Page 3 of Crew
Cross laughed, but shook his head. "I'll wait for the good liquor there. Ryerson always has something."
"Yeah! That's what it's about." Zellman finished his beer and reached into the cooler for a second. "Jordan?"
"I gotta drive." He glanced to me. "Ride home?"
I looked over to where the guy still lay on the ground. He hadn't moved.
I shook my head. "Think I'll walk. I can cut through the trees."
"You sure?"
Cross moved around us, clapping Jordan on the shoulder. "Let's go. Bren can take care of herself." He glanced back to me, circling around the front of the truck to get into the passenger side. He knew I wanted to be on my own tonight. He knew it because he could feel it. Just like I could almost hear his thoughts now.
She always has.
I finished in my own head, Always will.
Cross' statement seemed to settle the other guys, and Jordan started the truck. He circled around me, kicking up a cloud of dust, and zoomed back down the way we'd come. He saluted me with a finger as he passed by. Zellman had settled into the bed, sitting by the cooler, and he held up his beer as his goodbye.
I shook my head, the smallest hint of a smile tugging at my mouth, but that was all the reaction they got.
Once they were gone, it was just me, the bloodied guy, and the same dark quiet I'd felt earlier.
It came out of nowhere at times, swallowing me whole. Some days it would vanish just as quickly. Other times, like tonight, it lingered.
It used to scare me. I now missed it when it wasn't here, but I always knew it would move on. It was like a firefly slipping away into the night. When that happened, I was left with the feeling that I'd let something slip through my fingers.
This night, that firefly remained.
It warmed me.
The dirt crunched under my shoes as I headed for the guy.
He wasn't unconscious, like he'd been playing. At my approach, one eye opened, and I saw panic flare there. He tried to get away, but couldn't. His injuries were too much.
I sat next to him, fishing out my phone. "Stop." He was still trying to get away, but it was only adding to his injuries. "I'm not going to hurt you."
A gargled groan came from him.
I shook my head. "Trying to talk is useless. Save your energy." I waved my phone at him. "We're in the middle of nowhere."
Jordan liked to bring his victims to this part of town for that reason. It was a small alcove at the top of a hill. The street ended up here, and there were only trees surrounding us.
The guy quieted, watching me with that same panicked eye.
"I'm going to call for an ambulance. I'm going to give them your name, and then I'm going to sit here with you until they come. If you turn me in..." I let the threat hang between us.
Guilt flashed in his eyes. He knew what would happen.
I dialed 9-1-1 and sat with him.
This scene should've bothered me: a guy who could barely move and was bleeding out beside me. The silence in the woods around us. The fact that he was like this because of my group. But it didn't.
Now that the guys were gone, the firefly lingered beside me, keeping me company.
I closed my eyes, my insides matching the outside.
I felt one with the darkness.
