The Starling Vigilante [Watty's 2015 Award Winner]

Chapter 70

'Why are you so annoyed at Peter?' Sara took me to one side. 'We're going to do what we always dreamed of on the freighter- we're going home!'

'I just, I can't believe he wants to just throw his life away like that,' I said sadly. 'It makes me frustrated how someone can just... do that. I don't want him to die!'

'Like he said, he's already dead,' Sara repeated, trying to make me accept Peter's sacrifice.

'But you didn't know him like I did!' I exclaimed. 'He was the one who helped me to survive at the start, when I was shipwrecked on this island.'

'You can't change this, Aria,' Sara told me. 'He won't change his mind, either.'

'Peter,' I called to get his attention as Sara left to talk to Oliver.

'Aria?' He replied, sensing my fear. 'What-what is it?

'It's you,' I said quietly. 'You were the person who I could count on, who stopped Hendrick from nearly killing me, right at the start when you found me, and who helped me live through the island. I don't know how to tell you how much I'm going to miss you, Peter.'

'At least you'll be able to get back home,' Peter said as he hugged me. 'To your boyfriend, what was his name again? Tommy?'

'You remembered, after all this time?' I cried happily, pleasingly astonished. 'You've done so much for me, and I never really got to return the favour. I never did anything for you.'

'You did,' Peter smiled. 'You saved us all from that boat. You came straight for me, and took a dose of that fake Mirakuru, all for me.'

'I couldn't let you die there,' I shook my head. 'But now, you're dying here.'

I started crying again, Peter's eyes becoming teary.

He was brave. Braver than I could ever be.

---

'You can't stay here,' Oliver whispered to me as Sara said her last goodbyes to Peter.

'Why?' I whispered back, confused.

I wanted to stay with Peter until the end, even if it meant me not getting out alive.

'I need you and Sara to be safe,' Oliver told me, handing me a radio transmitter.

'But, what about you?' I asked.

'I'll be fine,' Oliver smiled. 'We will find you both when its over.'

'But, I can't just leave my friend, who's about to launch himself in a torpedo, until he's gone!' I protested, shaking my head. 'It's not fair!'

'It's not fair if you die either!' Oliver exclaimed in a hushed voice. 'I don't know if we'll make it out in time. You need to be with Sara. Watch out for her. For me.'

'Okay,' I agreed after a while of deliberation. 'Do you want me to tell Sara?'

'No, I will,' Oliver said, wanting to tell her himself. 'It'll be better to tell her last minute so she doesn't get all worked up about it.'