Subterra Heart

Chapter 27: Marina Ritty

The hallway was bustling. Voices ricocheted off the walls, clamoring against each other until their words were completely unintelligible. A crush of moving bodies heated the hall. Enough time must have passed for the shifts to switch, and now Marina was bumping shoulders with countless people as she struggled to keep pace with Connor. Her heels were proving an utter hindrance here. There was a cold knot in her core, and she kept clenching her jaw.

Most people were entirely focused on getting to their destinations – typically, home or work. Occasionally, however, Marina would see someone who'd gotten a good look at Connor. They'd stare at him and hurry away. She wasn't surprised, really. He did look terrible. His grey jumpsuit was burnt, and the sleeves that he'd tied around his waist were quite torn up. His burned hands were bandaged up now, but a massive black-and-purple bruise stretched across the shoulder that Marina had relocated for him. Dried blood still the side of his face. He looked and smelled like death.

"Will we need to take a transport?" she called after him. Connor shook his head and pressed on. His footing was a bit shaky. Marina should have made him take his parlin back at the pharmacy, but the silly man had refused to ask for it. She gnawed at the inside of her lip. How long had he gone without it?

Through one hallway and out another, they went. Marina's heels clicked against green-and-white tiled floors. She focused on the sound of them. It lay underneath the hubbub of the halls. Click, clack, click, clack. Her heart kept up with the rhythm of her footsteps. It was pumping loudly in her ears. With each passing moment, she found it harder and harder to keep up a stern façade. Tess was hurt. Tess was outside of Heart. She quickened her pace, following Connor down a spiral set of stairs that spilled out next to the Reservoir.

They took a path leading straight into the Forest. Dappled yellow light fell across the dirt path, fringed with tall grasses and thorny raspberry bushes. It was still early morning, but the overhead lights were now fully on. Marina barely took notice of this as she struggled to catch up with Connor. Her heels kept sinking into the ground. More than once, she caught dirty glares from couples on the path when Connor brushed roughly past them. He was walking fast, but unevenly. The box of bandages dug into Marina's hip. She suspected it would leave a bruise.

"Connor!" she finally barked, "Slow down!"

And then he stopped. They were at a crossroads that Marina didn't recognize. Connor glanced around, bouncing on the soles of his feet until Marina caught up. He grabbed her wrist and yanked her towards a fork to the right, but Marina shook him off.

"Will you wait for just one moment?" she cried. Connor shot her an exasperated glare, and Marina glared right back. Yes, perhaps he was right to move quickly. Her heart was ready to beat right out of her chest, and her hands shook in fear for Tess. However, her heels were just slowing her down, and she could see that Connor could barely stand up straight. The man was swaying like a sapling, for goodness sake!

Marina promptly kicked off her heels and set them in the box at her hip. Then, she dug around in the box for a moment until her fingers closed around a small glass vial. She pulled it out and pressed it into Connor's hand.

"Take this," she ordered. "Otherwise, at this rate you will be utterly useless in a matter of minutes."

Connor stared at the vial of blood-red parlin for a moment. Marina pursed her lips. She was tired of him trying to skimp on his medication.

"Now!" she barked. "We haven't got all day."

Connor looked up.

"Thanks," he grunted, before downing his meds. Marina watched him and shifted the box against her hip. It was heavier now with her shoes in it, but only slightly.

"And these too," she said, pulling out a bottle of antibiotics. Connor still hadn't told her how long he'd had those cuts and burns, but he had a habit of getting sick far too easily, and those injuries were looking an angry shade of red. She'd rather not take any risks with that. "One pill, twice a day, for seven days. I will get those wounds properly cleaned and dressed as soon as we get to Tess."

Connor took the bottle silently and nodded.

"Good. Now, how much further until we reach my sister?" Marina asked.

"It'sjust this way – shouldn't take us too much longer," said Connor. He swayed again and Marina set her shoulder under his hand to steady him. Connor gave her a nod of thanks and a light push against her shoulder, directing Marina onward down the path to the right.