Page 59 of Leave Me Behind
My head turns his way and I wait for him to say something, because it’s sort of weird that he’s here. They’ve been assholes this entire time.Nowhe wants to be friends? Jefferson’s lightbrown hair is freshly wet and his clothes are casual. I guess the rest of the squad went straight to the showers when we got here.
“I have to admit, that was the shortest recon training I’ve ever been on.” His voice is genuine, which piques my interest more. He rubs the back of his neck. “You didn’t even hesitate when it came to taking us down. Here I was worried I wouldn’t be able to pull the trigger if I ran into you.”
My head returns to my shoulder. “Does that scare you? That aRiøtcould turn so easily?” His eyes dull and he frowns. “The replacement marksman was easy to pick off. He’d be dead in a heartbeat against someone like me. His camouflage was off from his selected location and he wasn’t even trying to seek me out. You’d all be dead if this were a real mission.” My shoulders tense as I consider that my words might come off as a threat. Fuck them. They deserved what they got for all the hazing. But I find a smug grin reflecting in Jefferson’s soft brown eyes when I look at him.
“Yeah, that’s an understatement, Bunny. You’re fucking scary.”
A foreign smile grows across my lips, born of belonging and finally feeling like they’ll take me in.
“I’d hate to be on the side you’re not on,” he says with a low tone and a hint of a laugh.
“So you guys are done being assholes then?”
Jefferson narrows his eyes at me playfully. “Hmm. Probably not.” We share a laugh and the door to the med bay opens a moment after.
Eren’s eyes find us immediately. He’s still covered in dirt like I am and he looks completely spent. He stares at us for a moment before deciding to engage with us. “Jefferson, what brings you here?” he asks. It seems obvious to me why he’s here, same as me, to make sure Bradshaw is okay.
Jefferson lifts his shoulder and mutters, “Just thought I’d swing by to check in on you two. Well, three, I guess.” He shoots me an apologetic grin for forgetting me.
The sergeant’s eyes are empty, but he nods. “You can head back to your barracks, Jobs. Bunny and I will be heading back to our quarters as well.” I share a curious look with Jefferson. Did they get in an argument or something? Eren seems so dismissive with him right now.
I watch Jefferson as he walks down the hall back to the barracks.
“Let’s go,” Eren says under his breath.
I spare a glance back at the med bay doors. “But what about Bones? Is he okay?” My voice lowers as I say the latter. I shouldn’t care so much about his condition, but I do. Something was off.
Eren stops walking and looks over his shoulder at me. His features are grim and his eyelids are rimmed with shades of red. The happiness he usually shows the world is gone. I wonder if it was ever truly there to begin with.
“Is something wrong?” I ask more urgently. Something has changed since we arrived. I can feel it even in his posture.
He blows out a breath and smiles, but I can tell it’s forced. “No. Of course not. Come on, Bunny, we can talk more in our room.” Eren resumes his steady stride and I follow in his wake, silently thinking of a hundred different things that might be wrong. Then something sticks. Eren gave me a horrified look when he saw me holding Bradshaw earlier. Why? Is that why he’s acting so off?
I hold my tongue until we step foot into the dark cement room with our two lonesome beds. My hands meet at the small of my back and I wait until Eren steps to the side of his bed and starts unzipping his bullet proof vest.
It’s him who speaks first. “You know, I thought I saw weakness in my brother when he was partnered with Abrahm.” He shifts his eyes up to mine and his hand stills at the end of his vest. “But I saw raw vulnerability in him today.” He shakes his head and presses his palm to his eye, to quell a headache perhaps.
I sit at the edge of my bed, facing him. “Is there something wrong with him being human?” I ask impassively. This side of Eren is distasteful. The words themselves are not so awful, but the tone behind them and the way he’s acting tells me otherwise.
Eren scoffs and glares at me. It’s much more sinister than it should be. The hairs on the back of my neck rise.
“Yes. He is the only one who doesn’t have the luxury of beinghuman.He’s a heartless killing machine that we need on this next mission. You need to focus on your position on the squad, Bunny. No more messing around. Got it?” Eren is using his sergeant voice and his hostile eyes portray just as much.
My brows knit together as I hesitantly nod.Something is definitely wrong.
“Say it,” he commands.
“Yes, Sergeant.”
twenty-three
. . .
Nell
An entire weekof boring drills and briefings passes before I get to see Bradshaw again. Eren told the squad that Bones is undergoing special training on his own in preparation for our departure, but the squad seemed to have a different idea on what he was really doing.
During one of the five a.m. drill runs around the base, I overheard Pete whispering to Ian that it was weird that Bones’s second wasn’t in “special training” with him. I thought about it for the rest of the day. A dark feeling ebbed in my chest.Is Eren keeping us apart on purpose?
