From Darkness Comes - Book 2 in the Ash and Ember Series

Breathe

Kelly's breathing is labored as I drag him farther down the dark hallway. Whatever this place is, or was, it has definitely been abandoned. Evidence suggests that the creatures found a way in, and all I can do is hope that they are long gone.

I need to get Kelly somewhere safe for the time being so that I can figure out a way to improve his breathing. Figuring out how to get us out of this place and safely to the other side of the planet will have to come later.

I see an open door to a room about fifty feet away. I look down the corridor, hoping that the sight of glowing hungry eyes won't be staring back at me through the darkness.

"Can you stand?" I ask, but he doesn't respond. He needs to reserve all the oxygen he has left for breathing. He does however, slowly nod his head up and down.

I wrap his arm around my shoulder and muster all the strength I have left to lift him off the ground. He tries his best to stand, but the majority of his weight falls on my shoulders.

He stumbles down the corridor, keeping his arm wrapped around me for support. Once we enter the room, I shut the door behind us. There is a lock, but since there is no electricity, the locking mechanism is worthless.

I lean Kelly up against a wall and help him to slide down to the floor. There's a shelving unit on the other side of the room. I knock it over, dumping as many of the items off the shelves that I can, then I drag it across the floor and push it up against the door, hoping that it will stop, or at least, slow down, whatever might try to come through the entrance.

I toss my backpack onto the ground, and pour the contents over the floor.

"All of the oxygen is ruined," I say, trying to hold back tears. The creature punctured the bottles when it was tearing my backpack apart. We should have split up the oxygen amongst our packs. Why didn't we divvy up the oxygen, I want to scream.

Think, think, I tell myself. Then I see something: a sample of the plant I had been experimenting on, the one that moved on its own as if alive, the one that could survive in this planet's environment with no water, sun and little oxygen. I forgot that I had brought it in my bag.

Kelly's breathing becomes more ragged. There's not much time.

I pull out the plant and crush it in between my palms. It was an idea I was experimenting with back in the dome.

"Worth a shot," I say aloud, mainly to myself.

I straddle Kelly's lap and lift his head in my hands, placing a small amount of the crushed plant onto his tongue.

"Swallow," I command, forcing his mouth shut and leaning his head back.

He swallows and I wait anxiously for what I pray will take place. My heart races and tears prick my eyes. I can't lose him. I won't.

"Stay with me. Stay with me," I whisper over and over again. I rest my forehead against his, holding his head upright in my left hand. I place my other hand over his chest trying to sync his breathing to mine, hoping to slow my breathing down while speeding his up. "We can do this together," I tell him as much as I tell myself.

And then I hear his breathing increase. His long raspy inhales become smoother and closer together. It's working, slowly, but it's not enough. I only have one idea left.

I hold his face in my hands and bring my lips to his, blowing air into his mouth, filling his lungs with oxygen, and not just any oxygen: Generation 3 Mod oxygen. The kind that can withstand this harsh environment.

It feels like an eternity has passed before I hear his breathing begin to return to normal. It's still weak, but it's better. I'll take better. I let out a relieved laugh as tears fill my eyes, spilling over, running down my cheeks.

"Can't kill me that easily," he jokes and the sound of his voice makes me smile through my tears. "So that's what a guy's gotta do to get a kiss around here."

I shake my head at his ridiculous comment and smile. He's back. For now.

"How about one more?" he asks, turning serious, amber flecks gleaming.

Kelly pushes lose strands of my hair out of our faces, and gently tucks them behind my ear. He looks at me, and for a minute the world stops spinning. For a minute it feels like it's just us. For a minute I forget why we're on this crazy mission. He gently presses his lips to mine, then pulls away.

"Is this okay?" he asks, and I surprise myself by nodding yes.

"Are you okay?" I ask, wondering if this is too much after what he's been through.

"I am now," he replies, and brings his lips to mine again, and the memories come back, flooding my brain with a barrage of snapshots of what my life used to be like, what our life used to be like together, just like the last time he kissed me, before he pushed me onto the ship that brought me to this Godforsaken planet.

He kisses me again and again, deeply, tenderly, and I don't stop him. Quite the opposite. I find myself desperate for his mouth whenever his lips leave mine.

I unsnap his vest that holds our few remaining items for survival. He leans forward while I push it back over his shoulders. My hands slip under his shirt, pulling it up and over his head. As he leans forward, I can see the top of the heart tattoo on his back, the one with the word "birdie" written inside: his nickname for me, when we were just a couple of kids in love. Softly, I trace the shape of the heart with my fingertip.

We both pause for a moment, looking into one another's eyes. It's the moment where one of us could stop this before we go too far. But my head spins and whirls with images of a life I used to love and the person that I used to love in it, and when he pulls my face back to his, I don't stop him. I've been wanting this for a while, I just haven't been able to admit it to myself.

I let him have my body. It's all I have to give. What's left is my heart, and I'm more confused than ever as to who that belongs to.