SAHLO FOLINA < tyler joseph x reader >

< 22 >

I ran as fast as I possibly could, but I was already exhausted. I heard the Watchers once, but I wasn't sure what they were doing.

When I finally made it to the room, the door was still open. Nico was gone. The Watchers were gone. Graham was on the ground.

There was blood.

"Graham?" I asked, my voice shaking as I walked closer to him. "Tyler's downstairs with Dina. They're getting out of here. We gotta go so we can catch up with them."

He didn't rise.

"Graham?" I kept telling myself that he was just unconscious.

I finally made it over to him and stopped, looking down.

His mouth was open. His eyes were open, too. They were blue. And they were dull.

"Gr-Graham?"

He was gaunt. He didn't blink. He wasn't breathing. I couldn't either - not in that moment. I knelt next to him, operating on autopilot. I sat in silence for who knows how long, my mind trying to catch up with what it already knew.

I just looked at his face. He was smiling slightly. I could picture him smiling for real. A wide, infectious grin that could make anyone feel better. That could make anyone feel safe.

<><><>

"I see you got our messages," the man said. He was carrying a torch, and he was dressed in camouflage and yellow. He had a yellow bandana over his mouth and a bag on his back. Five other people were behind him, dressed similarly.

I was huddled against Josh. His arm was around me. "Are you the Banditos?" he asked.

The man nodded. "We are. And we're here to take you to Trench." He introduced himself and the people with him. "I'm Graham. This is Clifford, Ned, Jason, Alex, and Debby."

Josh stepped forward, grabbing my hand to take me with him. Graham explained that we had to put camo and yellow on to escape. The others helped Josh with his stuff, and Graham helped me. Besides him and Josh, I wouldn't let anyone else near me. There was just something about him that made me feel safe.

"Why do we need the yellow?" I asked quietly as he put tape on the hoodie he'd just helped me put on.

"The Watchers can't see yellow, so it makes us invisible."

"Can the Bishops still see us?"

"Yes," he replied, pulling a yellow bandana out of his bag, "but they won't come looking for you, anyway. Not when you're out in Trench."

"Is it scary out there?"

He tied the bandana around the lower part of my face, pulled down his own bandana, then smiled at me. I was already comforted, so he didn't need to answer, but he did. "It can be. But we're going to protect you. I promise."

I looked over at Josh, who was talking to Debby. His face was red. "You'll protect Josh, too?"

Graham nodded. "Of course we will." He winked at me.

<><><>

I didn't realize I was crying until a tear fell and hit the floor. I only started crying harder. It turned into sobs.

A hole was tearing itself into my chest.

In my pain and through my tears, I remembered when Graham taught me and Josh the Bandito code - code words and symbols, made in order to communicate with people on the inside and to confuse any prying ears that might've been listening.

"Whenever you need help," he said, "all you have to do is shout two words."

I needed help. I knew I had to go, but I couldn't even think about standing. And I couldn't carry him on my own.

So, I shouted those two words he had taught me so long ago.

"Sahlo folina! Sahlo folina! Sahlo folina!"

<><><>

"Sahlo folina! Sahlo folina! Sahlo folina!"

Josh and I stopped for a second when we heard the shouts, then kept going without a word. That was Y/N, and, if my memory of the Bandito code served me correctly, it was a call for help.

I didn't feel any pain that wasn't my own, so I worried that Nico was hurting her, but I dismissed the thought; she would've been fighting back with everything she had. I would've felt it.

When we made it to the room, we found Nico gone and Y/N weeping over Graham. I knew instantly what had happened, but I shoved down my tears and tried not to think about it. Not yet. She needed me.

"Y/N," I said, walking over to her. Josh choked back a sob.

She turned, tears streaming down her face. "Gr-Graham..."

"I know," I said, gently laying a hand on her arm. "I know, but we have to go, okay? Nico could be back any minute."

She nodded and allowed me to pull her up, then instantly latched onto me, burying her face in my chest. I looked over at Josh. Silent tears streamed down his face as he picked up Graham.

I half-carried Y/N out of the room and down the stairs, Josh carrying Graham behind me. When we reached the ground floor, all the Banditos were gone except Debby and Clancy.

They started to speak, but I shook my head. Debby started crying. Clancy simply helped Josh carry Graham.

"Dina's in the tunnel waiting for us," he said. And that was all.

We all walked into the tunnel, and met up with Dina and the other Banditos. There were no words. The only sound, all the way back to the new camp, was sobbing.

••••
•SO I SING SAHLO FOLINA•