Overwrought

/ˌōvəˈrôt/

adjective

in a state of nervous excitement or anxiety

The feeling was like an elephant sitting on my chest, not moving off despite my utter, and obvious, discomfort. He is nowhere to be seen and the time since the announcement felt ages ago. Like the bombing should have already taken place, and I should be blown to smithorines. But nevertheless, I was still running the halls in search of the quiff haired boy, and I was running out of time.

I reached the children's hall and as I was about to run past it, ruling out the idea that he would be here, I heard a shrill scream from a room. Not just any room though, a beautifully colored princess doored room. It was Riley.

My insides turned to mush as I sprinted down the hallway. Suddenly my priorities had shifted from the nameless boy to the little girl that once asked to call me 'sissy.' I arrived at her room and tried to open the door, but the knob was locked and the handle wouldn't move a bit.

Another scream came out of the room and a sob raked through the child's throat as I kept trying to open the door. My mind was moving a thousand miles a minute as I made a rational, yet completely stupid, decision. My foot connected with the wooden door and moments later it was splintering to the ground and I was running inside to find the brunette girl curled on her bed, crying her eyes out.

Her head lifted from in between her legs to look at who was at the door. When her eyes met mine she visibly calmed down and removed herself from the previous fetal position she was in. My legs carried me over to her small figure and I wrapped my arms around her petite body, holding her against me.

"Sissy?" her mumbles softly fell into my neck as I held her to my chest.

"I'm here sweetie," I reassured her, kissing her head gently. "C'mon, let's get to the bunker."

"Where's Ashy?" she asked, a yawn emitting from her mouth and her eyes almost closing completely.

"I don't know, but we'll find out soon," I mumbled into her hair.

"Love you Lissy."

Despite the dangers coming, my heart swelled with happiness at her soft words. I kissed her head once more and told her that I loved her too before she fell asleep in my arms.

I continued walking to the stairs briskly, protectiveness of the little child filling my body. All was well until I heard planes over our heads and above the concrete. That's when I began running, not looking back at the halls I was leaving.

Luke's POV

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"What do you mean she's not here?!?" I yelled at Michael who was trying not to make eye contact with me.

"L-"

I cut him off before he could begin his sentence. "You were supposed to watch her!" I continued screaming, pacing the room, anxious as to where she was and what she was thinking at the moment. "Where is she even? Or do you not know that?!?!"

"Looking for you," he mumbled so I couldn't hear, but I do.

"What?!!?!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, the vein in my neck surely popping out in aggravation. My heart was pounding in my chest as I felt like my body would collapse due to this stress.

"I tried to get her into the bunker, but she's out looking for you!" he yelled right back into my face.

I rubbed a hand over my face. She was outside the bunker, who knows where, trying to find a person who wasn't even out there. Worst of all, it was all my fault.

"I'm going out," I said, rising from my seat on the mattress. Guilt was coursing through my veins as I made my way over to the door. Melissa didn't even know where the bunker was in the first place. How could she and Michael be so stupid to let her out there?

"You can't-"

"Don't you dare tell me what I can and can't do. I'm finding her, and you won't stop me," I said, getting in his face with a fierce glint in my eye. Despite my personally denial, I had intense feelings for Melissa and there was no way she would die today.

There was no way I was letting her die trying to 'save' me.

"What am I supposed to tell Bob, huh?" Michael shoved me slightly, growing agitated at my 'childish' behavior.

"That you didn't bring the girl who is supposed to decipher the code down to the bomb bunker?" I snarkily remarked, getting ready to exit the sealed door.

"You do know that you aren't getting back in once the bombs start going off, right?" he asked me, making sure I know what I'm getting into before I risk my life for Lissa.

"I realize that. Now let me out," I spat at him angrily. It took all the strength in me not to pounce on him as he opens the door as slow as possible.

"Stay safe," he called as the door closes.

It closed with a thud as the concrete barriers meet each other and collide against each others surfaces. I'm left in the middle of the bottom level, alone, to find one girl before the bombing starts.

Where is she?

Melissa's POV

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Riley's weight was almost crushing me as I traveled the grey walled halls. They all looked the same, but I was determined to find one of two places. One was a stairwell and the other was the file room. Although the nameless boy told me to stay out of it, in my mind it would be one of the safest places I could be during the bombing. That was their information center. Therefore, it probably had as much or a little less protection than the bunker.

As I continued to run with the light girl on my back, my lungs felt like they were about to collapse. My ribs felt like they were about to break and puncture my arteries or heart, but I didn't let up on my speed. It was either this, or disintegrate from the bombs about to be dropped, and I didn't have a keen interest on finding out how barbeque felt when it was cooked.

Riley's head bobbed on my shoulder, but I didn't mind and neither did she as she would wake up from her rest. I felt bad for her, being left behind by everyone who was running to the bunker. But her question still rang in my ears, 'Where's Ashy?' If she didn't know where her brother was, how could he know where she was. He probably didn't know that little Riley didn't make it to the bunker, and that she was being carried by myself there now.

I stopped running when I hear the ceiling shake for the third time. The bombing had started, and I had no clue where we were. I sat Riley on the ground and moved her unconscious body against the cold concrete in a fetal position, keeping her head and heart safe. Then I started placing supplies scattered on the floor together to gather the attention of people when this is over. I stack a few backpacks on top of each other around us, forming a sort of barrier.

There was nothing else I could do as I put my body over Riley's to protect her from the impact soon to come from the ceiling and collapsing walls. My lips pressed a kiss into her hair as my lips whispered an apology that she wouldn't hear into her ear. I closed my eyes, waiting for the next explosion, but it never came. Instead I heard a voice in the distance yelling my name.

My eyes fluttered open, wondering if this is real, but it proves to be as the familiar boy runs to where the backpacks are stacked and looked down at my body covering Riley's from the impact. His eyes turned from a cold stare to a concerned gaze. My body is shaken slightly by his rough, calloused hand to wake me from my silent reverie.

"Am I alive?" I asked him lightly, only enough for him to hear.

"Yes, but if you stay here you may not be for long," he said, laughing at me slightly before offering me his hand and pulling me up.

Luke's POV

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I saw her blue eyes staring up at me and something clicked inside of me. She could have died, trying to save me. Yes, I had realized that previously, but seeing her small frame covering an infant sized one brought the point closer to home than it had been.

My gaze fixed on the body below hers, at first confused but then I saw the curly brown locks that were irreplaceable. Riley. She found Riley, and was willing to die so the little girl had a better survival chance.

"Am I alive?" she asked quietly, barely enough for me to hear, in her sweet morning voice.

I laughed lightly at the stupidity and simplicity of her question before answering.

"Yes, but if you stay here you may not be for long," I sarcastically joked, extending my hand so she could grasp it and be pulled up from the ground.

When she was up from the ground, I began kicking the backpacks down as she grabs the one next to their 'camp' spot and Riley placing her on her hip and looking at me for instructions.

"We need to get to the ground level," I shouted over the now constant explosions outside.

She nodded her head, and we were off. I knew they wouldn't let us into the bunker. It was to risky to let anyone into the bunker after the bombing started. But I didn't want Riley to have to experience a bombing outside of the only shelter available.

My hands extend toward Riley and take her from Melissa, picking up the pace to a sprint. Melissa's tired state didn't help much as we descended floor after floor of stairs. She looked like she just wanted to pass out, but she stayed awake, which was all I could ask for.

"Lissa, stay with me," I constantly shout over my shoulder, keeping her awake. Usually all I would get would be a mumble or a 'mmhmm,' but that was all I needed. To keep her awake. The thought of a concussion crept into my head as I realized how much rubble had been surrounding them. My heart dropped at the thought as my looks behind me became more frequent.

We reached the bottom floor and set down our supplies, forming a bed for Riley out of all of them. We set the little munchkin down, and then decided to lay out separate blankets for us to lay on ourselves.

"Quiffs?" she sleepily asked. I had determined that she was only tired and didn't have a concussion after she traveled down three flights of stares without stumbling or falling; therefore, making it alright for her to be falling into a deep sleep now.

"What?" I responded back gently, trying to hold back a laugh. She looked cute with dark circles around her eyes and her arms wrapped protectively around Riley, but all I could think about was how those same arms could be wrapped around me and her body cuddling into mine.

'Snap out of it!' I yelled at myself as I realized what I had been thinking.

"I promised myself I would find out one thing for risking my life for you," she stifled out before a yawn.

"And what is that," I asked cheekily, staring at her longer than I probably should.

"Your name," she muttered tiredly.

I moved my blanket over, behind her and Riley, and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her close to me. My lips left delicate kisses in her hair as she snuggled into my body, but her arms remained around the little girl.

"Luke," I said simply, staring down at the two most important women of my life.

"What?" she asked, clearly not expecting my answer.

"My name, it's Luke," I told her again. We were silent and the only sound audible is the bombs going off, but I knew we were safe down here.

I slowly drifted off to sleep, my hands staying around her waist and lips pressing against her ears, cheek, and nose whenever I pleased as my mind constantly reminded me of my inability to care for this beautiful girl in my arms. That fact broke my heart into thousands of pieces as I realized how truly damaged I was.

Edited: 16 October 2016