Page 33 of Leave Me Behind
The three of them nod simultaneously.
“He wasn’t the same after that. A part of Bones died with Abrahm that night. And a darkness was born in his heart,” Harrison explains. My stomach sinks hearing those words.
“You guys still think it’s Riøt’s fault.Bonesthinks it’s Riøt’s fault.” My voice is stern and cold.
Jefferson scratches his chin and looks at me like all his demons are waking up again. “No one can back up your ‘we received different orders’ story, bun-bun. All we know is that you never showed up.”
I fist my hands over my knees. “You guys were supposed to get updated orders too.” My eyes flick suspiciously to Ian. As the signaler, he should’ve been the one in contact with the air power.
Harrison takes a bite from his cracker and says through mouthfuls, “Well, at least we could hold our own. We only lost one soldier that night.”
I lost everyone.
A part of me died when my squad was extinguished.It was my fault.My smile left and so did any morals I had left.
“How about you, Bunny? Are youfineafter losing your whole squad?” Ian asks as he leans against his bandaged palm. The firelight illuminates his brown eyes. It’s a cruel question.
The three of them watch me carefully. Unfortunately, it’s a question I’ve answered more than I care to. The sting has been robbed from the words.
I stare at embers pulsing beneath the logs. “I’m not the same either. I don’t think any functional person could be.”
Harrison throws another block of wood into the fire and pries, “Sooo, what happened?”
Jefferson punches his arm.
“Ow, what? I want to hear it from the only survivor. She’s like a legend now.”
“It’s okay. I don’t mind talking about it.”
I thread my fingers together and let my hands dangle between my legs. They sit straighter, perking to listen intently.
“As you know, we were supposed to converge in Patagonia a few klicks south of the drop-off. We knew it was dangerous. But we didn’t anticipate the ambush that was waiting for us on the extraction route. We had instructions to stay put on the road until Malum showed up. The bombs came so suddenly and were so bright… We were blinded by them before the explosions blew our Humvees off the road.” I swallow as the shouting and taste of iron that hollowed my throat that day roll back through me. Tremors planted in the deepest parts of my marrow awaken.
“Shit.” Harrison breathes out, eyes hardening.
I nod and continue: “The first truck got the worst of it. The four of them died instantly in the first missile strike. Our vehicle flipped from the explosion and I—” My hands tremble as they always do when I think of the horrors we faced that day. I bring them to my sides, clutching my stomach in an attempt to comfort myself. “I pulled Sergeant Jenkins from the driver’s seat and dragged him twenty feet away from the vehicle. Two of my comrades engaged in a shootout with the incoming hostiles. They protected us until we got to safety. There was so much blood… I knew I should’ve gone back to help them sooner, but I had to get Jenkins as far as I could. He was my commanding sergeant. I was his second. I couldn’t leave him.”
Their grim expressions hold misery. They already know how this story ends, but it still sucks to hear how it all unfolded.
“I set him down once we were far enough, but when I stood up to help my squadmates, the second wave hit directly on them and the shockwaves blew me back.”
My throat grows thick with emotion.
“It knocked me out and I didn’t wake for several minutes. By the time I was aware of my surroundings, Jenkins had draggedme into the cover of the nearby trees. He had already lost so much blood and if it wasn’t for me, he’d—” I flex my jaw and bite my lower lip to quell my bleeding heart.
My mind whirls as I picture his face perfectly—the last weak smile he gave, the way it made all his sharp features seem so soft and gentle, the soft caress of his calloused thumb over my bloody cheek. His words.
“You’re going to be okay, Nell.” He pushed me away from his slumped body, the tree stained red with his blood. I stood shakily, shocked that a man I knew as invincible could look so broken. “Leave me behind. You can still live. Get as far away as you can, escape the dark forces, Gallows. Be free.”
The wood in the firepit shifts and the crackle snaps me back into the present. I blink twice and look up, startled for a moment. Pete and Eren joined the circle at some point and they stare at me like I’m a wounded puppy.
I press my palm to my forehead and sigh. “Fuck. Sorry.”
They remain quiet, a knowing look of loss spreads over their faces. Eren looks particularly bothered but his eyes aren’t on me, they’re set on something behind me. I follow his line of sight and glance over my shoulder. I’m met with a black tactical vest covered in dirt, much the same way mine looks. My eyes move up slowly to his face.
Bradshaw looks like a ghost. The sliver of skin his mask reveals is smeared with dirt and his eyes are hazy like he’s not present. He stares down at me, but there’s a hollowness where his usual ire lives.
“Br—” I bite my tongue with the slip up before clearing my throat. “Bones?” I reach out my hand to his wrist. He doesn’t move. His expression remains completely blank. He knows now. He knows I left Jenkins behind in battle.
