

"You're amazing." Then his lips pressed against mine so hard it hurt. He'd kissed me before- the only boy, in fact, to do so. Unlike last time where he'd seemed too confused and sad to control himself, this felt meaningful. Like he might actually like me. Which was a new sensation all together. I found myself just slightly leaning in before he moved away. That was it. Short and sweet. But it left my body buzzing with adrenaline. On that note, we both gripped Sadie, and jogged through the woods. Further and further from the place of our imprisonment.