Irradiated

Chapter 27: Bodyguard

"I thought that promises were valid for everything. You said you'd be fine. That's what I'm worried about - you not being fine. I know Trevor's death hit you hard and that's what has me worried." She shook violently as a cold wind swept over us. She peered at the soaked snow below us and whispered, "I know it's not much, but for what it's worth, the things you do might be stupid sometimes, but you somehow make it so it's not so stupid anymore."

"I remember that promise." I replied in return, my anger beginning to subside.

"That attack just got me all angry... Sorry." She apologized and gave out a long breath as if to calm herself down. I didn't accept or reject her apology - verbally. In my mind, however, I was extremely joyous. How could she remember something that happened so long ago? I didn't have that good of a memory, but the fact that she recalled something about me only made it much more heart-warming.

My mind harshly decided to do something drastic and I slowly leaned in towards her, kissing her cold cheek. She froze in place, startled by my action, but I didn't pull away from the short distance we had from each other. Not knowing the reason why I just kissed her, I froze as well.

"I guess you should be worried about me. I do crazier and crazier things by the minute." I grinned and watched as she returned the smile, but her eyes were starting to dim. A flash of panic crossed my mind. "You okay?" I asked softly, returning to my usual personality.

She nodded once, and from where I was crouched in front of her, she looked up at me with admiring eyes. It was a rare, but beautiful sight. Her slightly waved hair swiveled across her shoulders, hugging her face in the slightest. From the constant moving around, her hair lost its more straightened characteristics and looked a lot more wavier than usual. Still, as I watched her smile disappear and her eyes close, the warm feeling inside of me wouldn't leave. She fell forward onto me and I caught her, staining my arms with her scarlet-colored blood.

"I've got you." I whispered, pulling her up with me. I held up her limp body, hooked my arm under her legs, and propped up her back with my other arm. As I stumbled away with her in my arms, I searched for Samantha's figure in the distance.

I had only lost a little amount of blood and the scratches weren't too deep, but they were still opened wounds. At that moment, I wasn't worrying about where we were supposed to find Derrick in this winter storm. I only cared about getting our cuts healed.

As if on cue, I heard a sharp bark just a few feet to my right. The large mixed breed stood there, wagging its tail. I peered at it curiously, wondering why it was excited to see me. Samantha was just as confused as I was by the look on her face, but she ignored that and payed attention to the girl in my grasp.

"Is she okay?" She asked in alarm, raising her eyebrows at Angeli's tattered shape.

"It's probably just a lot of blood loss. We'll have to stop somewhere before we keep going." I stated, looking down at her relaxed facial expression.

"How about over there?" She pointed off into the distance, where gray and black shadows scattered themselves across the landscape. "It looks like those might be buildings. Want to give it a look?" The dog that was trying to kill me just moments ago started trotting towards the buildings, trying to lead the way to our destination.

"Looks like we have to." I chuckled, following after the rust-colored animal with Samantha doing the same a little back behind me. "Should we name him Burgundy?" I asked her, keeping my eyes on the shepherd.

"Burgundy? Wait. That dog attacked you." She cocked her head to the side and looked at me with an incredulous face.

"Yeah, and he's not attacking me now. We can play the obvious game later. Does the name sound good?" She chuckled lightly and shook her head slowly.