STEEL (The Aurum Trilogy Book 1)

Chapter 7

SEVEN

Jonathan

“Let’s move.” Lauren said in a flat and unusual tone. I watched her prop her elbows and try to get up. Her face was full of dirt and grime but her green eyes shone like a feline’s. Her dark brown hair was tangled all over and some pieces of her clothing were already torn and damaged. She stood up slowly and began to wince. She stumbled for a moment but tried to regain her balance. She walked in a slow pace and I realized that her ankle was throbbing.

“You’re injured.” I told her but she ignored me and kept on walking.

“Lauren, stop. You’re injured.” I repeated and she turned to face me. I looked at her straight in the eyes and I saw another version of her. This Lauren who was right in front of me was enraged, stiff, but at the same time, in pain, BETRAYED. “Your ankle’s sprained.”

“I don’t care!” she roared. “We need to get out of here, NOW.”

“And where would we go now, huh?” I asked her, rhetorically. “Nowhere is safe for the both of us.”

“I’ve got a plan!” she insisted, limping.

“We’ve got no plan, Lauren!”

She stopped and took a deep breath as she shut her eyes. “I know what to do, Jonathan.”

“No you don’t.” I paused, thinking of words to say. “You don’t know what to do, Lauren. You’re wounded, I can’t go back to Division One, we’re stuck in this wasteland, people think we’re dead, and most of all, we don’t know who to trust.” I reached for her shoulder in sympathy but she swatted my hand away.

“I’m still going.” She stubbornly persisted. “And if you don’t want to come, I’m not forcing you.”

“But I can’t just…” I stopped, not wanting to finish my sentence. Leave you, I mentally added.

“Can’t what?” she raised an eyebrow and set a foot forward. “Look, I don’t have time for this, Jonathan. If you don’t want to come with me, then don’t. If you insist in your so-called plan, then it’s fine with me. My business with you is through. I don’t care if you die out here in the open or if you get back safely to Division 1. I have more important things to take care of.” She walked away, limping.

A though in my head told me to let her go. Let her suffer the consequences for her being headstrong. But a small voice told me that I had to take care of her. She protected me to the point of death. I can’t let her get away like that. What if something bad happens to her?

I ran my fingers through my hair and disheveled it. God, she is so stubborn. I ran towards her and scooped her legs. She felt so light and fragile in my arms. I locked her arms and started walking.

“What do you think you’re doing, Jonathan?” she shrieked. “Put me down!”

“I’ll come with you as long as you don’t walk and you let me carry you on the way.” I grinned at her. Her lips were a flat line and her cheeks turned bright red. I realized that she was annoyed.

“Put me down or I’ll beat the crap out of you!”

“I’m not putting you down. You can’t walk in that condition.”

“Get. Me. Down!” she bellowed, managing to elbow me in the cheek.

“Ow,” I reacted, still not putting her down.

“Why do you even care?”

“’Cause I know you’d do the same.” I stopped, looking at her green eyes. “You won’t leave me behind, no matter how bad the situation is.”