"Guys!" Mills yelled.
He and the others ran up and around the dead Skull crawler to see if we were alive.
"Not dead," Slivko called, one arm wrapped around me.
"Looking pretty cozy," Reles commented to him as he held out a hand to help him up.
"Is Hank ok?" I asked as Mills helped me up too.
My question was answered by Hank scurrying over to us right then and patting Slivko and I's cheeks as he grinned happily at us.
"You're alive!" He cried.
"Oh and you guys too," Hank added, looking down and offering Conrad a hand.
Cole came up and helped Mason.
Slivko wobbled on his hurt leg and grabbed onto my shoulder for balance.
"Oh, gosh your leg," I said remembering finally. "how bad is it?"
I supported him and led him over to a rock. He winced as he sat down on it.
"Not terrible," He answered.
Reles and I knelt in front of him and I took my back pack off, busting out the first aid kit again as Reles inspected for breaks.
"Doesn't seem broken," Reles informed us. "Might be a sprain or a pulled muscle."
I got out a bottle Ibuprofen and presented it proudly to Slivko.
"Lucky twerp," Reles chuckled. "You had the nurse with you the whole time."
"Do you need anything?" I asked him, offering up the first aid kit.
"What's the biggest bandage you got?" He asked me.
I rummaged through it and found one about the size of my palm and showed it to him. He nodded.
"Wanna slap it on this?" He asked, lifting up his shirt to show a huge cut on his ribs.
"Oh, my gosh!" I gasped.
"Geez man, what happened to you?" Slivko asked, grimacing at the gory wound.
"Got it in the crash," Reles explained.
I gently inspected it.
"I have some alcohol," I told him. "It might be infected already, but I can slow it down till we get back to the boat."
"I like that optimism," Reles chuckled as I got out the bottle of alcohol.
"Ok," I took a deep breath and let it out in a determined sigh. "this is gonna hurt."
I began pouring it over the wound. His muscles contracted slightly but he didn't make a peep otherwise.
"Wow," I said, impressed as I fanned his skin dry to apply the bandage. "You took that really well."
I threw a look over my shoulder at Slivko, remembering the fuss he made over me cleaning up his face. The tips of his ears were red.
"There you go," I said as I tried to gently smooth the bandage out, but I noticed my hands were shaking.
"Thanks," Reles said as he pulled his shirt back down.
"May?" Slivko called, noticing me watching my shaking hand.
I looked up at him.
"It's probably the adrenaline, you'll be ok," He said, nodding at my hand.
"You ok?"He asked, squeezing my shoulder.
"I don't know," I said honestly. "I really should be freaking out, I mean, I just saw people die and I almost died and you almost died- maybe I am freaking out," My voice started to sound croakey as I was on the verge of hysterical crying.
"You can freak out later," Reles told me. "right now you got to keep it together, alright? That's how you're gonna make it out of here."
I nodded, swallowing the excruciating lump in my raw throat.
"Come on you guys," Hank called. "We gotta get moving."
I sighed and put my things back in my pack, putting it back on. I stood and offered Slivko my hand to help him up.
"I can help him," Reles offered as he stood.
"I want to," I replied. "I promised not to leave his side. And we saw what happens when he leaves my side," I pointed out.
Slivko took my hand and got up.
"Lesson learned," he smirked.
I put his arm over my shoulder and we made our way after the others.
"I know I kinda made it a joke, but I am serious, you scared me death," I scolded him firmly.
"I'm sorry May," He said softly as he pulled me closer and kissed the side of my head.
I melted just a little bit and hated myself for it.
"Just don't do it again," I told him, rubbing his back.
"Promise."
We got out of the boneyard without further incident and made it into a strange forest. Everything was pale and flaky, from the trees to the ground. I wondered if we would use the radio to find Jack. I didn't see much sign of the helicopter and I was getting antsy. The only thing that held me together was my grip on Slivko. He'd become such a reassuring, comforting presence, I didn't know what I'd do with out him.
"Are we getting closer, do you think?" I asked him.
"I'm not sure," He told me. "I didn't catch what the coordinates were when they talked about it."
Up ahead I noticed that everyone had stopped and Conrad, Hank and Packard seemed to be arguing. At first I was too far away to hear what exactly they were saying. Slivko and I wobbled up just when Conrad dangled some dog tags in front of Packard.
"Your man is dead," He told him.
My blood ran cold.
"What?"
Every eye turned to me in the following silence, the atmosphere heavy with realization, and the regret crossed Conrad's face instantly.
"I'm sorry, Maybelle," He said, his gaze downcast. He stepped over and handed me the tags.
I hesitated as the world began to spin. I didn't want to touch those, I didn't want to see. But I had to, I had to prove it wrong.
My hand shook as the cool metal hit my palm. One tag was bent, but the engraving caught the light.
Jack Chapman.
My knees nearly buckled as my heart plummeted down to them.
"Where did you get them?" I questioned defiantly.
"Maybelle," Conrad said calmly, but I was set in denial.
"How do you know?!" I demanded, the tears making my voice crack.
Slivko held me tighter.
"I know," He said in a soft voice but firm tone.
"Oh God," I choked, staring at the tags, the hysteria rising. "Billy, Billy-"
I got stuck on repeat until the deep sobs racked my body. Slivko pulled me to him and held me tight as I sobbed onto his shirt.
It was all for nothing. We came this far and Jack wasn't here. He would never go home, no matter how hard I tried to find him. My sister just lost her husband when she was so close to getting him back. Billy wouldn't have a Dad to teach him how to ride a bike- he needed his father for so much still. And I'd just lost one of my best friends- my brother. That gentle southern charm had just been snuffed out like a flame and the world was darker for it. This wasn't fair, this wasn't right. Every realization was like another wave of pain pounding my heart till felt like a physical beating.
"Kong didn't kill Chapman," I heard Conrad saying.
"No, but he did kill these men," Packard retorted, and I heard the jingle of more dog tags.
In that moment something in me snapped.
"You killed them!" I suddenly yelled at him.
Slivko was startled by my sudden violent outburst and tried to reign me in as I went for Packard.
"If you hadn't accept this last mission- if you just let them go home, he wouldn't have died! My sister would still have a husband and my nephew would have his father!" I screamed with startlingly good eloquence for someone who had just been crying as hard I had.
It took Slivko and Reles to hold me back.
"Maybelle, please," Slivko said, his voice choked up.
Packard looked at me with an insane glint in his eye.
"It is not my fault," He stated. "I'm going to get to the chopper and kill that thing."
Hank was at the end of his rope with this situation.
"I can't let you do that!" He said, pointing his blade at Packard.
Packard turned to him and quickly knocked the blade aside and hit Hank with the butt of his gun, causing him to crumple to the ground, before aiming it at him. I saw red and my ears rang as I tried to break free again.
Mason looked as angry as I felt and stepped up to Packard but Conrad pulled her back. He put up his hands in defeat.
"Alright," He consented in a reasonable tone. "You do what you have to do, and I will take these civilians to safety. Alright?"
Packard faltered for a moment before lowering his aim and nodding. I could see that our group had split. Conrad stood with Mason, Hank, San, and Houston and they faced the group of soldiers. As I stood in the middle of this with Slivko I remembered that, he may have been with us this whole time, but he still wore camo.
"You're coming with us, right?" I asked desperately as I turned and grabbed his shirt.
He didn't say a word, didn't even look me in the face.
"Slivie?" I questioned, the panic rising in my chest as I held his face and tried to look him in the eyes.
I'd just lost Jack, I couldn't lose him too.
He gave me a tight hug and I almost felt relieved.
"Conrad," he said. "Keep her safe."
My eyes widened in horror. Jack had made Conrad promise the same thing and he was dead now.
"No!" I cried, holding him tight as he tried to pull away. "We promised! We promised to stay together, please!"
Slivko tried to push me away and I could see the tears on his face as he bit his lips.
"Please, I don't want you to go!" I sobbed clinging to his shirt.
"I have to go!" He cried, trying to pry my hands off of him.
"Maybelle, let him go," Conrad said.
"We promised!"
In the end, Conrad had to hold me back as Slivko tore himself from me, the pain plain on his face as he turned away and held Reles for support. I fought kicking and screaming as I watched them walk away from me, not looking back. Conrad could tel he wasn't going to get me under control anytime soon, so he threw me over his shoulder and carried me away as I sobbed till it felt like I'd never be able to speak again.
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I actually did cry as I wrote this at 2 am after I finished my homework. Please take a minute to write a comment so I can regain some writing energy. Thanks for reading.