Irradiated

Chapter 27: Bodyguard

"You're really something, Mathias. I think the name's great." I nodded, approving of Burgundy's new name.

"And if he only sticks around for a while longer, then I'll just have to use the name on Angeli." This made Samantha laugh, but then her face turned serious.

"Hey, what happened? I mean, one second you're the most depressing person alive and the next, you're cracking jokes like you used to. Did something happen?"

"You could say that." I shyly replied, letting my eyes flicker down to my secret admirer. Not so much a secrecy, but a lot of admiration. After that, she didn't say anything. The smile on her face was enough to know that she didn't care what happened. All that mattered was that I was slowly starting to recover from Trevor's death. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. The process is usually a lot longer, but I sped through it in less than a day. Maybe it was because my emotions weren't in check to start with, or maybe it was because the things around me caused me to go through this a lot faster. Whatever it was, I was glad this wouldn't last forever. I was ready to accept Trevor's death, but it could take a bit more time. The last step of acceptance wasn't going to pass by easily. Everything that made it easy was missing. Or unconscious.

---

"I think she's waking up..." I looked up from the journal I was scribbling on to see a mass of red-brown begin to move. I grinned lightly, setting aside my leather-covered book and scooting closer to the plain mattress.

"Augh..." Angeli murmured, raising her hand to the side of her head. Sam did say she might wake up with a headache.

"Mornin'." I lightly greeted, watching as her eyes adjusted to her surroundings. She followed the sound of my voice and looked up at me, letting her mind realize who I was.

"Mathias." She croaked out, sounding a bit relieved. "H-how...?" I chuckled and motioned towards the large dog by her feet.

"This big guy brought us here." I rubbed his neck and he whimpered his approval. "Derrick wasn't in his right mind to take his medical supplies, so we did what we could to get you better with the things he left. Thank God Sam knows a few things, because if she didn't, we'd both be dead." She stared up at me, focused on the small scar now on the side of my face. It followed my jawline, almost as if my bone were to be protruding from my skin.

"How'd that happen?" She kept her eyes on the small wound.

"We'll, aren't you filled with questions?" I cheerfully teased her, not wanting this to turn into a steel-like seriousness. "Burgundy's little pack attack left us all hurt. It just so happened that you were hurt the most." My face fell suddenly, and so did my mood. "And it was my fault."

"We already went over this, man. Like a million times before this, I told you that it was no one's fault. That dog was just scared out of its mind." Sammy corrected me, restating something I refused to believe. It really could have been avoided.

"Yeah, well, Burgundy's this dog right here. Sure, he attacked me, but he's not rabid like the rest of them." Angeli sat herself up, groaning in the process. I supposed it was to get a good look at Burgundy, since her eyes were set on the mass of an animal he was.

"He's soft." She smiled as she ran her fingers through his rusty fur. "That's a good boy." She whispered. My eyes seemed to light up at this sight.

"He stayed around after attacking me, like if he was sorry. I guess he's sort of mine... But I want you to have him." I told her, seeing her head snap up.

"Huh? Why?" She was surprised, but overjoyed at the same time.

"I have bad luck with animals. Plus, you two are a lot alike. You both have the red-brown thing going." I explained, though it wasn't the real reason.