Page 59 of Only You
‘We’ll find another shelter. We just need—’
‘No,’ Sarah cut off. ‘It won’t matter if you save me. Eventually, this horrible night will be forgotten, and everyone will move on like it never happened, as humans always do.’
‘Don’t say that,’ he commanded, his voice dipping to a dangerous timbre.
She looked at him curiously. Was he patriotic? He didn’t seem like the type, but she doubted she would have enough time to find out. ‘It’s true,’ she said. ‘Nothing is going to change.’
‘After all ofthis,’ he waved towards the window, ‘it has to. Humans survive and adapt.’
She sighed, her lids feeling heavy as she continued to half-heartedly press her hand to her wound. ‘Well, I don’t want to anymore.’
‘Fucking ungrateful,’ he murmured. ‘There are thousands of people out on the battlefields, trying to protect you! And—’
‘And what?’ she snapped, the anger she had suppressed all her life roaring up like a raging fire. ‘They go back home with chests puffed out, “saving the world” like they always have. Then they go back to hating the same people they hated before while we scrape by, hoping that our children’s children’s children will finally be treated with decency. Finally, not a lamb for the slaughter? Well, you know what? It’s tiring. It’s exhausting existing just to prove a point or change something that doesn’t want to be changed. Dying here, dying there – what does it matter? I’m sick of surviving a never-ending battle with the whole worldhating me.’
David’s face fell and a part of her felt a sick vindication that he knew she was right. After all, wasn’t the world falling apart for that very reason? Yet, as quickly as the satisfaction came, it swiftly left. A looming dread replaced it as she watched David search for the right words. She frowned, wondering if she hit too much of a nerve. She may not have any hope of surviving, but she didn’t want him to give up with her.
‘Can’t think of anything to say?’ she asked, sarcasm laced in her tone but not in her eyes.Fight with me, she asked silently.Keep going.
David stared at her before taking a deep breath through his nose. Before he could open his mouth to argue, the familiar sound of explosions filled the air. He jumped, covering her body with his own as the ground shook again. Sarah looked at him, could tell from his wide eyes that he was thinking the same thing.
The bombs were getting closer.
David put a finger to his lips before creeping towards the back of the house. He looked out the window, trying to spot something moving in the night sky. It was hard since there was no moon to provide light. Still, he strained his eyes until he saw something slowly traveling across the sky, too small to be a cloud. He heard shouting down the street and ducked away from the window. He shuffled back to the dining room where he left Sarah. He wondered if he would come back to a corpse or not. Logically, this would be the best time to die. All she had to do was loosen the knot and drift off.
He felt a moment of panic, slowing his steps, hoping that she wouldn’t leave him alone in this. War was hard enough already. He didn’t want to think about having to hide in a house with the body of a girl he had tried to save. He peered at her, her back facing him. Luckily, he saw her body move with each pained breath she took.
David hurried, crouching by her side. ‘It looks like the Zeppelin is a few streets over,’ he said, nervousness slipping into his tone. ‘The best we can do is try to shield ourselves—’
Another explosion shook the house and they both recoiled. Sarah wrapped her arms tightly around herself as David moved the wooden kitchen table, so it covered them. He heard her laugh weakly, when a shiver ran through her.
‘I’m cold,’ she said, surprised.
His eyes widened and he looked down at the bandage he had rewrapped around her abdomen earlier that night. It was soaked through with blood, meaning that the crude stitches he had sewn hadn’t lasted. He pressed his hand to her wound and she didn’t flinch. His breathing started to quicken as he looked around the bare kitchen. He couldn’t see anything that would stop the bleeding.
So, it is the end.
‘… You need to go.’
‘What?’ he asked. His eyes met hers, the electricity of all the things never said burning between them.
‘If you’re going to leave, then you need to go now.’
He knew she was right and that the window was only getting smaller. But leaving her alone, on the floor of a stranger’s house… he couldn’t make himself move to the door.
‘I told you, we’re in this together. I’m not leaving you by yourself,’ he said, his determination winning out against his instinct to survive. Still, her eyes dimmed, glazing over as he made his choice. ‘Then, lay next to me,’ she said softly.
‘Hold my hand until I go,’ she pleaded, her voice quivering with all the tears it was too late to shed.
He shook his head, tearing his gaze from her, but she gripped the arm of his shirt. ‘Stop—’
‘David,’ she cut off. ‘I–I can’t. I’m too tired.’
The silence after the explosion filled the space between them and he gritted his teeth before slipping from beneath the table and her grasp. He frantically opened the cabinets, looking for a sewing kit or cloth – anything that would help. When the kitchen came up empty, he ransacked the bedroom and bathroom but those were also bare. He covered his mouth, holding back a scream. The shouting outside continued, the words ‘take cover’ echoing as they travelled down the street.
His shoulders slumped in defeat. Time had run out. There was nothing left to do other than wait and pray. And he already knew where that would lead.
Heart heavy and tired, he went back to the table. He had only been gone a few minutes, but Sarah already looked smaller, curled up with tears falling out of her eyes. He took a shuddering breath, joining her on the ground, laying on his side. With his size, it was a bit awkward, but he managed and she shuffled closer until her knees touched his. He looked at her then and he could see the fear he felt in her eyes. She held out her hand. He took it, eyes lingering on their interlocked fingers.
