The Navy Leg

I can't remain calm.

Asking me to remain calm is nearly impossible for me. I'm a shouter, a violent one, a screamer, an anxious one. It's just like one of those things you know? Like, nothing doesn't end up okay if you just do absolutely nothing, like that's bullshit. And especially if something is going wrong at the very moment, than doing nothing is absolutely the worst thing to be doing.

And yet, right now, all I'm doing is looking calm on the outside, but on the inside, my heart is pounding. It's like every time my heart pounds my body shakes and I black out a little. Slowly, my heart starts to race.

Right now, at the midst of everything, I'm doing the exact opposite of what I normally do--what I should do.

Right now, I'm standing here, doing nothing.

I want to tell him not to go. Whatever the hell this stupid puny body wants to do is not my concern, I'm going to do what I want.

I reach for him and yank his arm, stopping him. "Maverick!" I cry. "Maverick-Motherfucking-Blaze-"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He raises a brow, interrupting me.

"-I will not let you go out there, again!" I continue.

"What are you talking about?"

"-Because now you're tired and you're hurt-

"Seriously, just let-"

"And I'll be damned if you do something stupid-"

"I said, let go of me!" He bellows. I only hold on tighter, but he yanks his arm. Hard.

My grip falls short, and our arms are no longer linked to each other. Just saying, that yank really hurt, not just my arm, but my heart. I can't help but look at him sadly, like now of all times I need to look strong in front of him, my practical condescending older brother, I look like the little kid I am.

He sighs, and then turns around, remaining calm, a little agitated, but a little guilty. I mean at this point, I'm able to read him, but it's really hard. When he does that, it makes me feel a little bit better. But it still hurts.

"Damn, your grip's improved." He rubs his wrist. He look completely away from me, and then he says, "I'm getting those maps, end of discussion."

"But-"

"What did I say?" He snaps. "Harley, there's no room for argument right now."

I scoff, and I look to Walker and Mariam incredulously. "Is he fucking--are you serious? Are you fucking kidding me?" I scoff again. "I-no-no, Maverick, I'm not just gonna let you go like that, this really can't wait?"

Mariam nods, finally putting on her glasses. "Ah, yes..." She nods and rubs her chin, "She does have a point, aha."

"What?" He turns around. "Are you asking me what we've been working for our entire lives--to live in the Interior--can wait?" I back up. "No...No it can't, Harley."

"Ah, that is a statement on it's own, yes." Mariam also nods, and Walker pats her shoulder to stop.

"This is stupid, nonsensical, I'm going, quit wasting my time." He puts his hands on the door knob, and before I jump at him, Walker grabs my shoulder to stop me, too.

"What? And now we're just gonna rule out the fact that I can go get it for you, too-"

"Harley." Walker cuts me off, intimidatingly. I sigh, and then nod, stopping.

"But just, just hear me out for a second..." Mav turns around, letting his hand off the door knob. "What I'm saying is, why can't we just wait to get it later. I mean, I can get it now, if you want. Walker and I can get it now, you don't have to do anything, just please stay with Mariam or rest. Seriously, you're in no condition to be doing anything dangerous right now! Right Mariam?"

She nods and raises her hand. "A-Ah, yes, I second that, of course." She pushes her glasses up. "We haven't cleaned your wound since yesterday, it could be infected for all we know. But, aha, the, uh, Maverick we all know and love-" Maverick grunts. "Is-ah-sorry, strong enough to handle that, I am sure, sorry."

I groan and roll my eyes. "Seriously? You couldn't even fucking get that right? Come on, Maverick...Let me just go with you, if you really want those stupid maps."

"Stupid?" He scoffs. He shakes his head. "Lee, I don't think you fully understand the situation. There's no time for waiting anymore when the world's gone to shit. If you can't say that, then this is exactly why I'd rather do this myself instead of let you handle this. Walker, take care of her."

"Wait, please, I'm begging you, I just got my brother back and now you're going to get yourself killed again?"

Oh shit.

Did I really just say that?

"Brother?" His glare shoots through me. He pauses at the name and sighs, "Your brother tried to kill you, and I did my best to save you and I'm still trying to save all of us. Don't you fucking dare compare me to him after everything I've done. Heh, not surprised you  wouldn't understand what it's like for me to be unable to feel fear, because I can take care of myself and then some. Be mad, but at least stay safe, you annoying kid bastard."

"What the hell?!" I cry, and Maverick already rushes out the door and before I dart after him, Walker holds me back. "Let go of me, Walker! Maverick! Maverick!" I call out for him. But eventually, he takes a turn and I no longer see him.

"Ugh!" Walker finally lets go of me. I sniffle a little and sigh, "So much for not leaving me again."

"Hn..." Walker starts to walk off. "You oughtta stop making idolizations if you know what's best for you."

"Oh fuck off, Walker, you wouldn't get it, and you probably never will because in any relationship case you would be the type two older brother, so naturally, you'd just be that guy who butts heads with type one older brother, which in this case, is Maverick." I explain to him.

"That's quite an elaborate fictional statement." Walker sits down next to me. "But you're right, I'm not here to tell you what's good for you."

I scoff, "Uh, that's nonfictional, okay, seriously, just ask Mariam."

"Hm?" She questions. I groan.

"Never mind. Oh, and thanks for not doing anything to help me, Walker."

"Knowing him, I didn't think he'd like that." He looks up to the ceiling.

"Yeah, well, you don't know him. I've known him longer than you guys have." I lie down on the floor. "What're you looking at up there, anyway?"

"I'll look anywhere if I don't have to see your cute glare."

"What?"

"I make jokes, too." He gets up. "Come on, we might as well do something."

I look up and retort, "It's not a joke if it's not funny."

"I found it funny." He pulls me up.

"Shut up, you're a grandpa."

"I'm sevente-"

"Then I guess some people are just born with old, feeble minds then, Walker!" I roll my eyes. "God, you're not a kid anymore pops, stop embarrassing yourself!"

"Anyway, Mariam's got something to show you."

I hit my palm on my head. "Oh, duh, I totally forgot that I just put you guys on the spot and made you guys-"

"Don't worry about it." He, for a split second smiles, which is probably the weirdest thing I've seen in a while.

And I've lived, dammit, I've lived--in hell, too!

Mariam brings up a tray of plants from her garden, clearing the island of any sort of dirty pans. Everything falls to the ground, creating a clattering noise as well as the loud noise of the tray banging on top of the island.

"Jeez, what is that?" I ask, pinching my nose.

"Ah, well, they are plants." She rubs the back of her head, and dust pours out of her hair.

I scream and cringe a little. "Gross..." Walker glares at me, and  I shrug, "What? I'm sorry, but it is!"

"Oh-Ah, I sincerely ah-apologize, aha." She smiles. "This happens to be the decaying plants. Normally, if our crops are ruined, they wouldn't sprout due to the amount of excess vitamins. Now, as they sprout, they start to decay quickly, as if there was, ah, ah-something-ah, that could, ah, possibly ah..." She reaches for the back of her head, and I grab her arm before she could scratch her head. I shake my head.

"What is it, Mariam?" Walker asks.

She sighs, "Ah, well...I could be wrong about this, but, ah..." She heaves out a much bigger sigh, and she falls to the ground, hitting the pan with her arm.

"Are you okay?" I ask, reaching to help her up.

She nods. "Yes, it's...ah, I sincerely apologize, ah, but from this...ah...aha, discovery, it appears that the solution to the, ah, crops thing could be in the, ah, milk all along. I have, ah, been so stupid as to not take samples of our milk, instead, only sample, ah, our crops. I deeply, deeply-"

I reach for her clenched hand and give it a squeeze. "It's fine, Mariam, really. What do you want us to do?"

"This is why I am, ah, quite worried. Our weekly distributions have been, ah, late once again."

"We also don't have them deliver here." Walker includes. "We like to keep our location a secret, although, we're at least not too off from society and neighbors that we become suspicious."

"Well, I suppose that's an advantage." I then say. "Do you want me to go...I don't know...get milk?"

"Ah, yes, aha!" She smiles. "It would be greatly, ah, appreciated."

I nod. "Wait, how do you guys get your milk, anyway? And don't you guys have milk?"

She shakes her head. "That's the, ah, problem. Our milk that we drink, I have all pasteurized myself. I haven't, ah, tested the raw milk. I need to find a way to keep the bacteria that will help the plants grow, but get rid of the nutrients. If, ah, if I had just tested our raw milk...I would've been able to see results for why our nutrient contents are so high, or ah..." She pounds her fist at the table and Walker squeezes her shoulder. She just lays back, sighing.

"And, we buy our milk from passerby." Walker adds.

"And you just trust the general public to give you the right milk?" I raise a brow.

"And you trust the Corpal soldiers?"  He crosses his arms.

"This is not the time for shade right now, Walker. So, what's the plan?" I ask.

Reebus is a circular, walled town, with another walled town in the interior of the Slums. The Interior is where the Corpal soldiers live near or live in. Within this Interior, the rich people trade and protect themselves from the outside, making products and very rarely distributing them to the public.

However, Corpal soldiers who live near or in the Interior are required to distribute products from both the Slums and the Interior. Factories in the Slums harbor those children unfit for the Corpal soldiers, or Adult men and women who are desperate for a job.

Every week, distributions are held at the Centers of the North, South, East, and West sectors, regions, areas, etc. Call it what you will. Tax payment is due every five days, then every two days, making tax payment days every Friday and Sunday. Failure to pay taxes result in a sort of punishment, then no distributions.

Of course not everyone needs distributions. It's not like people aren't allowed to buy other goods like dough and such to a bread factory. However, those people who buy products that are also made from the Corpal factories and companies must buy said products from the Corpals.

And then there are those who don't receive distributions. Those who live in poverty like the Overhead Tunnels and Sewers are not eligible for distributions.

Mariam shrugs, "To steal them, ah, of course." She grins.

I nod, "Okay." I tie my bandana around my head and my jacket around my waist. Within the back of my waistband, I store my pistol, and stick my emergency knife and swiss army knife in two different boots.

Before I move my feet, Walker grabs my shoulders, and I immediately flinch away due to a certain twinging pain. "Ah, Damn!" My feet patter back. "What are you doing?" I grab his hands, but he doesn't let go.

"Do you understand now?" He squeezes my shoulders slightly, and it starts to burn.

"Stop!" I cry, and he lets go.

"I'm sorry, but if you're going to argue Maverick for leaving you while he was injured, you should at least consider your situation now." He then explains.

"Well, that was totally different." I roll my eyes. "And you didn't have to bind my shoulders with your steel hands, you could've just told me!"

"Hn?" He questions. "Is that really a valid thing to say, you're not exactly the reasonable type, although much more than Maverick."

"Well...I would argue with you, but then it's like, which one am I arguing, you know? So, piss off, and yes I totally agree! Actually, that's worse." My stomach grumbles loudly making Mariam smirk behind her creepy...pedo glasses. "Crap! My stomach! I'm starved!"

After some minutes of recuperating, showering, eating, Walker and I start to head out. I mean, like, I don't exactly know if what I'm doing is right. I'd rather be out with Maverick. What I really need to do is leave and find Maverick.

But that would make me an asshole.

Ah, too late.

"Mariam...are you gonna be okay here?" I ask.

"Ah, well, thanks for your, ah, concern, but I am okay, ah thank you!" She smiles, and I smile back. "Please, Ah, take pictures for me, or, ah...reenact your, ah, time!" I roll my eyes. The door behind us closes, and I wrap the bandanna around my face this time.

"You know I love her, right?" I turn to Walker. "Mariam, I mean. She means a lot to me."

He nods. "Yeah, me too. But she'll be alright. She may look like this scrawny, clumsy woman, but she is also intelligent and can handle her own."

He starts to walk, but I stay silent for a moment. He is right. I know she's intelligent, but I also question if she can take care of herself. If it comes out from Walkers mouth, sure, maybe...well...most likely his opinion is true, but he's also good at saying the right things at the right times.

And then that kind of makes me wonder what people think of me. I mean, yeah...yeah...I remember now, Mariam is pretty strong.

Academy.

Baddum--baddum--baddum

Heavy breathing

Anxiety, fear

Stop it, those days are over. He saved you, and now you're fine. As long as you're with him, you're fine.

"Hey...where is Blake?" I ask Walker to try to get me out of my trance.

He turns around, and he doesn't answer for a moment. "I'm not going to deny you the simple truth, but I should warn you against going to see him." I nod. "He's buried behind the garden...I insisted on leaving his body in peace, but....Mariam would also like to see if she can find any worms near his body soon..."

"So...you want my permission to experiment on a dead man's body? My friend--your friend?" He nods, and I scoff. "Well then..." I scoff again, "Be my fucking guest then-"

"Harley-"

"Let me say my peace before I have to see his corpse on some table in Mariam's garden." I then say, and he nods, leading me to dusty path into the small wall next to the green house. A small stone marks the place of his burial.

I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry.

And yet I can't even say those words.

I walk away, with a straight face, mad at Mariam, mad that I couldn't save him, mad that I'm being super stupid and super corny right now, and that Mariam tried her best, and Blake is actually pro improvement, and though he seemed like a background guy, he would do his best to help out the right cause, too.

"Okay, so...what's the plan? We just barge in there?" I ask.

"Yes." He looks serious.

"What?" I exclaim. "You always have a plan."

"Not this time, and besides, they've always been risky." He then says.

"At least they're plans!"

"All plans are risky." He says again.

"Well, then, you're just weakening both of our cases by saying that."

He sighs, "The nearest milk facility is to the North-"

"Ah, no, we take a roundabout to somewhere else."

"Exactly why I didn't tell you my plan."

"You had a plan! You just said you didn't!"

"Calm down." Walker says as calm as ever. "Listen to reason. You should know that if you loiter in one place too long, you will be caught by the Corpals. It's how it's always been.  I say, we go North, sneak in as one of the workers, get what we need, and then get out."

"That sounds way too simple." I then say.

"It doesn't need to be extravagant."

"It doesn't need to be extravagant, Jesus Christ, listen to yourself! Who would we be if it wasn't extravagant? No one's ever going to take us seriously ever again-"

"Harley-"

"Because of your old ass. You sound so old. Stop being so old."

"Anyway, you know the area best." He says to me.

"Oh, so the plan is me, isn't it?" He nods, and so do I, in agreement. "Way to use me like a tool, you heartless thug. You probably offer to save dogs but then instead you eat them."

"Harley-"

"I bet you throw rocks at the homeless and say it's a good way to boost the economy."

"Har-"

"Shut the hell up because I'm talking!" I snap. "Just know you owe me food."

"I think we're pretty even right now."

"Well, have you been counting?" I question.

"No. Harley, we should go." He takes my hand, but I stop him.

"Can we at least talk about it on the way?" He doesn't answer. "No?"

We put on our hoods over our heads. My bandanna over my face and, well, nothing really on his face. The only time he puts it on, he tells me, is when the women stare at him. I say ha to that, because that's absolute bullshit. I'm not saying he's a liar, I'm saying every other woman who's tried to hit that is.

The North is my nightmare.

Its the same for everyone in the Slums, but trust me when I say the North is the worst. If my brother is living there, then it must be hell. There's no 'probably' because it's an absolutely.

The dust has completely settled at this point. Those on the streets right now are sweeping away at the dust, trying to get rid of it, throwing the dust bags in bins, or throwing more dust at the homeless. There's just an aura of hate that surrounds this place.

The Academy.

I shiver at that one word. Academy.

"Walker..." I grab onto his hand like an impulse I have with Maverick. "Could we, I don't know, not bring back childhood trauma?"

"Just close your eyes."

"That doesn't help." I groan. "God that's just like saying to someone scared to stop being afraid. Its not helpful!"

"Then what does?"

"Not being here." He chuckles. "What?! I can feel the aura of hell surrounding the fuck-ton of depression that is that place."

He stops himself.

"Do you have something to fucking say, Superior Sack?!"

His facial expression turns dark, and he grabs me, pulling me into an alley. "There's our opening."
Next to the academy, that large string of stalls, is a larger, white building with a few cows cooped up in the outside pen. I to walker to see his eyes staring at something specific. There it is, our opening. The Corpal soldiers lining the workers up to work. Only two units instead of the normal ten thousand. Call it luck, I don't care, but whatever this is, I really needed it.

"Yeah, no, that's actually something pretty important well done." I nod.

I mean its only right to have good luck when you've just had a string of bad.

I step out, but Walker's encapsulates my waist and I don't move. "What? Why are you waiting. This is our opening, like you said!"

"We wait."

"Didn't you hear Maverick? No time for waiting?"

"Didn't you listen to yourself? It can wait?" He sits down, and I look at him like he's crazy.

Because that's insane!

"But if we wait any longer-"

"You don't seem to understand, Harley." He says. "This is our opening, but if we mess this up, who knows when our next stroke of luck will happen. Next time we try, there could be five units instead of two."

"At least there's a next time if we mess this up." I say.

"Are you sure?" Walker questions. "Honestly, is there?"

I sit down next to him. "How long do we wait for, wise one?"

"At least down to the-"

Two gunshots, followed by three others, followed by even more gunshots ring in the perimeter. Another cinches the wall next to me, and I almost scream. Walker covers my mouth with his hand and he pulls me away wrapping his arms around my waist and we both fall down at the end of the wall but he makes a nice cushion.

"What the hell?!" I whisper-shout. "There's no way they could've seen us! God, this place is a bullshit sector."

"You're right..." His eyes look far off, inching enough to see what's going on, but I don't even bother. He takes my hand, "Let's go."

"What? What's going on?" I look to the walls, but I can't see anything. Even more gunshots pierce the alley.

"Our stroke of luck."

"Really?" A bullet swerves to the alley, and we keep running around. "That doesn't sound like luck."

"Maybe it isn't, but if this is really our opening." The Corpal soldiers look around and start shooting at the group of people running away.

"We're not enemies, we have your bounty!" A lanky old man screeches.

"Boss, I don't think they care!"

"Shut up, Calvin, I don't think you have the authority to think!" The man shouts, and they continue to run with their bounty strapped onto them by their wrists.

"Just a couple of Bounty Hunters, then." I smirk. "Guess it is our luck."

He doesn't look too amused. Oh, he needs to lighten the hell up. "Right...let's go." He grips my hand tight and pulls me along faster. Maybe close to being as fast as Mav.

The workers evacuating the pen rush into the factory. Walker signals me to stay here, and he goes around another alley, coming to the other side of the pen, taking the Corpal soldier in front of him and breaking his neck. He motions for me to move into the pen.

More bullets whizz through.

I first sneak up behind a man who definitely is not my size, although he's short. Damn, what do these people eat? How can someone even eat this much?

My arm wraps around his neck and I jump on top of him. I hit his head with my elbow and he falls down. Walkers takes his guy and we both pull them into the alley. We take the clothes of our men, but, of course, I close my eyes, because I'm not interested at looking at certain things. That's nasty.

"Harley, open your eyes."

"Why?" I ask him. "Is this gonna be your first time horrifying me by showing some chubby guy's pen-"

"Stop." He says, taking my hand and putting it on the man's rough skin.

"EW! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" I cry, and he shushes me. I open my eyes, and I see their stomachs look like a zit exploded. Like a giant zit exploding.

"That's so much worse." I felt like gagging. "What are you thinking? Why would you do this to me? I trusted you!"

"Something to tell Mariam, I guess. Look, it's on my guy, too." He explains.

Another bullet coming close to the alley.

Everyone too preoccupied to even look behind themselves.

And right now, we're debating what a giant zit is.

Great.

"So?"

"So, these Corpal bastards are doing something to their people. Could be the milk." He shrugs.

"But I still don't understand why you made me touch it. That was unnecessary, like really unnecessary." I cringe. He glares at me. "But, yeah, these Corpal guys are assholes. I mean, come on, I would know. You know me."

To be doing this to their own workers...that's horrible. I've always hated the Corpal soldiers. I've always hated my brother.

I mean...!

I do.

And we're nothing like them, Walker and I.  Sure, we hate them, but we wouldn't kill anyone. I mean, that one guy doesn't really count because we wouldn't kill anyone innocent.

I look at him again sheepishly and grunt, "Don't say that again, you idiot."

His eyes show some well-deserved, goddamn surprise. He raises a brow, "Excuse me? Harley, what do you mean?"

"Oh you fucking know what I mean, you were there! It's just another symptom of another disease that goes around, don't you remember about...ah!" I cry out. "Never mind!"

He hesitates for a moment.

He doesn't remember.

"Harley, please forgive me but-"

"I told you already...Bullshit Sector." How can he not remember?

He sighs. "But we have to go. Maybe tell me about it later."

"Yeah well you don't deserve to hear it now as in ever." I say.

He starts taking his shirt off, and I look away. "You better not be looking at me, either!" I start switching clothes, too. I mean, I guess I don't really need to because the baggy, striped clothes would go over the clothes I have now.

"Walker?!" I whisper-yell.

"No, I'm not looking."

"Promise?"

"Yes."

Hat, gloves, boots, shirt, pants, and the mask are all on me. Walker takes our clothes and puts them behind his back. Well, except for my bandanna, of course.

I hate this place. I hate this place. I hate this place.

But we need this place.

God dammit.

When we turn the corner, it's officially the end of our stroke of luck. All of the Corpal soldiers move from the factory, and those remaining help with the evacuation.

And, of course, that one skinny guy, over there, standing above his friend, with a face that says, 'I'm gonna kill you for killing my friend!'

Then, there's that girl who's giving Walker the look. Why? Why? That's gross. They need to stop being gross!

So, right now, we're at the face of a demon from a place far worse than hell. "Har-" But Walker's words are cut off with a barrage of bullet, two of which hitting his left shoulder. I stand behind him, pulling him back into the alley.

"Shit! Well, come on, Walker!" I pull him along, but he gets up, clutching his shoulder.

"Walker-"

"Listen, don't worry about me, okay, Harley?" He tries to smile.

I put my arm around his back and help him. "Well, I don't, but if you die, then we both die, so don't die!"

We keep moving, alley to alley, building to building, and more and more I hear them coming after us. They're closing in. Do they know who we are? What we look like? We put our masks on and everything!

I set him down behind a closed balcony. "Come on, we have to dress back." He nods, and I help him take his shirt off.

"I got it." He grunts out, and I nod, dressing quickly, myself. But, come on, I have to look away, too. I still have standards. Those standards are probably gonna get me killed, considering the Corpals are almost here, but at least I died with...a little bit of honor.

"Come on, Walker, hurry!" A little fear escapes into my tone after I finish. He nods after his shirt is on him, and then we get up.

The Corpals are already to the right of the balcony. A single bullet fires at the metal railing and ricochets to hit my arm. "Ah!" I let out. I grab Walker and we run.

His arm slips out of my hand. "Wa-"

A corpal soldier follows him running the opposite way from me. Another unit follows me.

Shit, I can't even say his name without getting everyone associated with him killed. We're both gonna die, here, without finishing what we started.

I see another unit of Corpal soldiers running along the alleys to the right of the main street. Okay, guess that means go left.

A bullet hits my leg. "Shit!" I cry out. I'm right in front of the intersection. They'll know who I am. The units are almost to me.

Maverick!

Okay, so what would he do? He would probably make a quick escape through the alleys. Right! To the left! That was confusing. I mean, left!

And then I see it. There he is, Walker, running down the left alley, ruining my chance of escape.

Wait, it's Walker!

But wait, I still have two units coming after me.

The unit to the right keeps running down the alley. What? Are they blind?

Who cares, this is my moment!

I roll myself down the main street, covering my head, and ending up at another intersection. Bullets ricochet on the ground and hit me, but at least nothing else is lodged anywhere else...so...that was a win!

Hooray for luck!

I trudge along the alley. Come on, Walker, run faster! The Corpal soldiers behind me are still making their way to me. Walker gives me quick glance as he runs past the corner. I wait for the last soldier.

I jump and land on the soldier's back. My knife sinks into his throat, and I pick up his gun, shooting at the Corpal soldiers, following Walker.

"Look this way, fuckfarts!" I scream. Two more bullets miss above my head. I duck, running the direction where Walker comes from.

Great, now I ended up saving Walker instead of him saving me. What was I thinking? I'm even running uphill, this isn't good.

I turn around, placing the rifle against my hip and start shooting down. Only two miss. The rest of the bullets hit the three closest to me.

I turn around at the intersection and see that the soldiers originally following me catch up.

Shit!

I shoot at them, reflexively. From the original twelve following me, now there are only five. Weird.

No, that's bad. Something happened.

I look behind me and a single gunshot kills throws me off. Walker killed some of the Corpal soldiers. The rest, he just disabled.

If only he were angrier like Maverick, he could be just as strong maybe even the strongest. It really isn't like what Aantali said...maybe normal people can't be as strong as those that aredifferent. I know Mav and Aantali would kill me for saying that.

Now Bullshit Sector's making me remember hell!

Oh God, how I really wish things were different.

"Fuck farts?" Walker raises brow.

"You scared the living shit out of me. And yes, I say what I want."

"Come on, let's go. There were still nine of them-"

A flash of light catches our attention. A disabled man flashes a light to the dusty sky and signals for reinforcements.

"Piece of fuck!" I hit the flashlight out of his hand and kick his head. My standing leg is burning, and I fall. I look to Walker.

"Let's go, right now!" He says.

"My-"

"Come on, you've had worse, we need to go!" He yells and we start running down the main street. More nearby soldiers come through the right alley. I pick out the bullet at the intersection and feel the blood escaping my leg.

"Walker-"

"Use this." He gives me his bandanna, and I wrap it around my leg while running. Oh, the pain of everything.

We run into the alley. More Corpal soldiers coming from the right. "Walker!" I scream out of fear and he glares at me. "Ah-I mean-shit!"

Gunshots come from behind us. "Fuck! Move it!"

Walker trips in front of me, his bleeding shoulder landing on my back. "Gah!" I cry out, the sudden impact shortening my breath. "Stop being a pain in the ass!"

Another gun shot, and next to our feet. "Go! Go!" I cry out to Walker. He's not moving.

His head is bleeding.

I lift him up, and carry him to window. I break the window, running through this man's empty establishment.

People staring at me, people staring at the soldiers, and now, people staring at Walker. Bullets hitting everything in this store, from paintings to books to food, even. I drag Walker across to the entrance. I open and close the door, although I end up heading upstairs with him, quietly. The other soldiers just going through the door like they think that's where we're going.

No one even calls out to them.

Because they oppress us, here.

I look to the owner. "Than-"

"Get the hell out of here."

"Right." I push Walker out through the window. I take a woman's cloak from the chair.

"Hey!"

"Sorry!" I apologize, and I put the cloak around Walker.

We walk to a separate alley, although the Corpal soldiers are all over this part of town looking for us.

"Are you okay?" I ask him.

"Haha." He says.

More Corpal soldiers looking all over for us. I decide to take a different alley. We both walk different directions, and for a while, everything's fine.

I totally forget why we did this.

We need the milk, but to be honest, I never really cared about doing this. I know Maverick's going to fix this. I know he's going to get the maps and we'll go into the interior and free the water. He can do this all by himself.

I guess that's why he doesn't need me.

I do my best to bare through the pain, emotionally, and physically. Stab wounds and bullet wounds hurt a lot.

I'm so tired.

But I can get to their house. Just keep moving along.

I turn a corner, and I bump into someone. Someone that smells like hate. Like pure rage. Pure hell. Nice.

"Sorry." I tense up.

His arm takes wraps around my waist an he covers my mouth.

Who is this? Is this a Corpal soldier? Shit! Some bounty guy!

I spoke too soon with the whole bounty guy thing. Where's my good luck? Did we really use it all up?

His arm then wraps around my neck. I'm so tired, but I want to live, dammit, I want to live! Everything Maverick did will be in vain then if the girl he troubled himself to save died. I can't ever let him feel loss. I owe him my life. I can't die without his permission.

I try to scream, but then I bit this asshole's hand. I kick the guys shin getting him off of me, but then I fall.

"Walker! W-Walker--Maverick! Help!" I cry out. I don't want to die. I don't want to die without Maverick. I don't want to die without knowing if I was helpful to him or not.

The man grabs a hold of me, again. "My God, let go of me, you fucking pervert, I'm gonna kick your ass!"

I see Walker look at me. I almost smile, but then gunshots tail after him, and he trudges back along. I don't even know who the guy who's gonna kill me is. I don't even know what he looks like.

Just that he smells like hell.

I kick up, trying to pin him down, but it doesn't work. I kick him once more, and he lets go of me. My back hits the ground, and a boot hits my head.

I'm so sorry, Maverick.

I want to live.

Please, be safe and don't worry about me, Maverick.

"Gah...damn." I feel like crying for failing him. I should've went with him. I don't care about the fucking milk. I should've went with him to get the water.

I'm sorry, Maverick. This muscled man that I can only get a tiny glimpse of that smells like hell is the one who's gonna kill me. A light-skinned black man with a really weird, black haircut.

All I end up seeing is black.