In My Blood (Completed)

CHAPTER 14: Liabilities

Beca and Chloe returned to the spot where Cynthia Rose sat watching over Amy, who shifted on the grass but couldn’t get comfortable enough to allow sleep to take her. It took less convincing than Beca thought it would to get Amy to agree to go back to the settlement--but the mention of the high likelihood of some sort of painkillers and an actual bed seemed to seal the deal. Cynthia Rose listened to Beca and Chloe’s plea, taking her time to digest the information as she usually did, and she agreed to bring Amy to safety. Amy insisted they all agree to remember the morning’s events differently, involving eight guys with machine guns who knocked out Beca and Amy fought to save the day, taking a shot in the shoulder. Amused, Beca agreed. It sounded more Amy’s style, anyway.

After they sorted through the bags of goods they’d accumulated, with Cynthia Rose insisting Beca and Chloe take as much as they could pack onto Beca’s bike, it was time for goodbyes. Beca couldn’t fully keep back the tears that welled when Amy started crying first, reaching out with her good arm to clap Beca’s shoulder.

“Just remember, Beca. When you keep on and save humanity, everyone’s gonna remember me as the one who saved you. So--you go out there, and you crush it.”

Beca snorted and carefully, mindful of Amy’s injury, hugged her for what felt like a full minute. When she pulled back, she sniffled and hastily wiped her cheeks. “Take care of yourself, okay? Both of you.”

“We’ll be waiting for you, short stack. We’ll throw a big party for you and red when y’all get back to us.”

“M’not really into parties but Chloe likes ‘em so yeah,” she mumbled, hugging Cynthia Rose. Once they finished their farewells, they helped Amy into the truck and watched them drive off. Beca took a deep, steadying breath before handing Chloe her spare helmet, last worn by Emily. Finally, they took off west in the opposite direction of Cynthia Rose and Amy.

*

Even though the group was smaller now, the ache of goodbyes was just as visceral as it had been when they'd left the larger group at the settlement. (Had that really only been a day ago? It seemed impossible, given what they'd dealt with since then.) Once everything was redistributed between them, there was nothing left to do but say their farewells--there was nothing else with which to delay the inevitable, and time was of the essence anyway.

While Beca shared some parting words with Amy, Chloe pulled Cynthia Rose into a hug that the other woman returned just as fiercely. She clung to Cynthia Rose and forced herself to take deep, calming breaths, as if she could absorb some of the other woman's steady calm and composure through contact if she held on long enough.

"Take care of yourself, and be careful on your way back."

"We will," Cynthia Rose promised. "You two take care of yourselves too, watch out for each other. Go be big damn heroes."

Chloe swallowed around the painful lump of emotion in her throat but nodded, forcing a watery smile.

When Beca stepped over to hug Cynthia Rose, Chloe turned to Amy and hugged her with gentle care. "Take care of your arm. Wear your splint, doctor's orders. I don't know what they have back at that settlement, but Stacie will look after you. She knows her stuff."

It felt like a whirlwind of activity as they saw the other two off on their journey back to the settlement, the truck receding in the distance down the long, empty stretch of road. By the time she pulled on the spare helmet and climbed onto the motorcycle behind Beca, she'd mostly managed to blink away the tears that threatened to fall.

*

The farther they drove, the longer they found stretches of road with absolutely nowhere in sight to take cover, with highway exits few and far between (fucking Missouri). Hours on the road usually sent Beca into one of her negative thought spirals, but Chloe’s arms around her middle kept Beca focused on their mission and she eventually lost track of how long they’d been moving until her stomach growled, reminding her it was probably a good idea to pull off soon to find secure shelter for the night.