Once Bitten

Bonding (4)

Five minutes turned into something closer to an hour and when he finally looked at his watch and noticed the time he felt awful, knowing Bai He was at home alone worried about him. He'd rested enough and wasted enough time though. He should get up.

He didn't. His body didn't move as he stayed there, laid out on the floor with his heart thundering in his chest and lungs aching. He should get up. He couldn't bring himself to move, arms twitching and feeling exhausted even though he'd been resting for long enough. He could still hear the sounds of the zombies below, their groaning and wailing making his head hurt. He should get up. 

It was the thought of Bai He getting worried enough to go outside that got him sitting up, legs trembling as he forced himself to stand.

It was a lot of effort and for a moment he considered laying back down again but he remembered the little girl and his promise and kept going, slinging the backpack onto his back and beginning his trip across the rooftops, lucky and grateful that he was once again on the right side of the street. 

He wasn't sure he had it in him to do another mad dash across anytime soon. 

Progress was slow and he hissed every time his cut touched something else, the burn of the torn open flesh making him want to cry. 

He kept going though, pushing it all aside to keep moving, knowing that if he stopped he'd stop for longer than he wanted to, and eventually he made it back to Bai He's house, almost crying in relief at the sight of the building.    

Before he stood on the roof he first took a few deep breaths, relaxing his shoulders and rubbing some of the dirt and tears off his face before continuing on with a smile stretched across his face as he hovered over the skylight. Bai He immediately saw him since it looked like she'd been waiting there the whole time for him to come back and that knowledge tugged at his heartstrings. 

Still, he smiled and knocked lightly on the little window as she got up excitedly, her whole body giddy with delight as she reached up to open the lock and let him in. 

"MK!" She cried out happily, waiting until he was in her room, feet on the floor before lunging forward to hug him, her little arms wrapped tightly around him as she looked up like he'd personally given her the sun itself.

"You came back!" MK nodded, hugging her back just as tight. 

"Of course I did, I promised didn't I?" He grinned, tone resolute and certain and he didn't mention at all how he'd almost not been able to, how terrified he'd been, and how lost and small he felt. How could he when she was looking to him for support?       

"Uh huh, you did! What did you get?" She asked, noticing the big backpack and he took it off, happy to be relieved of the weight as the little girl opened it up and looked through it curiously. 

"Woah! This is heavy!" She giggled, using all her strength to pick up the hammer MK had technically stolen and he chuckled, keeping his own hands close by in case she dropped it so he could catch it. 

"Yeah it is, you're really strong picking that up." He encouraged and she beamed up at him, delighted with praise until she noticed the way his hair was all over the place and appearing longer.

"Oh! What happened to your headband MK?" She asked curiously and MK laughed, touching the hair hanging down past his eyes and feeling off-kilter without his headband. He always wore it. It was his signature thing.  

"Ah, I must have left it behind, huh? Silly me. What will I do about my hair now?" He laughed, remembering the creature that had torn it from his head and trying to sound silly. Bai He nodded, a thoughtful expression crossing over her face. Then, slowly she reached up to her own pink headband and touched it with the tips of her fingers, taking it off and looking down at it with that still thoughtful expression.