Red Lighter ✧ John Murphy

XIV - Artery

I helped him sit up, while he started to struggle with breathing.

I had to admit it... I was scared. I was scared that I might lose him. But in my heart, I knew that he wasn't going to die.

Because I wouldn't let him.

"I can't make it," Murphy said. "Just go! We all know you want to!"

He seemed so unsure. He didn't want to leave Murphy and I alone, but he wanted to follow it. So, I helped him make a decision. I let my built up anger out.

I took my knife, walking towards him. "Leave. Just go. I know enough about wounds and injuries to help him out. You know why? Because even as a seven year old kid, I knew EXACTLY where the Right Subclavian Artery was, the very artery that caused my father to nearly bleed out on his bedroom floor. And if you don't leave us be and follow your own selfish needs right now, I will stab you right in that artery, and leave you here to die by yourself like the sad, lonely, and pathetic man that you are."

His eyes widened at my outburst, and he glanced down at my hand, where I was rolling the blade between my fingers.

With that, he turned to look at Murphy. "I'll come back for you, John," he said. Then he ran.

I walked back over to Murphy, putting on the torn up coat that I could now call a vest. "Murphy, you need to sleep. You haven't slept in almost a day."

"I'm fine," he said.

"No, you're not fine. You can convince anyone else, but not me," I replied. I sat down, leaning my back against the boat and sitting down right beside him. "Now please, just come here," I said, taking his uninjured arm and tugging it slightly.

He sighed and gave in, laying down with his head on my thigh. He sighed again, but in relief.

"Do I make a nice pillow?" I asked, smiling softly. I rubbed his shoulder softly, and I could tell that simple action was both comforting him and also making him drowsy.

"Yes," he moaned, shutting his eyes and cuddling right up to me.

I smiled down at him, and he fell asleep less than a minute afterwards.

He slept for nearly nine hours. The sun was high in the sky before I finally woke him up. Everything from my waist down was numb and tingly, but I didn't care. I cared about his wellbeing, just as he cared about mine. If he got enough rest and all I got was a leg with no feeling, I was perfectly fine with that.

"Murphy," I said, shaking his shoulder a little. "We should see if we can get into that lighthouse. We might be here awhile."

He groaned softly, wiping at his eyes slightly. He put his arm in full view, and I was happy that he was no longer bleeding as heavily. The makeshift cast I had made was working, the blood hadn't soaked through.

I helped him stand up, and we started to walk. The first thing that he did was bend down and pick up some strange old-looking board. It looked like something you might find in one of those old computers that everybody used to use on Earth. He scoffed and threw it down.

I sighed softly. "It's sad to know that some of this junk... It's the only thing remaining of what the world used to be."

He frowned and nodded slowly, agreeing with me.

Well that was depressing.

We kept on walking until Murphy's foot hit something hard. It seemed like there was something under the sand. It sounded kind of like a combination of plastic and metal.

I leaned down and swept all of the twigs and sand away to expose another large board. It looked a lot like the panels we saw when we reached the water back where the mines were laid.

"Is that a solar panel?" I asked, curious.

The humans of Earth used to use solar panels to create their own electricity. It would take the rays from the sun and somehow convert it into energy.

As soon as I said what I thought it was, my suspicions were confirmed. A loud whirring sound was coming from the lighthouse, as well as quite loud music.

Murphy and I glanced at each other before we both ran towards the lighthouse. We searched around the bottom of it until we found a crack in the wall. I followed it to see that it was a door, but looked more like a hatch. I stuck my fingers in between the cracks, and managed to open it.

The music got louder when we opened the door.

When we got inside, I realized that it wasn't a lighthouse at all. It was practically an underground mansion!

Maybe this really was the promised land.