150 Bullets

137. Bomb (Hurt pt. 1/4)

You aren't sure how long they beat you.

It's a long time. Feels like it, anyway. The way your skin breaks, your nose swells, your lips split. They leave your clothes on, thankfully. Their worm cult doesn't seem to care for assault of that nature.

The people of the small town turned on you and Vash. Typical. What's not typical is how devoted they are to feeding travelers to their Giant Worm. It's their way of keeping their town alive, apparently. Their Plant died two months ago. Mad with desperation, they turned to the worms for both sustenance and religious survival.

You and Vash just happened to be the lucky travelers/sacrifices of the week. Well, you are, at least. They tricked you into staying the night, rather than riding out to the next town to signal for help on their behalf.

They didn't want help. They wanted sacrifices.

They broke into your room. Stole you in the night. You aren't sure what happened to Vash. You hope he got away. You hope he comes for you.

And now they beat you, burn your skin with torches and heated metal rods, prepare you for the Worm. You lose track of the paths they drag you along in the cave systems. Your eyes are too swollen shut for it anyway. They string you up in the main cave, where their Worm sits and waits for food to drop into its maw deep below. It smells like dirt and rotten meat when it breathes.

You tell yourself that Vash got away. That's the most important thing. But as you sway above your death, you can't help but feel abandoned. Terrified. Alone.

The mayor of the town, dressed in tattered ceremonial robes and green paint made of worm guts, begins to chant. The villagers follow suit.

Then there is an explosion. Several. It shakes the cave, makes loose rocks tumble down. The villagers scramble for cover in the nearby smaller cave systems. The worm roars beneath you, disturbed. A bang sounds out, and suddenly you're falling, your rope severed by a bullet.

There is no 'this is it' thought. Just free air and knowing you are dead.

But Vash jumps and catches you before you can fall to the worm. You only see the blur of his red coat, feel the grip of his calloused and metal hands on your back and stomach. His arms wrap around you, and he kneels on the floor of the cave to look you over. His breath gets more ragged the longer he looks. "Mayfly..." his voice breaks, holding your broken body close.

Everything hurts. Your heart most of all. How did you ever doubt he would come for you?

There's shouting. The mayor is at the mouth of one of the caves. "Don't let him take her! For your wives and children!" There's scrabbling, some gunshots going off. The worm writhes in its pit. Vash reaches for more of his mini bombs in his coat and throws them at the people. Another explosion sounds, and they back off with the crack of rocks falling.

You stare up at him as best you can. He's so beautiful, even with the tears tracking down his cheeks. And there's something in his eyes you haven't seen yet. Something dangerous. Something hurt. You'd fear the look if you weren't so...You let out a wheeze and burrow into his chest. Get me out of here, birdie, you think, your voice too shot from screaming to say it out loud.

He obeys. "We're leaving," he says, picking you up and running. "Just stay with me, okay? Don't fall asleep. Don't – "

The world goes dark and limp.