•Lonely is more than an adjective• || A Number Five x Reader Story

Chapter 6 - April 1st 2019

The crack of fire burning was the only thing I could hear. The skies were quiet and the roads empty.
And every building in sight rubble. I could hardly bare to tear my eyes from the wreckage of the academy in fear of what I mind find, but I had to move. I stumbled from the gate and turned around, my gaze falling onto the gloved hand stretched out from the fallen remains of my home. Pulling their stiff, cold fingers apart revealed a bloody eye. Fake, I presumed. Connected to the hand was a built man, barely 30. No, no, no no no. My suspicions were confirmed as I came across a man in spandex adorned with a familiar set of knives. Two? It can't be. More faces. Three. Four. The godforsaken tattoo reaching from a sleeve. I tried to wake them, get someone, anyone to move, breath. But they were long gone; bodies freezing cold and limp. I couldn't even think with all the thoughts and questions clogging my brain and stifling my movements.
How did this happen? When? Where am I? Where's Six, Seven and Eight? Mum? Dad? Pogo? That was too many people missing! What had happened to them? Was someone alive? Just one. Someone to give me hope. I needed to find what had happened. Where would they be? Then I heard the scrape of something against stone. A sound that resonated out against the crack of fire that engulfed the area. My feet turned slowly towards it, steps turning into strides, strides to a sprint until all I could hear was that sound pulling me towards its source. The closer I got the more I could make out. More scraping, kicking. A voice.
"L-t ... ie." It was faint, but close. I had to pull myself to a halt in order to grasp where it was, who it was. All I felt was hope when I saw the colour. Pure, unmistakable white burning out against the orange and black adorning the horizon. White dirtied by ash and rubble. And blood. My feet picked up again as I turned the corner and felt any hope I could have had left drain from my face with the colour in my cheeks as I paled at the sight in front of me. She lay against the ground, wings pinned down by rocks and scaffolding, hands scraping against the stone, legs kicking weakly against the ground and tears dripped onto her lap.
"Let me die..." Her voice was weak, eyes closed tight to avoid the ash that was building on top of her body, but no where near enough to hide the thick metal pole extruding from her abdomen. It came from the ground beneath her, tight against the body, stopping her from bleeding out. It was an image from my nightmares, an exact replica. She hadn't aged a day. Had I found her first I would have thought nothing of it, but the others looked so different, and she looked like she did barely minutes ago, before I jumped. I collapsed to the ground beside her, hurriedly brushing the ash from her face, causing her to open her eyes, weak muttering grinding to a halt.
"Fi-Five..?" She was so broken, I could hardly bare to look at her.
"You... cam-came back?" A weak hand met my cheek, grasp it softly even though it was her only lifeline. And she smiled. A reassuring, happy smile as if it were me who were dying. I grasped the hand on my cheek in my own and used my other hand to pull her head up so the ash stopped resting on her eyes.
"It's going to be okay, E-eight." I could barely hold back the tears, but I couldn't let her see my weakness when she was in such pain. She smiled and a name came out as a small whisper.
"Mum gave them to us." It was such a beautiful name for her.
"Luther, Diego-go, All-allison, Klaus, Ben and Van-van... And Vanya." She smiled, like just the thought of their names made her happy. But I could hear how her breathing became shallow with each word.
"Five?" Her voice was barely a whisper as she looked up at me.
"You'll let me die, right? It hur-hurt... It hurts so m-much." Her grip tightens on my hand, now resting on her stomach.
"Hold on! We can get you patched up. You don't have to die!" How long had she been like this? Alone. In pain.
"Don't lie to me. Please. It's pier-pierced an or-or-organ." She clasped my other hand in her fingers, pressing my palms together between hers.
"Just make the, the pain. Make it s-stop. Please" My eyes were cast down the chrome extruding from her stomach. I couldn't admit to myself that she was right. There was nothing left, no one left, that could help. I could only stare at her, the pain resonating from her eyes as she pleaded with me. It took me longer than she deserved to give in to her wish, but soon I was rolling rumble from her wings, my arms wrapped underneath her waist, one arm either side of the pole. She only nodded before allowing me to lift her up. The gutting wrenching sound that emitted from her throat as her body moved over the metal was heartbreaking, but gave me the final strength to pull her up and finally allow her to collapse onto my lap. The blood flow started promptly and she looked so happy. Euphoric.
"Thank y-you." She was weak in my arms, weight pressing into my chest as my legs were spayed beneath her.
"This isn't h-how I thought we'd mee-meet again." I couldn't hold back the tears now.
"I'm s-sorry. That was a-such an aw-aw... An awful thing to make you d-do." Thinking only of others, even in her last moments. My grip tightened around her, pulling her closer. A comfort for me or her, I didn't know.
"You don't have to apologise for anything." The world was just me and her and our hands clenched together.
"I missed you. So m-much." Her hand reached up and wiped a tear from my eye, hand stopping to rest on my cheek.
"What happened?" If I could just figure out what had caused this, I could stop it. Save her.
"I'm s-s-sorry. I wasn't in the hou-house. I do-..." I stopped her talking.
"It's okay. Don't force yourself." She was fading. Eyelids drooping, breathing becoming harsh and forced.
"I'm glad it's... I'm g-glad it's you w-who was here. Five..." Her voice faded out as her hand ran down my cheek, landing on the blood soaked cloth of her shirt. The light had faded from her eyes and it took some strength to not allow her body to roll from my arms. I pressed her into my chest, tears mixing with blood as my gaze reached up to the sky and I let out all I had been holding in.

The world was just me.