Runaway Lover // Andy Leo

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Being dead is a funny thing. What they say is true - your life does flash before your eyes. Apparently it takes 7 minutes. 7 minutes to replay 19 years worth of memories.

I ignored everything from my life before - everything from the Empire. None of that matters to me anymore. As far as I'm concerned, that life was a lie. The real me wasn't born within those walls.

I was born the second I broke free.

The second my life turned around.

The second I met Andrew Leo, leader of the rebellion against the Empire.

The memories wash over me peacefully. I welcome every second, every day, with open arms.

Then the memories of recent come. Dark, twisted memories that make me shudder. Memories of pain.

How did I die?

I died because I didn't do enough. My friends - Hayden, Brandon, Megan, Brent, Dave, Benn - they did everything they could do save me and I did nothing. I couldn't even say alive long enough to know the outcome of this war.

No. I refuse to die today.

I inhale sharply, bringing a small amount of water into my lungs. The speed of it forces me to roll over and cough into the ground in an attempt to remove it.

The concrete is wet as I press my hand into it while I splutter. As a matter of fact, I'm also wet. Soaked, even. My hair hangs in dripping ringlets from my face.

"Careful, there's glass everywhere." Hayden's voice comes cautiously from beside me. Through my hair I see that he's kneeling beside me, leaning forward on his knuckles.

I bring my weight up onto my elbow and take my hair out of my face. I'm met with the concerned looks of Hayden, Megan and Brandon.

"Why am I not dead?" I ask in wonder. I was certain that I was - even if I hadn't accepted it.

"Technically you were. You were in that tank for thirty minutes." He speaks slowly, giving me time to catch up. "Thankfully the water was cold enough to trigger your body into employing an innate survival response. You were technically only dead for five minutes."

I stare back at him.

"Are you okay?" Hayden asks, searching my face for any signs of pain.

Truth is, I'm not okay. I'm pretty sure I'm still supposed to be dead and I'm also pretty sure Andy is dead.

"Andy-" I choke his name out, but I think it comes out as more of a garbled moan. I look to the people that I've come to know and care for like family, but their faces are blank. Void of all emotion.

But then Megan flicks her eyes behind me for half a second - if that - and I spin so fast my brain feels like it's going to explode inside of me. It feels like my brain is a smoothie and within seconds it will be dripping out of my ears but that is nothing. That is nothing compared to what greets me when my speckled vision identifies the blobs in front of me.

Dave, Benn, Brent are kneeling around another form. They all seem to be keeping their eyes on anything but what lays in front of them, and that's when I recognise the faded leather boots attached to it.

Seeing those boots - something snaps inside of me.

"No, no..." My vision goes blurry. I don't know if I'm crying or going to pass out. Either way I don't think I'll ever recover from the pain that has taken over my entire body.

It's the kind of pain that snakes it's way into your blood and filters through your entire body. Even if you wanted to lock it up inside, you couldn't because you were using it to survive.

My limbs scream at me as I crawl weakly over to his body. The more of him comes into view, the more I want to scream and cry and run away. But I won't do that. I'll stay for Andy.

There's so much blood. Too much for anyone to still be living without it. Dave looks up when I arrive next to him with sorry eyes and a black and purple bruise occupying his right cheek.

But then I peel my eyes from him and place them in the last place they want to be. Andy lies on the ground in a pool of his own blood. His grey shirt is soaked to a glossy brown and the black hoodie he always wore is tied tightly around his right shoulder.

"He's alive - just."

I watch his chest, and surely enough it rises slightly. I don't know whether to cheer or cry even more.

"The idiot got himself shot. We cauterised the wound after he ran around for a bit and saved your life." Dave lifts an arm and pulls me into his side. "He's always been so reckless - always managed to pull it off, though. Never thought he'd actually end up dead because of it."

"He's not dead." My words come out icy and harsh, but I don't apologise. Andy is still alive, and I won't say other wise until it's true.

Dave sighs.

"Attention all citizens of the Empire." A female voice rings out through the speaker system, and I recognise it as Ashley's, another one of my new friends withing the rebellion.

"What the fuck?!"

"The Raven is dead. The rebellion has won this war. We will return to the city and occupy the government with whoever is willing to help. We will not make Aeon into a city to be feared once more, but a city to be proud of. We are all individuals with different talents and abilities that need to be utilised, not smothered. Stand with us, and we will show you a better tomorrow."

The message repeats itself. I look around at my friends, seeing the relief of years of war and destruction having come to an end on their faces.

Fresh tears fall from my face. I cry for their joy, and my own, but I also cry for those who didn't make it to see this day. And that is when I decide that I'm going to make the most of it, for Andy.

"Thank me later guys, it's fine." My heart stops, then leaps ten feet into the air. I spin and launch myself at Andy.

"Thank god. You scared me so much." My tears mix with his blood, and I turn it into a promise.

"I would never leave you. As long as you're not going anywhere either."

I promise, Andrew Leo, leader of the rebellion against the Empire. I promise I will stand with you.