Page 69 of Leave Me Behind
Ash fallslike snow from the burning trees around us, embers flare and twist with each gust of wind. My head throbs and thoughts are scattered. My arms and wrists hurt too.
Explosions shake the earth from a quarter klick or so away. An airstrike? Who are the Ghosts that they have this much airpower in the remote mountains of Labrador? I cough a few times and black soot spills out. How long was I unconscious for?
As my head comes back to me, I realize there is a weight on my back. I try to force my arms beneath me and push myself up, but they won’t move. My eyes widen and panic seeps into my veins.
I try again, this time noticing the bindings around my wrists.
“You’re going to hurt yourself,” Bradshaw says callously. He’s draped over me, arms braced over my shoulders. He was protecting me from the explosions with his body, but tied me up while I was out? Cold.
He slowly shifts so he’s lying beside me. His mask is still secure around his face, soot smeared over his eyelids. The back of his gear is burned and dried blood makes his black vest look maroon.
“Bones,” I whisper, my throat stinging instantly.
He doesn’t respond for a moment, just stares at me, wincing with each breath he takes.
He’s a fucking idiot if he can’t see what Ian was. My teeth grind as I think about how he pulled me off that hostile soldier and tried to cut my throat. I knew he was talking to someone else other than Jefferson.
Unfortunately, I doubt Malum will believe me.
My lungs burn and worry seeps into me at the weakness in Bradshaw’s demeanor. He bound my wrists and if he isn’t alert he’ll get us both killed. “Bones,” I hiss louder this time and flex my jaw at the pain that greets my throat.
He refocuses and a rush of relief floods through me. He lifts his head slowly. His body trembles to support the effort but he looks up into my eyes.
“Nell—” He groans out in pain as he says my name, then corrects himself. “Bunny. Where’s—ergh, where’s Eren?” He shifts to his back and splays out his arms, checking for damage.
I sit up and take a moment to check in with my own wounds. My back aches and my toes are numb. My wrists sting from being bound but they aren’t broken. No burns. From the look of him, he looks unscathed as well. We were lucky.
“Bones, you need to untie me?—”
“Stop.” He cuts me off. His eyes are cold and more steady now. “Where is Eren?” I regard him for a few moments before shaking my head.
“I don’t know.”
His left eye is bloodshot and the corner of his mask is singed just over the edge of his lips. The breaths he takes are ragged and congested.
“Fuck. Fuck.Fuck—” Bradshaw curses repeatedly as he pulls off his headset radio. The receiver is smashed. My eyes widen as he checks mine too. It’s useless, the mic snapped off at some point in the chaos.
Bradshaw stares at the broken headsets and a flicker of dread flashes across his eyes. He pushes himself to his knees, wobbly and unstable, before another wave of explosions rumbles over the ground. One lands relatively close and strikes fallen trees. Wood splinters in every direction. I manage to shield my head, ducking it into my shoulder before the worst of it hits us. Bradshaw is already lying back over me, his back toward the blast zone.
This close, his breath is loud and hot against my skin. I can taste the blood in the air as it mixes with the smoke and debris.
“Stay down,” he says, mask pressed to my ear.
I groan at the pain his weight puts on my shoulders. “At least bind my wrists in front of me. It hurts.” He gives me a skeptical look before conceding. He unties me briefly before retying the rope with my arms in front. The pain eases almost instantaneously.
He shifts up and quickly looks around. “Get up, we need to find the others.” We limp back in their direction. He keeps hold on the rope leash connected to my bindings as we trudge through the forest, alight now with multiple fires burning. Thank God for the downpour earlier or the fire would be running rampant through this area. Everything’s so wet and the air is frigid, so a wildfire is unlikely.
Ash falls and smoke rises. The visibility is harrowing and as Bradshaw slows, I fear the worst. My footsteps cease beside himand we stare down at three bodies. My stomach sinks.Please tell me those aren’t our squadmates.
Bradshaw dips to his knee beside them and blows out a relieved breath. “It’s not our comrades.” My shoulders relax and I’ve never been so grateful for a sliver of mercy.
A headset crackles; I barely hear it but the electric sound whines in my ear and draws my attention. I look down and find one of Malum’s radios. It must have been knocked off one of them during the assault.
Bradshaw looks at me and takes the headset from my hands. I glower at him.
It crackles again. “Sergeant, come in.” Bradshaw’s voice is raspy and dry. He listens intently. I can barely make out the other voice but it sounds like Eren. As the voice continues to speak, I watch Bradshaw’s eyes grow darker and duller. He turns his eyes on me and a coldness I’d not yet known settles over him.
“Colt is gone,” he says painfully.
