Breathe

Chapter 21 - Let's Disillusion Ourselves, Shall We?

The night passed quickly and before I knew it, I was already in the storage room, tightening up the laces of my shoes and listening to people bicker about what weapons to bring.

"We need guns, guns," Dani reiterated, "if something comes at us, we can shoot. If we bring swords or blades or whatever, we're def gonna get injured before we injure it."

"We do not need to waste ammo on this mission," Luckas stated a-matter-of-factly, "the risk on this mission is low; thus, there is no reason to over-prepare. Over-preparing is as bad as under-preparing."

"Oh my God, you just don't want to carry around a gun all day. Is that it?"

"I never said that I have qualms against carrying a gun."

"You totes do. That's why you're still arguing with me."

"I am not arguing with you. I am simply stating the facts."

"That's what someone who is arguing would say!"
He took a deep breath. "I am not arguing with you."

"You are, too! I can hear it in the tone of your voice! If you weren't arguing, then you'd just say," dropping her voice mockingly, she said, "'It's fine to bring a gun, Damien. Go ahead and bring it,' instead of whatever the crap you're saying right now."

Massaging his temple, he looked away from the girl. Once more, he took a deep breath. Under his breath, I heard him murmur, "Calm, Luckas, calm." Turning back to her, he said with a straight face, "Fine. Bring the gun, Damien."

Her face lit up.

"However..."

Her face fell.

"You can only bring one round of ammo. No more."

Her face lit up again. She waved her hand. "No biggie. That's fine. At least I get to bring a gun."

I turned back to my shoelaces. Since I wasn't looking at what I was doing, somehow, I managed to make one loop bigger than the other—a faux pas that I especially despised. I undid again and remade it. Still lopsided. Why must the world torment me so?

"Hey, Al," I heard Esmae call. I looked up. She was towering over me. Like always, she was dressed in a black tee and shorts—just like the rest of us. Just like it used to be. Tilting her head, her light hair somehow still shining even from the dimmed ceiling light, she asked, "You ready?"

Giving up on my knot, I nodded. "I'm ready." Standing up, I took a blade and talkie from the closet and turned back to her. "Definitely ready."

Without wasting a beat, we walked back to the house on the cliff. From the outside, it was just like how we had left it: somewhat tattered, but appearing to be in decent shape. Chris took the integrity of opening the door. He bolted over to it, put his hand in the hole, and opened it from the inside.

Click.

It was time.

Once we were inside the living room, we started to talk strategy.

"I think we should go with the same pairs we usually do," Phil said, "it's not broken, so let's not fix it."

"That won't work," Dani chimed, "Mae's staying put here, remember? Who am I supposed to go with if it's not her?"

He shrugged. "Alone? Did you think of that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Def not. Why don't we switch up the groups for once?" She glanced at me. "Let's be with people we've never been with before. Make things different, ya know."

Before Phil could retort, Axel said, "That's a great idea. I agree with 'er." Looking at Phil, he added, "Besides, can't hurt. I won't die without being with Luckas and Newvy, and ya won't die if you're without Al. Change's good."

"But changing them would take time, and we don't have much time to waste. Right?" Phil glanced at Luckas for agreement.

"We do have little time to waste. However, changing the groups shouldn't take too long."

Phil frowned and huffed. "Fine, I guess we can. I mean, it's a dumb idea, but I guess we can roll with it."

"Great!" Dani exclaimed. Then, grabbing my arm, she said, "I'll go with Al today."

"With Al?" Phil said with a little too surprise in his voice. We looked at him. His eyes darted away. "I mean, sure you can go with him, but do you really want to? There's a lot of people here...a lot of people more suited for you."

"Like you?"

"Like me?" He pointed at himself and then shook his head. "Not where I was going at, really. I'm just saying that you could go with Newvy, Axel, Luckas—"

"Oh my God, are you joking? I could not go with Luckas." Rolling her eyes, she added, "We'd just be fighting and fighting and fighting—do you honestly think that's a good pair, Phil?"

"I was just—"

"And I'm just saying that I'd like to be with Al this time. Plain and simple. Besides, it's not like it matters if I'm with him or not—you can't be with him either way." She looked him straight in the eye. "You know that, don't you?"

He kept quiet. For some reason, her mouth slipped into a smile. Turning to me, she grinned. "Let's go, okay? We'll let them figure things out."