The Hyenas {Dreamnotfound AU}

24. Wreaked Havoc

George's POV

... Nick? As in, Nick, who was Clay's best friend, Nick? Nick, who died because he left the border without him, Nick? 

The black haired man stares back in confusion. He doesn't say a word, he simply stands and stares. 

"What did you just call me?" he stammers out after a few seconds, losing grip on Bad, who doesn't dare to move. 

"Nick," Clay says again, his voice trembling this time around. The man is also frozen, seemingly not knowing how to react. 

"How the hell do you know my name?" he asks, less confident of his words this time. I look over at Clay again, who raises his hand to his mask. Slowly, he takes it off, and their eyes meet. I look back over at the other man, whose eyes grow wide, before they start to get glossy. He drops his knife and lets go of Bad completely, who runs to me immediately. I catch him in my arms and hold him tightly to me as I watch the scene in front of me unfold. The man takes a few steps back and shakes his head, repeating the word 'no' a couple of times as he looks at Clay. 

"That's not you," he says, almost stumbling over a tree branch as he takes another step backwards. Clay takes a step forward, through the door, having the sun shine down on him. 

"Nick, please," he says again, and by the sound of his voice, I can tell he's on the verge of tears as well.

"Stop calling me that, you're not Clay," the man tries to convince himself, and he quickly pinches his arm in effort to wake himself up. And he pinches it again. And again. To no avail. He looks back up from his arm and watches Clay approach him. 

"You're alive," Clay whimpers as he takes another step closer to him. The man doesn't back further down anymore. The situation seems to dawn on him. 

"What the hell Clay," he says back, his voice breaking in the middle of the sentence. A single tear makes its way down his cheek as he shakes his head. 

"I could say the same to you, asshole," Clay responds, and he takes another last step towards Nick, until they're standing across from each other, staring silently. Without a word, they collide into a hug, both of them crying. 

"I thought you were dead," Clay cries softly onto Nick's shoulder. He pushes Clay away from him and grabs his shoulders with both hands.

"You shouldn't have come here, I-" He can't finish his sentence as a voice in the distance calls out.

"Sapnap? You okay?" the voice of Wilbur sounds, startling all of us. Nick looks into the direction it came from and then back at Clay.

"You need to go, now, I'm-.. I'll make something up, just go," he says, severity in his voice and face as he wipes the tears from his eyes. I can tell the disappointment that's displayed upon Clay's face, even though I can't see it. I peel Bad from my chest and grab his wrist, pulling him outside with me. I lay my hand on Clay's shoulder as he stares at the man in front of him, and I lock eyes with Nick.

"Thank you," I tell him, and he nods at me in response. 

"Just run like hell, they're coming back soon," he answers. He grabs his knife from the ground, and he turns to leave to the main entrance of the building again, but Clay interrupts him.

"Wait!" he exclaims, making Nick turn his head back. "Am I going to see you again?" Desperation sounds through his voice.

"I-.." Nick starts a sentence, falling silent in thought. "I'll try, okay? Just go and hide now." 

"Sapnap?" Wilbur yells again, and we take it as our cue to start running. We don't run the way we came from, instead, we make our way further through the forest until it feels safe to loop back around. We're lucky the forest stretches as far as it does, so we can keep a safe distance from the Hyena base. With one hand I'm dragging Bad along with me, and with the other I'm trying to keep Clay from losing his mind at the events that have just happened. It feels like I'm on autopilot as I rush us through the trees, back towards the city.