Washed Up ≫ A.I

Chapter [16]

I push my weight all the way up onto my elbows. As I tried to roll over onto my backside Ashton lunged forward helping guide my forearms around to the front. "What do you mean 'In time'? What happened out there?" I asked as he helped sit me comfortably on the backside of the cave curved wall.

He waited thirteen painfully long seconds while scratching at the back of his head. I caught onto the pattern of his nervousness. He always scratched behind his ear and then rubbed at the stubble on his chin before ever coming up with a sentence of response. Finally, I raised a sharp brow at him which had him dropping his head in a chuckle.

"You were surrounded by a wall of fire and slowly losing space to crawl away. You don't remember anything that's happened?"

I shook my head softly.

Ashton hummed beneath his breath before licking out his tongue to wet his charcoal coated lips. Once they turned pink again he made a sour face, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth next before coughing up the dirt. I laughed at him, covering my mouth so he wouldn't get embarrassed that I just watched him eat dirt practically.

"Hey, I would get water to clean off but outside is almost acidic." He chuckled. I just laughed at how ridiculous that sounded.

He half smiled slowly, looking across my shirt and blinking down to my hips before quickly looking away in a soft blush. I curiously looked down at my shirt and squinted through the dark to spot what he was staring at. Sure enough, my entire front was covered in ash marks and fibers charred around the cuff of my long sleeves. I pulled at a chunk hanging from my wrist and the shirt completely crumbled, fluttering to my thighs soundlessly.

"How close to the fire was I exactly?" I whispered up into the loud sky. Ashton didn't really say anything right away. I heard him get up and when I looked away from my torn shirt his tall figure was standing out in front of me with his hands open.

"Come on and follow me for a bit." He mumbled, wiggling his fingers down at me to take.

I cracked my knuckles before reaching out and wrapping my fingers between his. In a swift motion, Ashton lifted me up onto my feet causing my hips to shake once I was standing again. I flinched down to my ankle, holding it up in the quick light of the lightning from outside.

"I can carry you again. . . if you would like?" Ashton joked as I looked up to find his face in the dark.

I batted at his chest before scooping my arm up and around his neck for support. For several days now I hadn't been able to rest my foot as often as a normal person should however the pain wasn't excruciating anymore. Slowly, one at a time I would tap my toes to the hard ground and flinch at the electrifying shock shooting up my leg. Ashton would pause here and there until we were as far away from the entrance of the cave as possible. The rains echoing hollowed down these halls and hauntingly coated us in pitch black darkness. Suddenly a small blue light glowed at the very back of the cave. I squinted at the light and held on tighter to Ashton's shoulder.

"What is that?" I asked, shocked to hear my voice pound the walls of the cave so loud and clear. Ashton chuckled which made the caves echo so lightly.

"It's the other side." He stated. I burrowed my eyebrows at him in deep confusion however he could barely see my face.

The sound of water was tapping loudly in the far corner of the cave, close to the light of a new opening in the ceiling of the thick rock. We walked up to the sound and the moon's light hovered directly above the hole, allowing water to slide down the edges and into a deep puddle that covered the floor all around it.

"Okay well, this is as close to any 'other side'. There's a fork around this way, directing into three split directions over there," He pointed out under the water, allowing it to wash the ash from his skin. "It's still too dark to walk down."