I screamed as the most intense pain I’d ever felt ripped through my side. I had never felt a pain as bad as I had in that moment there. It felt as though my veins were being ripped out of my skin with fire replacing them.

Black filled my vision as I cried out to the pain within me. I couldn’t tell what was happening around me. All I knew was death was right in front of me. I could practically feel it reaching its long painful fingers towards me, grabbing at my side.

A high ringing sounded in my ears, which muffled the voices around me. I couldn’t make out a thing they were saying—not that I wanted to.

At this point, all I wanted was the pain to end. I didn’t care how anymore.

If death was to take me now, so be it.

I screamed again as I felt my body moving. I could feel something ripping out of me, adding to the extreme pain I was already in.

If possible, the pain seemed to increase.

I couldn’t control the sobs that ripped through me. I cried as loud as I could, the automatic reaction to trying to sooth the pain.

I couldn’t take it anymore.

The pain was dominating me to a level that I couldn’t compete with.

I let out one more scream and then blacked out.

~*~

I opened my eyes to a blurry ceiling. I cringed at the shock of light, squeezing my eyes shut again. Bracing myself, I opened them once more to a clearer sight.

I groaned, pushing myself up slightly. A gasp escaped my lips as pain shot through my left side. I fell back down on the soft surface.

“Careful, now. You got a pretty bad wound” Clayton said quietly.

I turned my head to the sound of his voice. Clayton sat next to me, his face

expression less. He was leaning over enough

that his hair hung off his head slightly. He was studying me closely.

I bit my lip, looking away from his intense glare. A dull pain throbbed in my side, reminding me of what recently happened.

I had no idea where I was, nor did I know how I got here. But I had to assume Clayton brought me here. Where was John?

John…

I cringed at the thought of him. He betrayed us. He tried to kill me. Clearly, he failed since I was still alive. Yet the attempt to kill me…

It broke my heart. I trusted him. And he stabbed me in the back.

“Are you ok?” Clayton asked gently

I looked back to see him with worried eyes. I guess he had seen me cringe and assumed I was in pain.

“It hurts” I whispered. I cringed at the dryness of my throat.

He sighed, sorrow filling his eyes. Clayton reached out a hand, stroking my hair “I’m so sorry, Ellie. It’s going to hurt for quite a

while.”

“Why?” I croaked

“Do you remember anything that happened after getting shot?” He asked.

I shook my head, unable to speak anymore. I ran my tongue over my cracked lips, trying to wet them down.

Clayton sighed “Well, John shot you but intentionally shot you in the side. The screams you made… I thought he’d hit you in the chest. So I lost control and basically attacked John. He tried to protect himself, but I was in such an uncontrollable rage…”

Clayton took a deep breath to steady himself. He glanced up at something for a moment before looking back down at me.

“I took the gun from him and shot CJ” Clayton’s voice cracked at the last bit. He paused for a moment before continuing “John just kind of froze. I kept hitting him and hitting him until he passed out. I… I don’t know what came over me”

I stared at him incredulously. I didn’t know how to react to this. Regardless of John trying to kill me, he had been Clayton’s best friend for, what I assumed was, many years.

“When I came back to my senses, I could hear you screaming.” He continued

“There was blood every. Jeesh, Ellie, there was just so much blood. I picked you up and ran. I didn’t know where I was going, I just left.

“When your screams stopped, I realized you were losing too much blood. I wrapped my shirt around you to try and stop the flow. I kept going though, because I had to find somewhere to put you. I don’t know how, but I came across a guy who let me in here. We’ve been here for five days now. He’s been a savior to us.”

It was then that I noticed he lacked a shirt. I lifted my head up slightly, careful not to move anything else, to see his shirt wrapped around me. Half of it was stained red with my blood, the other half a dirty-yellow.

“You’ve been waking up on and off for a few days now” Clayton whispered, his eyes catching mine “I’m just so glad you’re ok”

“Thank you” I smiled. Clayton turned the corners of his lips up into a smile, yet it didn’t reach his eyes.

“Any time”

A door opened causing Clayton’s head to move towards it. I sighed, not able to see who was there without moving my body.

“How’s she doing?” A new voice said. It was deeper than Clayton’s or John’s, sounding from an older man.

“She’s awake now” Clayton said.

“Ah, finally” There were footsteps towards me. I turned my head to see a new face smiling down at me.

He was dark, very dark, with gray hair around the sides of his hair. Freckles dotted his plump face which clearly hinted a plump body. I stared into his eyes, the dark abysses that they were.

“Hello Ellie” the stranger said.

I blinked, not sure how to answer

“I’m Blasé.” He introduced. “Clayton here told me you’ve had quite an adventure. Getting shot by a LSP-11 is a pretty big deal. I’m surprised you’re alive”

I assumed that he was talking about the gun John had shot me with.

“Anyways, I’m going to give you something to drink” He said, setting a cup on the table next to my head “Take it carefully. This will help numb the pain away and should hopefully help with the sore throat. You won’t be able to eat for a few days. The bullet hit dangerous close to your vital organs and we don’t want to risk interfering with the recovery process”

I felt Clayton’s fingers slide through mine. He pulled my arm closer to him, giving me a squeeze. I turned my head, smiling at him gently. My face felt a little sore to move those muscles, but I managed.

“I’ll leave you two alone for a little” Blasé said with a wink “If you need me,

Clayton, I’ll be in the study”

He stood up, walking away. Clayton reached across me, grabbing the glass filled with the medicine.

“This is going to hurt a little, Ellie, but you have to sit up” Clayton said hesitantly. I nodded, forcing my body up. I leaned against the wall behind me, gritting my teeth to stop the pain that shot through my body.

Clayton brought the cup to my lips, lifting it slowly. I kept my eyes on him as I drank the liquid, making a face.

It tasted worse than anything else I’d ever had. I felt like I was drinking vomit. It burned as it went down my throat, stronger than any alcoholic drink I’d ever encountered.

I chugged the medicine as fast as I could, trying to push past the disgusting taste.

“Blasé said it would taste horrible. I’m surprised you drink it all” Clayton said, examining the cup. He set it down on the ground beside him, giving my hand another squeeze

“Blasé means unimpressed” I croaked out, confused by his name “Why?”

Clayton smiled as if he was remembering a memory “He chose his name because he was unimpressed with life. He thought it was meaningless; just an obstacle before a greater lifetime. Blasé thinks that this war is pointless. He thinks we weren’t made to fight, so why are we?”

I couldn’t have agreed with Blasé more.

“Ellie, before I met you, I would’ve looked down on people like Blasé” Clayton admitted. I watched him with careful eyes, studying his body reactions. His head was down, eyes closed. He gripped my hand with both of his hands, trapping it there.

Clayton took a deep breath, looking into my eyes “You’ve changed me. I…I actually want to be with girls now. No… not girls… I want to be with one girl. You”

“You are” I said, grimacing at the pain.

“I don’t ever want that to change” He said, his voice cracking on the last bit. Clayton leaned back, looking everywhere but me. I watched as he tried to calm himself before continuing “But Blasé thinks it would be best if we got you on the Girls’ Side as soon as you were healthy enough”

“No” I shook my head.

As much as I wanted to live in safety, I didn’t want to go. After meeting Zee, I couldn’t bring myself to go to a world full of people like that. She was a scary girl, and I knew I wouldn’t feel comfortable in a world full of Zee’s.

“I know” Clayton smiled regretfully “I don’t want you to go either”

We fell into a silence. I didn’t want to say anything for fear of my throat hurting more. Clayton still held my hand, his eyes on it.

He sat up, breathing out.

“While you were out,” He started “I grew curious as to my feelings. I wanted to know why it bothered me so much that you would be leaving for the Girls’ Side in a few months and why I wanted to stay with you”

A few months?

Would it take me that long to recover?

Was the wound that bad?

“I researched what life was like before the war. Not right before… but back when you would’ve lived. And I came to a conclusion. I’m in love with you Ellie”

I blinked, my mouth open to say something.

He… what?

Clayton met my eyes, searching. I was in shock. No one had ever said that to me before, not even Jim.

“Oh my gosh, I knew I shouldn’t have said anything” Clayton groaned regretfully

“You know what? Forget it. I’m sorry Ellie I…I

wasn’t thinking and…”

“I love you too”

“What?” He stopped, staring at me curiously

“I love you too”

Clayton paused for a moment, taking it all in. I watched as a smile spread slowly across his lips. Clayton moved, pressing his lips to mine. My eyes widened in surprise as my lips moved with his.

He pulled back too soon, a huge smile on his face.

“I’m not going” I said as softly as I could to reduce the pain

He shook his head “No, you can’t now”

Clayton bent down, kissing me once again.

And he numbed all my pain away.

***One chapter left. When that chapter comes, could you guys give me feed back on if you want a sequel or not? I'm currently working on writing the first couple chapters but if you guys want it to end there... I mean, i'll post a summary of it before i do so but just so you know,****