The Way it Was

Chapter 5 - Miles

Hey everybody! I don't really have a posting schedule, so I'm just kind of posting these whenever. Here's part 5! Be sure to vote and review!! Thanks for reading :)  - Lillie

Jo wasn't in her bed. Miles didn't have to look to know. He felt her absence like a knife in his windpipe. A part of him was paralyzed, fearsome of what he would -- and wouldn't -- find if he got up to look for her. But the other piece of him, the section sworn to protect that broken-armed six-year-old brat, forced him from his cot and to his feet. If she had finally decided to leave -- that thought bothered him much more than he cared to admit -- he would have to let her go. No matter the pain.

But above that, he would have to respect her decision. And that would hurt a thousand times worse than the feeling he felt now.

He stepped cautiously through their archway, careful to keep Jo's bed from his line of sight. She had to be here somewhere, surely. He imagined the ache in his chest would be much more severe if she had left entirely.

Sleeping Bolts lining the tracks offered little help with speed, their limbs spread painstakingly across every possible footstep. But he managed to make it to the food sanctioning platform, the first big area coming away from their cubby. He knew Jo wanted space. He knew she'd be in a social area.

This platform was clear, the only sign of life a flickering hazard light high above Miles's head. He clicked a button on his wrist, and the light died out. They weren't meant to be left on at night. Too risky. If he hadn't known Jo as well as he did, he'd have thought she was in here because of the fact that the light was on. But since he did know her, and he had full faith in his knowledge of her, he understood that if she had been in here, she would have done the same thing he just did to that lamp.

He sighed slightly, turning back the way he came. The only big area away from their room in the other direction was at least a mile away, and who knew when she had gotten up. As it occasionally did, a thought slipped into his mind, an image of Jo finding some kind of place for herself, an observatory kind of thing, something with a view of the sky.

They were at least 80 feet underground, of course, but she was a smart girl.

Smart or not, Miles needed to know where she was like he needed to know how to breathe.

He walked and searched for two hours before he came to the bedding supply platform. Jo had helped him set up this room all those years ago, after they had rescued ten Bolts. It was her idea. Her smile had been so contagious that day, whether she knew it or not. He had a hard time saying no to her when she was so glad to be helping other people.

Miles often questioned if she knew how amazing she was. Jo wasn't the type to have room for confidence; every ounce of her was used for helping other people, even if she didn't know that. She was the most determined, selfless person he knew.

She was spread out across one of the makeshift blanket tables. It was empty now, as were twelve of the other fifteen. If they came across any more Bolts, he was sure Jo would want to go out alone on a mission for more supplies, no matter the permission granted for such a task.

The most selfish part of him hoped any other Bolt that was still above ground was dead by now. And then he realized that if that happened, Jo wouldn't be able to live with herself, and he cleared the thought.

No words were spoken, and none were needed, as Miles laid himself across the table beside hers. They both stared at the cement ceiling in all of its cobwebbed glory.

It was Miles who broke the silence, and he only allowed himself to utter one word : "Jo."

He could feel her suffering through the twelve-inch gap between their bodies. Whatever she was about to do, or thinking about doing, it was something that upset her enough to let her pain show in front of more than just him.

And something that upset her so much would have to involve the pain of someone else.

His mind swirled with the possibilities, but he remained silent. All he could do right now was be there for Jo, even if that is the opposite of what she believed she needed. He knew her too well for his own good.