Slugterran Saviours

Chapter 16

Author's Note: this week has been a stressful fucking mess i got tests and shit to do and i've been tired so please dont kill me if it's absolute shit in terms of writing because it actually is, okay thanks guys

2nd October

Leo's POV

My eyes fluttered open to natural light flooding the room.

I slowly opened my eyes to a familiar, daisy white ceiling, my mind disoriented, slow and sluggish as I tried to remember what happened. Soft voices forming words seemed to be miles away as I turned my head to my left, recognizing the wooden, ebony brown closet, and the ajar door to the bathroom. I raised my arm at the very slightest, pleasantly surprised at the absense of wires sticking out of my arms, at the lack of recent cuts and scars on it, ignoring the white lines on my wrist from a dark time.

In fact, I felt fine. The thin blanket-no, blankets- were draped over my body so I wouldn't feel cold. The agonizing pounding in my skull was completely gone, sweat didn't trickle down my brow, goosebumps didn't decorate my skin. My joints and muscles didn't ache like they always did from hours upon hours of running and shooting, of punching and kicking. Yeah, of course I felt a little bit sore, but it would go away in a few days, at most.

As drowsiness slowly left my body, the voices towards the right became clearer, the annoyingly optimistic tone of a male's voice softly playing from the speakers, promoting horribly inaccurate action figures.

"They really aced your hairstyle, didn't they?" A voice asked me almost sarcastically. I turned towards my right, recognizing the figure sitting next to me as she chuckled quietly. I opened my mouth to reply, but a croaking, hoarse, indecipherable sound came out of my dry mouth, coughs rising to my throat. She wordlessly got up from her seat as I hacked and coughed, reaching for the jug and a cup, pouring me some water before I could even process who she was. As she did, I noticed how her hands trembled at the very slightest, her eyes filled to the brim with doubt, highlights of fear in her irises. She gave me the cup nevertheless, and I sat up, accepting it with both hands, gulping down it's contents. As I did, I looked upwards, recognizing the girl by my bedside.

"Thanks, Cyan." I chirped thankfully, and she nodded, her hands clenching and unclenching into tight fists. Her black, fingerless gloves were soaked with pespiration, the raven black gloves nearly reaching her elbows. Sweat dripped from her brow, her face coloured bright red as if she just came back from a distress call, which she probably did. The slightly scratched, cyan blue chestpiece I got her covered the upper half of her body, her stomach covered by a raven black shirt, the back of it drenched in her sweat.

"You're welcome." She replied as she plopped back down on her seat on ky bedside.. But when she did, she didn't carry herself with her usual optimism and joking demeanour, nor did her eyes show the undeniable fear she felt when I came close to her. Instead, those raging orbs of blue were glaring holes into the television screen, her eyes unfocused, her fists shaking, not in fear, but in anger. But as I started to search my mind for the reason why, all I had to do was look at my body.

And my mind brought me back to the ghouling depot.

The last thing I remembered were  crystals growing over my head, even though I didn't have my Geoshard, Emerald, with me. The protective dome shielding me from the debris, from the extreme heat of the explosion. Tears streaming down  face as I shakily recorded a last message for Alana, the thought of finally seeing my mom placing a smile on my face. The jagged cracks in the crystal forming rapidly, muttering I love you seconds before the dome shattered-

Shit, was Alana okay?!

"Is Alana okay, where is she??" I asked frantically, but Cyan just sighed exasparatedly.