Guardian Angel

HERE AT HOME

There's nothing special about me. Though, I think everyone says that about themselves. There is truly nothing of value in me, which is why I'm a Hawaii recruit. I'm willing to accept I'm just an expendable gun for hire.

And now that I think about it, leaving me behind at the hospital wasn't so bad after all. I wasn't helping. I would've gotten more people killed in the long-term.

My life is an empty robot made to take orders. My body is a doll for shooting and dying when it's reached the end of its shelf life.

"Mercury... let's take a rest."

I noticed that Mister was getting winded from walking and I let him sit.

"Are you okay?"

"Tired. Thanks for the help."

"I'm just getting in your way. You wouldn't be hurt if it wasn't for me."

"You kidding me? You saved my life after that Plaid shot me."

"You saved me by coming to the hospital too."

"Then we're even. You just owe me for getting these wounds fixed."

"When we get there, I'll help as much as I can."

He got up and started walking himself.

"Go on. Lead the way, Mercury."

I got up and ran after him. "Wait, you're walking now?"

"You seemed tired trying to help me, so I'll just tough it out and walk on my own."

"Oh - I'm so sorry! I'll do a better job this time."

"You did a good job, don't worry." He touched my hair. "Just keep a good lookout."

I nodded and walked ahead of him, making sure the roads were clear. I kept wondering about the guy's name and why he saved me. The Hawaii shirt told me some things, but not much.

The personalities Hawaiis ranged from the lonely, the violent, the insane, and the patriotic. 

Often times, the loud ones get in trouble and the quiet ones climb to the top with hard work. Even though I did my best to stand out from the sheep, I didn't get a single promotion.

This guy could be anything. He could also be a lamb, some brainlet with a gun that just happened to give me the time of day.

Or... he would be someone different. And that leaves a broad range of ways he could act towards me.

I'll do everything to help him while we're together. But right now, there's no way for me to take him back to our base safely.

Catori would know the way back, but she's long gone now. She had the car keys, too. Everyone trusts her, more than she trusts herself. I once heard she killed a Plaid with a cell phone. A FUCKING CELL PHONE!

I want to be like her. I want to be more than just a girl with a rifle, I want to carry my wounded teammates home in both of my shredded arms without trouble.

I looked up and saw the clearing that I was looking for. I knew we were taking the right road.

"Mister, we made it! Here, you can rest here."

My safe place was a tall pile of rocks, a natural formation with a rock plate on top, making a small shelter, almost like a cave.

"Oh... this is cool."

"Yeah, I found this one day and I figured it'd be good to hide in an emergency."

"Looks like you found the time, Mercury."

I helped him up the rocks and got him sat down in the cave. He took deep breaths and relaxed.

"Thank you. We'll be good for now."

"I have some supplies here. It's not a lot, but I'll show you." I reached into a hole in the cave and dug out the loot I had hidden in a drawstring bag.

"Sorry I didn't tell you about this earlier. I want this place to stay as a secret or else someone will take over."

"That's smart."

"I found all this stuff in my free time, just exploring the city and taking anything that seemed useful."

I opened the drawstring bag and laid out the items inside.

There was a car first aid kit, tea biscuits, a knife sharpening stone, a gas cooker, some paper plates, and a broken massage gun.

"The first aid kit. Open that."

"Good thing I've never used it."

I kneeled over him and let him search through the medical equipment that I didn't recognize. He took out a stack of gauze cloth, patroleum jelly, and bandages.

"Here. I'll show you how to do this. Don't be scared."

We promptly stopped the bleeding over his chest and hand, then cleaned and covered the wound with bandages. Over the next hour, he started a conversation about first aid and by sunset I was a medic-in-training.

"I didn't know all of that. Thank you, Mister."

"You're set. Just keep getting practice. Once I'm feeling better, we can walk back to base."

"Do you have any way to contact the Hawaiis? Maybe they could pick us up?"

Mister reached into his shirt pocket and took out his phone.

"Oh - 50 new messages. Shit, people are worrying about me."

I looked at his screen, and then it went black.

Critically low battery - shutting down

"Noo!"

"Damn it, I forgot to charge it. At the worst pissing time. Well... now we know what we need to do."

"Got it. I'll go find a power source now."

"No, it's too dark. Let's hunker down for tonight, first thing in the morning, you'll charge the phone somewhere. I'll try to recover in that time so hopefully we can get back to the base on foot, as our backup plan."

"Okay. What do I do?"

"How about dinner? Tea biscuits?"

We ate six tea biscuits each, and there were five more in the pack when we were done.

"Mercury."

"Yes, mister?"

"So if we're going to go to sleep here, we'll be safe, right?"

"The gravel and rocks by the entrance are pretty loud, remember when we came in? If anyone comes in, I'll lure them away."

"No need. Just wake me up and I'll stab them in the head."

"I can do that if you want."

"I'll teach you how to use my knife tomorrow. I don't want you hurting yourself."

He shifted over to the corner of the cave and laid down on the cold, hard rocks.

"Alright, goodnight Mercury. Hope for our survival, alright?"

"I will."