Emotionless »« Newt

THIRTEEN

The explosions seem to break out everywhere, sudden and burning, and Newt whirls around to Leandra, only to see she's gone. Immediately he panics. "LEANDRA!" That's when he notices a flash of blonde hair rushing down the mountain, and his eyes go wide before he rushes down after her as fast as his legs can possibly take him.

The explosions are so close it seems to singe the hair on Leandra's arms before she pulls her sleeves down roughly, eyes frantically darting around as she searches for familiar faces, anyone she knows. She needs to make sure they're alright, she can't lose them again.

The fear of the people around her seem to overcome her, leaving her senses muffled and drained, and it only seems to amplify when figures in black uniforms and masks jump down from the berg hovering in the air, electric suppressions shooting out of their guns, knocking targets to the ground, paralysed. Her breaths are heavy, drugged, but immediately she reaches for her belt and pulls a gun out of her pocket, hidden under the hem of her loose shirt, and immediately plants her feet in the ground as she aims.

"LEAH!" another voice yells, and Andi recognises it all too well. Harriet's eyes are wild as she beckons for the girl, near some sort of platform with a huge gun on it, and Leandra doesn't hesitate in rushing over to where Harry and Vince are, shooting soldiers the moment she gets there.

Each bullet that makes contact hurts her, but all the conflicting emotions of people seem to nearly drown it out. Hate, fear, adrenaline, determination, amusement, curiosity, anger, all of it is a cacophony pressing on on all sides of her head like a clamp, but the only thing she knows she can do is grit her teeth and bear it. It's the only thing she can do, the thing she's been doing all her life.

Suddenly something touches her arm and she panics, whirling around, fully prepared to strike them across the head with the butt of her gun when her eyes meet flashed dark brown ones and she gasps. "You dumbass!"

"You disappeared!" Newt yells back, immediately reaching for a gun as Harriet calls for all the boys to cover her and Vince, all of them shooting while the other two try preparing the fifty. "Literally, right as we were talking about–"

"Are we going to do this now? Really?" Leandra's breaths are heavy with every shot, and Newt can only imagine how it's hurting her. But they don't have time to dwell on it, their minds hyperactive, haywire with the chaos around them.

"SHIT!"

Vince's yell and the spike of panic nearly makes Leandra's finger miss the trigger entirely, but suddenly there's a different kind of pain that emanates within her, almost like being her muscles are on fire. It seems to last for only a moment, then she can't feel anything at all.

She comes back to just a few seconds later, pain still in her body, but not as intense as it was before. There's a harsh ringing in her ears and she shakes her head slightly, only to realise there's something rough gripping her before she's dumped onto her knees on the dying grass.

Andi hisses in pain, struggling to gain a hold of her senses, but something skims her arm. "You okay?"

Leandra doesn't dare glance at Newt beside her, not drawing attention to the fact he just spoke in case he's punished, but just murmurs out of the corner of her mouth, "No. You?"

"No."

"Good. I'd be worried if you were."

"I'm worried anyway."

"I know. Me too."

They're not sure who moves first, but suddenly they've shifted only enough to intertwine their fingers with a fierceness, held behind their backs and out of sight, but enough to give them both at least a little bit of comfort. Their fingers hurt from the effort, muscles still aching, but they don't let go.