Slugterran Saviours

Chapter 23

Author's Note: just so you know, everything that happens here is Cyan's fault, I was gonna do something nice for this chap and she caME ALONG WITH TBTL fuCKING HELL. also this is 8112 words man fuck me

Dread filled Junjie's heart as he walked into the Defender's Wing.

It wasn't because of the hospital staff: they were extremely friendly and kind as usual, recognizing him and the Shane Star he donned on his clothes, doing the usual identity checks before they allowed him in. The new security slinger, Miller Milford, striked up a light conversation about a new restaurant that recently opened in Podunk Cavern as the two waited for their floor in the elevator. He waved and greeted the doctors and nurses as they passed by him with a smile, before they carried on with their day.

But when he reached the mental health ward, his smile faded.

His nervousness was obvious on his face, his fingers fidgeting with the fur on the sides of his thighs, his palms moist with perspiration. His foot tapped on the ground nervously as he told the receptionist who he was looking for, seconds that felt like ages passing by as the nurse searched for her record books, flipping through pages, calling multiple people, her monotonous voice lacking life or energy. The old, grumpy woman scowled with a sour expression as she hung up on some new nurse, before slamming the phone down on the machine, massaging her head.

"Is everything alright, Mrs Winters?" Junjie asked worriedly, but she brushed him off with a hand as she muttered irritatedly,

"Yeah, yeah, Eli Shane's in Room 131." Junjie's breath caught in his throat as he recognized the number of the room, the number seeming familar to him. He searched his mind for the answer, before his eyes widened.

Room 131 was Leo's room.

"Thank you, Mrs Winters." Junjie politely thanked once he figured it out, turning around, making his way out of the mental health ward. As he walked down the hallway, he recognized faces of the crazed, insane Defenders that filled the room, traumatized from the wars and the battles they had to fight, some laughing hysterically to rocking back and forth, sobbing their hearts out, some searching for a son or daughter that never came back. Junjie's feet pattered faster on the tiles as his walk dramatically sped up, trying desperately to get away from the memories, his heart pounding with terror when he started recognizing faces, faces of people he fought alongside with against Ataro, people who lost the person they were to Ataro, who lost people to Ataro, who had people die in their arms. One stared directly into his eyes, and he couldn't take it anymore. His legs moved faster, almost sprinting out of the ward as the eyes and voices followed him. He looked up, away from the people, speeding up once he saw the door ahead of him, once he felt the people closing in on him, once he felt invisible hands pulling him back, their invisible voices of the people they once were screaming at him-

He burst out of the door, shutting it behind him.

He sighed in relief as he slid downwards, sitting down as he leaned against the door. He took deep, slow breaths to calm his racing heart, wiping the sweat off his brow, clasping his hands together to stop them from shaking. It was over. It was all over. They volunteered to fight, they wanted to fight, they lost what they had, it was in the past.

So why did it still scare Junjie so much?

He took in one last, deep breath, trying to remove he thoughts from his mind as he remembered the two reasons he came here. To see Eli and Leo, and to talk to Eli.

He stood up, wringing his sweaty hands before he started walking to Room 131, reminded of Leo's eyes glowing green as his back arched over the bed, his hands grabbing onto the sides of the bed as shadows rushed into his mouth. He shuddered at the thought, and kept on walking, dreading what he'll see.