The Elements Trilogy: The Secondaries

Chapter 56: Air

"Is it just me, or has this been the weirdest fucking week and a half ever?" I asked, loading my assault rifle.

My pistol was stuck in my waistband, and the knife was stuck through my belt loop. Feeling like a miniature arsenal, I kept my hands busy with my rifle and tried to distract Diamond from our possibly impending doom.

She was holding her pistol awkwardly, her face white. She glanced over at me, a hesitant smile flickering over her face.

"I mean, dying. That's gotta be pretty screwed up, right?" I continued.

"Yeah, it was weird." She said quietly, continuing down the hall ahead of me.

"What was it like?"

"Eva," Diamond sighed. "I know you're trying to make me feel better, but talking about my death isn't exactly the best subject."

"You make some good points." I said, mentally kicking myself. Trying to distract her from what was almost certainly a suicide mission by talking about her death. Yeah, good job Parker.

"Besides, you died too, didn't you?"

"For like, three minutes. But I don't really remember much, just the room exploding and then my chest hurting like a bitch when David shocked me."

"He went crazy, you know."

"What do you mean?"

"When your heart stopped beating. I mean sure, I didn't see the whole thing, but when I passed him while I was looking for Tony, he kept giving you CPR and saying, 'I can't lose them both, I can't lose them both,' over and over."

"Really?" I was surprised. In all the months that David and my sister had been dating, he was never overly affectionate with me.

"Yeah. That piece of shrapnel in his leg? He ignored it because of you."

"Well damn." I rounded a corner, Diamond following suit.

"Hey, did you notice the way Skylar paired us up?" Diamond asked.

"C'mon Diamond, you know I don't pay attention to those types of things."

"She kept couples apart, but put best friends together in groups."

I thought back, trying to remember the groups that Skylar paired us in when I realized Diamond was right.

"Huh." I frowned. "You're right. Why do you think she did that?"

Diamond shook her head. "Because she's stubborn and brilliant."

"Care to elaborate, Di?"

"Well if she had grouped couples together, there would have been a higher chance of deaths out of us eight; higher risks of self-sacrifice for significant others. With friends-"

"Our judgement wouldn't be as clouded. We would concentrate on killing the threat, not getting in the way of it," I finished for Diamond. "God, she's a genuis."

"Which also explains why she didn't pair you with Evie. You love your sister to much."

"An excellent point."

Diamond hummed in agreement, and looked cautiously around the corner before she continued to walk, holding her pistol tightly in her hand. A little to tight for comfort.

"Di, ease up on the pistol gripping, would you? You look like you're about to pull that trigger at any second."

Diamond immediately loosened her grip, but she overdid it, and the pistol dangled dangerously over the floor.