Cat N' Mau5

Chapter 15: Trust

Hey everyone,

I know for the MCRmy today has not been the best of days, and this chapter is not the longest of chapters. But hopefully it will distract your saddened minds. Stay strong <3

And yes, this chapter is dedicated to all the killjoys, even you there reading this. Now, please enjoy the chapter :)

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My eyes snapped open to reveal the dark roof of the shop. It must’ve been late, and my sleep had been plagued with fitful dreams that were instantly forgotten. Although it was hard for me to tell, they could have been memories.

I pushed myself up into a sitting position. Not far away from me was Gerard, sleeping quite peacefully. He lay on his stomach to protect his back, head resting on arms. His breathing was soft, and I watched the gentle rise and fall of his back to calm me down. I found myself staring at the claw marks on his bare skin. They looked deep and painful. I still felt bad for running away, but really there was nothing I could do. Still, if I could go back I would find myself helping. Gerard had saved me, and it was the least I could do in return.

My breath caught as he shifted, letting out a small puff and turning his head sideways. I let it out again when I realised I hadn’t woken him. After that thing attacked, he really needed his rest. My mind began to wander, mostly pondering about the robo-cat. Was it a rogue, or had Meowington corp. programmed it to do that? If that was the case, everyone was in deep doggy doo doo. Still, I clung to the hope that it was a rogue robot. Not that made our situation any better.

Slowly, I made my way around Gerard and grabbed a bottle of water, sipping out of the bottle and letting the cool liquid soothe my throat. After I had drunk my fill, I tilted it slowly over my wound, letting it clean out a little of the grit that had gathered in the puss. Hopefully it wouldn’t be long before we got out of here and to a hospital. The infection in my leg was worsening, and I was afraid it might turn into gangrene or something just as bad.

Gerard sat up, rubbing his eyes and making me jump. “Mau5?” he mumbled quietly.

“Yeah,” I whispered back, “I’m right here.” He let out a sigh of relief. “Bad dream?”

“You have no idea.” I sat down beside him and handed him an unopened bottle of water.

“What was it about?” He let out a sigh, cracking open the seal and downing half the bottle quickly. He swallowed with a sigh, and began to describe to me his dream. It was vivid, and obviously traumatising; about his family being attacked by the robo-cat, and dying in here alone. When he was done we sat quietly, taking sips from our water.

“It’s not true,” I said, turning to face him. “Your dream? None of that is true.”

“It could become true,” he replied, his voice a mere whisper.

“No.” He turned and faced me with wide eyes. “I’m not letting it happen. We are getting out of here, and we are finding your family. If need be, we are going to beat the absolute crap out of that stupid metal feline.” Gerard chuckled.

“We should clean up your leg,” was all he said. I nodded, and went to get another bottle of water. “What are you doing?” he questioned, and I looked back confused.

“I was just gonna get the-“

“Sit down, you’re the one with bad leg. You should be sitting, you’re my patient again.” I lowered myself to the ground slowly, careful not to put too much weight on my leg. “What about you? How come you’re awake?” he asked as he grabbed a bottle and some napkins.

I let out a sigh. “I just…” I was quiet. I wanted to tell him, I really did, but in all honesty, what was I supposed to say?

“Mau5,” he said gently, crouching beside me. “You can tell me.” When I didn’t reply, he carried on. “After all we’ve been through, surely you trust me? We survived what we probably shouldn’t have, looked out for each other. I mean, c’mon, I even fought off that… that thing for you!” I let out a raged breath as the guilt for leaving him washed over me again. Yes, he proved I could trust him, but could he trust me?

“Why?” It came out a bare whisper, hardly audible. But Gerard heard it.

“Why what? Why would I do those things?”

‘Why do you trust me?” I looked up at him. “I was a complete stranger to you, and as soon as you found me with my bad leg I was to be a burden. I mean, the only thing you know about me is that I was fighting you in a competition!”

He was quiet, staring absently at his hands, which were fiddling with the bottle top. “I, I don’t know, Mau5.” He opened his mouth to say something else, but went quiet again.  “I just… how could I sit by and watch someone die? Knowing I could have helped them; I didn’t need to know you to help you.”

I nodded slowly. I got where he was coming from completely. Just like… argh, my head… what was it? Watching someone die… red… red? RED! “Argh!” I growled, clawing at my eyes as pain seethed through my head.

“Are you okay?” Gerard asked, worried. The pain was so unbearable and I jerked my head around as Gee sat there, silently panicking, as he didn’t know what to do. “Mau5? MAU5!”

“AaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAARGH!” I screeched, writhing around on the cold floor. Hands to my head, eyes squeezed shut. My ears began to ring, and every muscle in my body clenched, completely cramping me and adding to the pain. For a split moment, everything stopped, and I was completely aware of my surroundings. Gerard searching frantically for something to help, the cobweb in the corner of the window, even the little brown mouse with a twitching nose on the top shelf. Mouse. Then the pain came back, completely overwhelming me, and I blacked out.