Amber cursed to herself as she scrambled to reload another round into her makeshift pistol, but she had been caught off guard. She fully expected to take one of the Adlam brothers out before the fight even started, but everything was going terribly wrong. Two of the brothers, the taller and the smaller of the group, rushed Dane. Amber knew that he could always handle himself in a brawl, but those were still odds she wasn’t comfortable with, especially seeing how Dane was currently fighting with brass knuckles. She had to help him, and fast.

Her attention diverted away from Dane as she heard the primal cry of her own assailant, and was forced to duck under the lumber he was using as a weapon. Stumbling backwards, she holstered the pistol at her side. No time to try and reload… she might have to get her hands dirty. Just as quickly as she holstered her firearm, she drew the knife she kept sheathed behind her with the other hand. She gave two quick slashes near the chest of the Adlam, as he stepped back to avoid her attacks. Amber cursed, she was hoping to catch him off guard and put him out of the fight. Now she had lost that element of surprise.

“What’s wrong?” He asked in a mocking tone while holding his makeshift weapon ready for another swing. “Can’t fight hand to hand? Need your little toy?”

He brought the plank down from over his head, and Amber easily sidestepped his attack while swiping at his arm with her knife. He let out a groan of pain as he held onto his arm, wincing as he watched the blood trickle down.

“No way, I know how to use this thing. But where’s the fun in finishing so soon?” She said, stepping away as he gave another wild swing in her direction. Amber managed to look over at Dane for a brief moment, and he seemed to be doing better than he thought. Managing to wrestle the pipe from the smaller brother, and end up in a sort of stalemate with the larger one as the runt looked on, wondering what to do next.

As Amber surveyed her surroundings, she felt a sudden pain in her right abdomen as her opponent swung his plank and connected while she was temporarily distracted. Amber felt her body go numb, and her legs gave out as she stumbled to the ground, and curled up as she tried to catch her breath. She felt the pain of the blow throughout her entire being, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to move from her position. She could only look up and see the snaggle-toothed grin of her attacker.

“That little knife was good for a tickle, but it won’t be enough to take me down!” He taunted. Amber knew he was taking his time to gloat before striking her while she was down, but she couldn’t bring herself to stand. She watched as he raised his plank one more time, eyes wide with blood lust, only to stumble as a heavy pipe slammed into the back of his head. He yelled out in pain, looking over to Dane who had thrown his only weapon to save Amber.

“Amber! Get your ass up!” He shouted, as the three brothers now closed in on Dane. Amber swore, fumbling to pull her pistol from her pocket. This was her chance, no way Dane could take on all three of these hicks, but he could buy her enough time to reload.

She took out the dead round, happily tossing it away to make room for another one. As her fingers dug in her pants pocket for a clean bullet, she heard a cry of pain. Terrified that Dane had taken a hit like she had, she looked up. Dane was fine, but the crooked nosed Adlam brother couldn’t say the same. Amber’s jaw dropped when she saw Valerie standing behind him, hunched over with both hands on the kitchen knife that she had driven into his shoulder.

“No, no, no!” Amber stammered as she finished loading the bullet into the chamber, holding it up in time to see the Adlam whip around, his wooden plank connecting right into the side of Valerie’s head. Amber felt her heart stop as she watched her wife fall to the ground without so much as a word. She laid down on the asphalt, limp. And just like that, Amber felt nothing but rage. She had been angry, she had been furious, but she had never been driven to the point of sheer primal rage before. Shrieking like a banshee, and drawing the attention of the other four around her, she fired the gun. The Adlam that had struck Valerie whipped around as the bullet caught him in the shoulder, and Amber stood to her feet and unloaded her pistol with brutal efficiency, popping out the spent round and loading another. The smaller brother quickly turned and ran like before, while the larger tried charging her. Maybe he thought that he could move faster than she could, or maybe he wasn’t thinking as he moved to avenge the death of two siblings. But it didn’t matter, she quickly fired another shot into his chest, and sent him tumbling backwards to the dirt. She went to unload again, to finish of the last of her attackers until she heard a voice bring her back.

“Val! Val! Wake up!”

Amber was dragged back to reality, pulled out of her vengeful haze by Dane trying to get the attention of Valerie. Amber dropped her gun, running over to kneel next to Valerie. It took all of her willpower not to break down at the sight of her; eyes closed with a large gash on the side of her head. Amber tried to nudge her, to wake her up, but she wouldn’t respond. Panicking, Amber tried to feel for a pulse, for breath, anything that would tell her she was still alive. In her panic, it wasn’t clear if she couldn’t feel such a thing, or if it wasn’t there to begin with.

“Val?” She asked. Nothing seemed real, like this was some bad dream that couldn’t actually be happening to them. This wasn’t supposed to happen, it couldn’t be happening. It was just an easy delivery job that would get her wife off of her back. There has to be some mistake, there was to–

“Amber, snap out of it!” Dane shouted, shaking her roughly. He had taken off his shirt, and wrapped it around her wound to try and stop the bleeding.

“I’m gonna get Bertha back on the road. Just… just try to keep her steady. Don’t move her neck!”

Amber did as he instructed, holding Dane’s discarded shirt to Valerie’s head, trying to coax her into consciousness, certain that she would wake up any moment now.

Any moment now…

Dr. Long was widely regarded as one of the best medical professionals outside of Aurum, who actually left the city to set up her own practice in the wastes to try and help those less fortunate. A rare display of altruism in an otherwise self-centered city. Though, even with all of her training, she was still shaken up by the sight of Valerie being carried into her clinic. That was hours ago, and Amber was pacing outside of the office, hands shaking as she smoked another cigarette down to the filter. Dane leaned against the wall, watching her, saying nothing.

“Come on, those things aren’t good for you.” Dane said. Amber had been clean for three months, but today had pushed her over the edge.

“I don’t care.” She replied in an emotionless voice, flicking the butt to the ground as she reached into her pocket for the pack, only to find she had emptied it already. Amber had tried to detach herself, leave herself numb just so she could cope with the waiting, but this small inconvenience had shattered that facade. Her eyes twitched as tears started to well, and she leaned against the wall and broke out into a sob as she slid down. Dane stepped over, kneeling down and patting her on the back as Amber bawled her eyes out.

“It’s all my fault…” Amber moaned, wiping the tears from her cheek.

“Hey, it isn’t your fault.” Dane said, hoping to console her. “It was those fucking Adlam hicks, and I don’t think we have to worry about them messing with us anymore.”

Dane’s words did nothing to comfort her. In Amber’s mind, she was the one that had convinced Valerie to ride along. She was the one that was so selfish as to risk her life for this stupid job. She was the one that could have walked away at any moment, and now Valerie had to pay for that decision. She could only shake her head in silence.

“I don’t know, Dane.” She said, her voice hoarse from the smoking and crying she had done all afternoon. “I just… fuck.”

“Where is she?”

Amber looked up, and felt a terrible sense of dread as Valerie’s father stormed up the street towards them. Dane stepped up, trying to calm him down, only to be shoved out of the way.

“Mr. Helton–” Amber said as she jumped to her feet. The older man pointed his soot covered finger at her. He was still wearing the powder caked apron, as if he had sprinted over from his workshop the second word of Valerie’s injuries had reached him.

“Where. Is. She?” He asked, growling more than speaking. Valerie wasn’t scared of many people, but Ben Helton was certainly one of them. Even if it was just because she knew Valerie wouldn’t take it well if she had told him off like she wanted to so desperately.

Amber stammered and gestured crudely to the clinic, trying to think of the right way to explain the situation. “She was… well, we were… there was a–“

“Some of the Adlam kids ambushed us on the road, one of them took a swing at Val.” Dan said softly, stepping beside Ben.

“Why was she even out there with you?” Ben snapped, his eyes never leaving Amber as she looked off into the distance, avoiding eye contact with her angry father in law.

“It was just a ride along.” Amber muttered in reply.

“Hey, lay off her.” Dane snapped, standing in between Amber and Ben. “It was my fault we were ran off the road in the first place. So if you’ve got anything to say, you can say it to me.”

Amber was so used to seeing Dane’s warmer side, that she oftentimes forgot how intimidating he could be when he wanted to. He crossed his arms and stared down at Ben, who pursed his lips and seemed to drop his aggressive posture.

“Is Valerie ok?” He asked.

“We don’t know yet.” Amber said, gently pushing Dane out of the way so that she could face Ben. “We dropped her off hours ago, but we haven’t heard anything. Dr. Long said she would send for us when…” Amber hesitated for a brief moment. “…when she was done.”

Ben stepped away, pacing around for a few moments as he ran his hand through his hair, and let out a breath he seemed to have been holding for ages.

“You said it was some Adlam kids? Which ones?” He asked in a grim voice, and Amber didn’t doubt for a second that he was thinking of having them taken care of.

“Don’t need to worry about it.” Amber replied, in an equally sour voice. The look she gave Ben was all he needed to know, and she almost felt relieved as he gave her a quick nod.

The trio waited outside the clinic for a while longer, a couple of people had come by with minor injuries or seeming perfectly fine, but they turned and left when they realized that there was something severe going on. Amber felt a flash of anger, knowing that half the town was probably going to be talking about this and spreading rumors. But she didn’t need to dwell on this long, as the doors to the clinic opened behind them.

All three of them looked back at Dr. Long as she approached them, having changed into a fresh smock. Amber didn’t want to think about what the old one might have looked like after the operation.

“She’s alive.”

The three let out a heavy sigh of relief, and Amber actually broke out into tears as she moved to rush past the doctor, only to find herself being stopped by her.

“But… she isn’t conscious.” Dr. Long said before Amber could rush by. This piece of news gave Amber emotional whiplash, having gone from such heart swelling joy to a crashing sorrow.

“When will she wake up?” Amber asked, sounding cautiously hopeful. Dr. Long didn’t share the enthusiasm, and her tense motions told Amber that the news wasn’t good. “She will wake up, right?”

“Why don’t you all come inside?” Dr. Long asked, gesturing for the three to follow her.

“I managed to stabilize her and tend to her injuries, but she’s in a coma.” Dr. Long explained as she led them past the waiting room, into the back of the small, two room clinic.

“What exactly were her injuries?” Ben asked.

“Valerie had a depressed skull fracture that I was able to realign, but thankfully the damage besides that was minimal. I’ve given her antibiotics and I’m currently monitoring her vitals.” Long took them to the furthermost room, and stood in front of the door before speaking. “I should warn you, this might be a lot to take in.”

Amber gave no second thought. Rushing passed Dr. Long, she opened the door and stepped inside. It was a simple, small room with a bed in the middle, as well as cupboards of medical supplies along the wall. In the bed, a mass of wires and tubes were sticking in all around Valerie’s unconscious body. Amber covered her mouth and gasped, slowly approaching the bed and kneeling down beside Valerie.

“Val? Can you hear me?” She asked, as she saw Ben stand across from her, and felt Dane’s presence beside her.

“Baby girl?” Ben asked, finally looking like he was going to break down and cry at the site of his daughter. “It’s your daddy…”

“Can she hear us?” Dane asked, turning to face Dr. Long. She simply shook her head in reply after looking at the screen sitting next to Valerie’s bed.

“It’s possible, but I’m not sure.” She replied. I’m afraid I don’t have access to the facilities that I did back in Aurum, otherwise I could tell you a lot more. But I do know that she is stable, and that she is going to be fine as long as she’s kept on life support.”

“When will she wake up?” Amber asked, gently caressing her wife’s hand.

“That… is hard to tell.” Dr. Long said. “It could be in a few hours, it could be longer.” The doctor gave a brief pause, as she composed herself. “But you should be prepared for the possibility that she might never wake up.”

That was not what Amber had wanted to hear. She was hoping Dr. Long would have a more certain answer, that Valerie would wake up by tomorrow and that everything would be fine. That she could quit being a Lancer and have a quiet life with the person she loved more than anything else. She hoped that Valerie would forgive her for dragging her along, but now she was being told she might never get that chance. Amber held the back of Valerie’s hand to her forehead, and let out a long, heavy breath as she felt Dane rest a hand on her shoulder. She briefly looked up at Ben as he glared daggers towards Amber. She felt nothing. He had every right to be angry at her. She felt that this was her fault, and that it would be her responsibility to make sure that Valerie made a full recovery.

No matter the cost.