Page 85 of Leave Me Behind
Bradshaw sets me down and covers us with foliage. He bends down next to me. He looks tired, but I know we won’t be resting for long. We have to keep moving.
“How are you feeling?” Bradshaw whispers, checking each injury to make sure they haven’t bled through the bandages again. The one that throbs the most is the gash in my forearm. Without medical attention, I’m not sure how long I can keep going before the meds stop working. Bradshaw’s patch job probably won’t hold longer than a few days.
I let my head fall back against the rock we’re up against. “Like shit, but I’ll manage.”
He nods. “Two hours of rest and then we need to move,” he says sternly, but his body must be weary because he lets his shoulder connect with mine. His head eventually meetsmy forehead before I start to doze off. He threads his fingers through mine and whispers, “I’m so sorry, Bun. I should have been by your side in that fight. I’m so fucking sorry.” His thumb brushes mine soothingly.
If anyone can do this, it’s us.
I hold onto those thoughts long after I fall asleep and long after I wake up. I think about it as we walk fifteen kilometers north through rain and freezing winds. We don’t talk as we move; we only keep our hands on our guns and listen for any foreign sounds.
I watch Bradshaw move through the rocky terrain with ease, his muscles flexing with each step. Jenkins’s voice rolls like smoke through my memories.
“Careful who you let hold your heart, Gallows. There are wolves out there. You know the saying, right? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, I’ll bury you.”
I stared at him like some love-sick pup.
He only laughed and pressed his hand to my cheek. “I know you’d never let me down. But you need to remember this for those you let close to you. Make sure they know it.”
Bradshaw has fooled me twice. I’m still not sure what I want to do about it.
He stops and turns to look back at me. His goggles are up on his helmet and all I get are his icy eyes. “We’re getting close to the last bunker. I don’t know what’s waiting there, but we need to stake out and watch until nightfall. We’ll move out once we’re sure no one is flanking us.”
I nod and he lifts a brow at me.
“No arguing?” he taunts.
My eyes narrow. “You’re in charge, Bones.” A self-satisfied expression extends over his face.
“That must’ve felt like shit to admit.”
I smack his arm and he laughs. “Don’t make me eat those words.”
He seems to be in a good mood for our circumstances and I can’t help but let the energy seep into myself too. The drugs help, but his smile goes deeper.
“Think you can call mesirfrom now on too?”
“Whatever you’d like, sir.” I don’t miss a beat. He grins and is about to fire off something else to ruffle my feathers when an explosion brings us to our knees.
My eyes snap up to the bunker a quarter-klick away. Fire plumes from the underground quarters and shakes the earth with aftershocks. Bradshaw stands and rushes for the bunker.
“Bones!” I shout, voice raspy from the smoke already invading my throat.
He doesn’t listen to me and continues to run toward the fire.Fuck. He’s probably worried Eren was in there.My eyes lift to the sky to make sure it wasn’t a grenadier. There’s no trail from a launcher, so I rule that out. It seems too convenient to be an accident.
I stand and chase after Bradshaw, keeping my eyes on the forest wall surrounding the meadow and becoming keenly aware when I enter the burning debris how much easier it is for them to see me rather than the other way around.
Bradshaw kneels near the bunker. The flames are no longer licking out from the blown-off hatch, but the fire still burns below. I grab his shoulder with one hand and squeeze.
“We need to get out of the open.Now,”I hiss at him.
He stares into the inferno below like it’s hell’s gates before he looks at me. “I don’t smell burning flesh.” His voice carries more relief than I thought I’d ever hear from him.
I nod. “Good. Let’s go.”
Bradshaw’s eyes widen just as he’s about to stand and he shoves me down. My back falls against the smoldering ashes ashe takes a bullet to the chest. Another bullet flies and takes a piece of his left ear. He staggers back before lifting his M16 and firing off a few rounds above me. My chin tips up and I watch as a soldier jerks back from the bullets and falls to the side. Four more soldiers flank him and Bradshaw doesn’t waste a second. He forces me to my feet and we run for the cover of the trees.
“Are you okay?” I assess his chest.
