Pieces of the Sun

Chapter Five

When I woke up, it was light out again.

My body felt stiff and sore. Minho was lay still beside me. I ducked out of the small overhang and pulled Minho out beside me. My throat felt raw and scratched as I said his name. "Minho, wake up." He didn't stir and I folded my legs underneath me, cradling his head in my lap. "Minho, com'n, please wake up. We've been through way too much together for a shitty thunderstorm to take us down." I glanced up at the sky, trying to judge from the sun's position how long we'd been asleep. "Minho, please. Please just wake up..."

I bit my lip. I knew I couldn't cry, my body needed to preserve as much water as possible. I looked down at his still face. Dry blood crusted one side of it and I gently wiped some of it away. "Minho." I said quietly, a knot beginning to tighten in my chest. I leaned down and pressed my lips to his forehead. "Please don't do this to me. I can't live without you." My vision blurred and I tilted my head to the sky, ready to beg for his life.

"Well, it's nice to know you care about me this much."

I jerked my gaze back to Minho's face. He slowly opened his eyes, squinting at the light. I didn't even have it in me to call him an asshole as he gazed up at me. "I thought you-" I couldn't finish my sentence and he winced. He started to sit up but I pushed him back down, shaking my head at him. "Please just relax for a minute, would you?"

I could see he wanted to argue but must've realized just how much pain he was in as he laid back down. "What happened?"

I closed my eyes. "You got struck by lightening is all I remember. You weren't conscious after that so I dragged you over to here," I jerked my head in the direction of the cement slab.

"Damn." Minho muttered. He glanced at me. "Ari," he said slowly, "your hands." I looked down. The skin was angry and red, a few patches scorched black. "We were touching. The current must've traveled from you to me when it happened."

"And you dragged me over here like that?" He shook his head. "You should've just left me."

"Like you would've left me in the Maze that day?" I said, gently taking his hand in mine. "Not a chance, Minho."

He smiled halfway, the pain still evident on his face. "Then I guess one day we're both gonna get each other killed."

"Probably," I agreed. "But for now, no more getting struck by lightning, okay?"

"I'll try my best."

I glanced around us. We appeared to be right on the outskirts of the demolished city. The buildings gazed down at us hauntingly from above. My stomach gave a sharp pang of hunger as the some beat mercilessly on my back.

"Where are the others?" Minho asked.

I shook my head. "I have no idea. They made it, though. We were the last two of the group before we got separated."

"Well let's just hope they haven't wandered far. We should get moving."

I nodded as he slowly shifted into a sitting position. Sweat glistened on his forhead, and his breath came in pants between clenched teeth. "Hang on," I made him paused in a sitting position. "Let me look."

The lightning had mostly scorched his clothes but angry patches of blistering, red skin were showing through. But as far as I could tell they appeared to be okay for the most part. Then I realized the lightning had stuck his back directly. I scooted around, gingery lifting the fabric of his seared shirt. And a harsh, jagged burn ran the length of his spine. I shook my head. I had nothing with me to treat it with and neither would Clint, once we found them.

"How bad is it?"

I carefully laid his shirt back against his skin and came back around to face him. "No where near as bad as my leg when I finished with those Grievers."

He shook his head. "Only you would compare it to that. Com'n, help me stand."

I climbed to my feet, ignoring the burning sensation in my hands. I slowly helped him to his feet until he could stand on his own. "Which way should we go?" I mused aloud. It was impossible to remember the direction we'd come from last night.

"Further into the city, I guess." Minho answered. His voice was tight and shallow with pain. I knew the more I pushed and questioned him about how he felt, the more he'd become irked by it. He liked to pretend he could handle any situation, any pain, any loss.

So I let him for now.

Eventually he'd let me back in. Besides, as we started climbing over the rumble and debri, I had my own set of problems to worry about. Like how my right ear had begun bleeding and I still couldn't hear out of it. Or the way the skin on my hands was beginning to peel and flake off.

We headed for one of the particularly large buildings on the outskirts of the city. It looked as if it had once been a parking garage with at least five levels. Now the top two floors had crumbled and the south corner had caved in make the whole structure stand at a slant.

There was a crack behind me and Minho swore. I turned around and reached for his arm. He opened his mouth to protest but I stopped him. "Don't be such a dumb ass and let me help you."

I carefully pulled him up beside me and we continued to pick our way through the fractured remains of the city. I kept my head down, focusing on my steps and not the way Minho's breaths were coming in quicker pants or the slower we were moving.

A shadow darted across in front of me.

I stopped, jerking my head up. Minho almost ran into my back but stopped at the last minute. "What?" He said, quietly.

I held up a hand. "I thought I saw something."

"Something or someone?"

"I'm not sure." I scanned the area in front of me.

"That would be me, amigos."

Both Minho and I spun around to face a middle aged Hispanic man grinning at us from atop a car.
"Who the hell are you?" Minho demanded.

"I'm Jorge." The man replied as if it should be obvious. "And I'm the Crank the runs this place."