As The World Ends

Chapter 11 - This Is Just The Beginning, Isn't It?

"Commander."

Robin sounded like they were an inch away from a mental breakdown.

"Robin? What's going on?" The soft moonlight was slipping through the curtain. Jay made a mental note to catch a picture of the stars before going to bed.

There was enough time for him to locate several constellations before Robin responded. When they did, their voice was hesitant. Like they really didn't want to say anything else, but knew it needed to be done nonetheless.

"It's Alex." They stopped and inhaled a lungful of air. "They got injured." Another pause. "They're unconscious and there's a decent chance that they'll die in the next hour."

"What?" There's no way. Alex is practically indestructible. 

"Alex is-"

"I heard you," Jay snapped. He checked himself and mumbled an apology. They sucked in a breath and dropped their head into their hands. A tear leaked out of his eye. "Robin, they can't die. I promised their mother-" 

"We're about to land," Robin cut in. "Aster is waiting for us on the runway, she won't let Alex... it'll be fine." Their mic clicked off and Jay took several moments to steady themself. He slammed his head on the wooden desk once and stood, composing a stony expression. 

They raised their finger to their earpiece and made a call.

A tired and slightly reluctant voice picked up a few seconds later. "Jay? What do you want in the middle of the night?"

"Hey. You have something of mine. How soon can I pick it up?"

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Meanwhile, on a different continent, Ashton and his remaining members of his entourage numbly unloaded from a helicopter. Nobody dared to speak. Ashton was already going to be angry enough after he snapped out of whatever frozen-in-shock state he was in.

Fantôme awaited them a short walk from the copter. The first words out of his mouth were "where's Dalia?" Still, nobody said anything. A couple of them shifted awkwardly, glancing from Fantôme to Ashton. The rest just stared at the ground. 

"Ashton," his voice had gone dangerously quiet. "Where is Dalia?"

When no one would directly meet his eyes or answer his question, Fantôme strode closer to his commander, getting inches away from the man's face. "Where is she?" The soldier practically spat in the Ashton's face. Probably would've if he wasn't wearing a helmet. 

Ashton swallowed. "Fantôme. I'm sorry. The bomb went off too soon." He stepped backwards in attempt to put more space in between them, but Fantôme moved with him. "Dalia didn't- she couldn't get out in time." 

Fantôme stood still while that information slowly processed, then he fell heavily to his knees, shoulders hunched. His armor clanked loudly, the only sound breaking the icy silence. 

Ashton signaled with a flick of his wrist for everyone else to head inside. The other soldiers obliged, leaving him standing next to Fantôme. 

"I'm sorry," the commander whispered. "I never meant for it happen, but she saved everyone else by setting up the bomb. If she hadn't, the rest of us would be dead too." He got a faraway look in his eyes. "Just from something else."

He was not graced with a response. 

Ashton sighed. "Look, I can't leave someone in shock alone out here, you might need to get a psychological evaluation, and I understand that this is incredibly traumatic." He moved to rest a hand on Fantôme's shoulder, stopped just before touching him, reconsidered, and pulled back. "I'm going send someone to sit out here with you and keep an eye on things from a distance until you're ready to go inside."

He hesitantly clapped Fantôme on the back and headed into the aircraft hanger, calling for an available guard. 

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The compound was running business as usual while Alex was being rushed to the infirmary. People running through the halls, cheering over a chess match in the cafeteria, stargazers on the airfield. Nobody had even noticed Alex and Robin's absence. Everyone they encountered moved to the edge of the hallways without a second glance at the stretcher.

Death was a normal occurrence.

Jay, on the other hand, could barely breathe with how tight their chest felt. They kept pace with Aster and Robin, keeping Robin's arm in a death grip that cut off the circulation to their hand and turned his knuckles white. 

A thin silver chain was wrapped around his other palm, its pendant hidden under his fingers. That necklace was the only thing holding them together. 

Finally, they reached their destination. The three of them hastily transferred Alex's body to the table in one of the surgery rooms. A nurse practically shoved Robin and Jay into the hall and locked the door behind them with a grim expression.

The moment the door was shut, Robin released the strangled sob that they'd been holding in for who knows how long.  "It's okay," Jay whispered. "It's okay." He pulled them into his arms and broke down as well. The two slid down the wall until they were on the floor. Jay's tears soaked Robin's tunic, and theirs rolled down his pauldrons and onto his sleeves. 

Occasionally, someone would shuffle awkwardly past them. It was unusual to see Jay without a hand on his gun, let alone with their face buried in someone else's shoulder.

When they eventually ran out of tears, they continued to lay there, clinging to each other. Trying to keep themselves together. Failing, obviously, but still. Trying is better than nothing. 

Footsteps approached them, slowing as they neared. 

"Commander, sir, you- uh- you're needed in communications." The agent's voice held a lot of questions, but none were asked and none were answered.

Jay gently pushed away from the wall and stood up unsteadily, offering Robin a hand up. They shook their head and instead rested their head on their knees, sniffling.

Jay bent down to squeeze their shoulder before following the agent, who they recognized as Adrian's brother but didn't remember their name. Jay took the ample walk to the opposite side of the compound to clean up their face with their sleeve, rubbing their eyes, brushing the tears from their cheeks, and cleaning the snot from their nose.

By the time they arrived, Jay looked physically fine. The necklace was still clutched in their fisted hand, and they were mentally chanting Alex is fine. Alex is fine. Alex is fine. 

Because gaslighting yourself is healthy.

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Robin, on the other hand, was still crying on the floor in the hallway. I was still potentially dead. Good stuff, yeah? 

Now, I feel the need to defend myself by clarifying that Glaunammi tentacles are barbed, just like a cactus, and about an inch long, except that these things are curved on the end. It sinks into your skin and doesn't let go. For it to come out, you have to literally rip your flesh open and hope nothing snags on anything important.

Plus, as I was lucky enough to discover through personal experience, the skin of a Glaunammi is poisonous. So that's a double-whammy, as my mom used to say.

Even better: they're super fast and can launch themselves at you like flying squirrels.

Taking all those factors into account, there was really no good outcome for my situation. Sure, it was incredibly stupid of me, and I should've had Robin shoot the thing before trying to retrieve the knife, but it was a foolish miscalculation and Robin really liked that knife.

So don't you dare go thinking that I'm weak for not being able to fight it off on my own.