No Turning Back

Chapter Eighteen: Burning The Midnight Oil

I stretched out my limbs and turned to gaze out at the fiery sky outside. The sun had begun to rise up from the horizon as the cacophony of birdsong signalled the new day. The facility around us seemed to resurrect itself as the stagnant air breathed a sudden gasping breath.

"Let's get jou to bed, jou look absolutely exhausted, Kiana. Ve can continue zhe vork later, ja?" Primis suggested.

It was so strange to hear him say that. Primis would usually become so immersed in his work that he often neglected sleep or food. However, I happily nodded in agreement so we got up to join the guys. When we approached, we could see the incandescent flames of the fire flicker weakly as the vapours of smoke bloomed before disappearing into the cold morning air. Dempsey had been the first to awaken and see us approaching.

"Oh, well if it ain't the two lovers!" Dempsey smirked which caused Primis to blush.

I took Primis' arm and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Don't let him wind you up. He's just being silly", I whispered with a reassuring smile.

Takeo sat up when he heard our voices and turned around to give us an acknowledging nod as we sat down.

"Any progress?" Takeo enquired.

"Nein, I am afraid not", Primis replied ashamedly.

"Bah! Do not worry about it. You are smart like Richtofen! You will figure it out. But now, you must rest!" Takeo proclaimed loudly - which woke up Nikolai.

"Right, Nikolai?" Takeo nodded to the groggy Russian.

"Buh-- wah --*belch*", Nikolai mumbled as he looked at Takeo who was now giving him a stern look.

"Uh, yeah! What he said!" Nikolai slurred in agreement.

"Fall down seven times, get up eight!" Takeo added.

"He's got a point!" Dempsey exclaimed in his low gravelly voice.

"I go back to sleep now..." Nikolai interjected before trailing off as he turned on his side and passed out - knocking over the empty bottle of vodka next to him.

Despite everyone's words of encouragement; Primis was clearly still frustrated by his inability to solve this conundrum. I could see it in his eyes that he was just so desperate to return to that desk and wrestle with the equations. So I put my hand on his which caused him to flinch slightly and look at me.

"I can see the cogs turning. I'm not going to let you go back to that desk! Maybe it'll help to get some sleep, conceptualise it in your mind -- mull it over for a while! Then you can return with a fresh perspective", I explained, though, Primis looked at me in surprise at what I had just said.

"Hey! I can be smart sometimes you know!" I replied dryly with a smirk.

"Jou are right, Kiana. Vith both jour advice und jour intellect", Primis fired back with a small grin.

I laughed as I could see a bigger smile forming on his lips. It was nice to see Primis smile - especially since he no longer tried to hide it all the time. It felt like an achievement being able to make him smile to any extent. He was such a serious soul.

We both looked at the smouldering fire as the last few embers finally burnt out. As I lay down, I was surprised to feel Primis lay so close beside me. It almost felt like he wanted someone to hold him; which for some reason made me think about the fact he slept with a teddy bear.

Takeo got up to keep watch for the day as Dempsey decided to walk the perimeter and look around the facility. Nikolai lay across the firepit from Primis and I whilst he continued to snore away in his comatose state. All three men seemed to be preoccupied, I thought. I then turned to face Primis who lay there looking at me wide eyed as he anticipated what I was going to say.

Instead, I leaned over and rested my head on his chest. Upon making contact, he flinched as his body tensed before I felt him settle into the embrace. Neither of us said a word whilst I lay there: listening to the machinations of his heart beats as they maintained a steady rhythm. It made me sad to see how much he appreciated this small amount of physical contact.

After a minute or two he was out like a light. My mind then turned to Richtofen; it worried me more and more as each day went by without his arrival. The timeline was beginning to veer from the path into uncharted territory. And the sheer thought of it made me feel anxious and powerless. I would soon become just as clueless as everyone else.

Then, my thoughts turned to Maxis and Samantha. I was suspicious that they had remained so silent - especially since I had declared to the others that I was going to break my end of the deal. I had expected hordes of undead to descend on the facility as retribution for double-crossing Maxis and Samantha. But, I really wasn't in a position to complain - even though it meant I was constantly on edge anticipating an assault.

Then, a loud raspy belch from Nikolai broke my train of thought. I sat up and looked over at him as he just lay there like a big baby. He is so adorable -- but also incredibly smelly, I laughed to myself. I then realised that my movements had awoken Primis who was now looking at me.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you", I whispered as I apologised.

"Is everyzhing alright?" Primis enquired with concern in his voice.

"Yeah, just too many things on my mind that aren't letting me drift off", I replied with a chuckle whilst I lay back down again.

Primis' face became very serious as he looked down at me and our eyes met. He then whispered in his deep soronous voice:

"Everyzhing vill be alright, Kiana. Nozhing bad vill happen to jou -- I promise..."

End of part eighteen...