This Is War

Chapter Sixteen: Silencing Screams

The end of this chapter is really bad lol I have writer's block and I'm trying to write through it please forgive me thanks :)

[L I A M ]

Charlotte was sprawled across the desk, sinking into the safety of sleep. Her hair was ratty, shielding her face from the harsh golden glow of the desk lamp as it fell over her eyes. Quiet snores rattled from her mouth agape, glossing over the sound of her gentle sleep breathing.

I questioned if I wanted to wake her at all. She seemed to peaceful, finally resting her tired eyes for more than a moment. She'd become restless at night, struggling to break past the two hours barrier when trying to sleep. Waking her up seemed cruel, after seeing first hand how ragged she'd be worn after pushing herself to work and work and work for hours on end every day, barely ever leaving the office. But it was dinner time, and she desperately needed a good meal, and if she slept now she'd be up all night, throwing her sleep pattern out of whack even more than it already was, so with a gentle shake, I woke her.

She hesitated at first, groaning and wiping dried spit off her lips, but she eventually shot up, realising she'd fallen asleep amongst the untidy tech on her desk.

"Oh.. Hey Liam." She said mid-yawn, her eyes half closed from exhaustion, "I was just about to start on the malfunction corrector code board."

"No you weren't." I laughed. She didn't reply, turning back to the desk and picking up a code board with small tin flickers falling off it. Her hands were trembling, had she had a nightmare? Did I wake her in a fright or was she shaking from lack of nutrition, like a warning sign from her body to look after herself?

"When was the last time you ate?" I asked. Her eyes were sunk into her head, mid-close and rimmed with dark circles that screamed exhaustion. Her slender body matched, trembling, like she was freezing barefoot in the snow, when instead she was warmed up in a thick jumper and denim jeans.

She stayed silent, ignoring my question. It became very clear why she was trembling and worry bubbled in my thoughts.

"Charlotte?" I asked again, this time with less patience, asking for confirmation. She didn't reply, her mouth clammed shut, her eyes desperately avoiding mine.

"Fine then." I grabbed her wrist, pulling the code board out of her grasp. She gasped, clawing at me to pull it back, but I held it away from her, out of her reach, "Come with me. You're going to eat and we're going for a walk."

"I can't." She muttered, dragging a mangled pile of plastic and metal towards herself, "I have too much to do."

"Are you kidding?" I said, "Come on.." I dragged the tech out of her reach once more, this time scooping up the screwdriver and dumping it away from her, "-You have Eno the time to take a break for an hour to eat, relax and get some fresh air. You've been cooped up in this room for weeks."

She threw her hands onto the desk in defeat, the dismantled technology clattering to the floor on the growing pile of parts we still had to repair. Combing her hand through a clump of ratty blonde hair, she muttered something under her breath and sighed, "I need to keep working. I shouldn't have slept because now I'm behind on what I planned to have done by tonight. I really can't take a break."

"You're treating it like it's a ticking time bomb that'll explode in your face if you stop for a minute or two!" I explained as she stood up, still avoiding my eyes, "You'll get nothing done if you make yourself sick, you need to start looking after yourself properly."