The Pain Thief

Chapter 26

THE FINAL DECISION

Jack felt Zoe using her shield to stop the powerful blast, but could tell even she was having trouble keeping it at bay. Malachi and Reyna appeared behind her, leaning against her legs to keep her from sliding backwards from the force. 

She grunted, applying a final amount of force to dispel the blast. Her shield disappeared and she dropped her arms, panting and sweating. 

Jack turned around to his family as they rose, checking to make sure they were ok. 

"We're fine," said Sarah as she brushed herself off. "But what was that? It was so strong..."

"I'm not sure," said Jack. Everyone looked a little dazed and dirty, but otherwise fine.  

Glad that they weren't injured, Jack turned to Zoe, asking, "Zoe are you..." He didn't finish as he took in her appearance. She looked ragged and beaten. Blood and ashes stained her crisp white hair that she had used her pins to keep up. Some of it had fallen out by now though. Her face was covered in dirt and there were burn marks and scorches all over her clothing. 

That wasn't what concerned him though. He looked to her hands and saw that they were red. No, they weren't red. The skin had been burned off of them, leaving them fully exposed. The sleeves to her sweater were burned off to the middle of her forearm as well and her pants had holes by the knees too. 

As he watched, skin began to reform on her hands, healing the terrible burns that she had. 

"Zoe..." was all he could say. He felt like his heart was going to break in two watching her suffer like that. 

She turned to face him. He saw determination in her eyes, but there was also a deep sadness lingering there, a sadness he knew had sprouted from her with the death of her parents. 

He only had a second to wonder what was happening before she asked, "Is everyone ok?"

Jack just stared, but found words to answer, "We're fine, but Zoe... you're really injured." There was blood all over her shoulder too, so he guessed she had been injured. 

She looked in the direction of where the blast had come from, as if waiting for something. When nothing came, she turned back to him. "I'll be fine." Her hands twitched and she winced as the skin slowly began to reform. 

"No you're not," said Jack angrily. He didn't know why he felt so angry all of a sudden, but he did. He walked up to her and put his hand on her cheek, checking her face for any more scratches or burns. 

She seemed surprised by his actions and stiffened. He ignored it though and continued to check her over, looking to see that the wound at her shoulder had been healed already. The burns on her hands concerned him, but Zoe was a great healer. She was probably channeling her energy into her hands to fix them, which was why they looked as good as new again. 

Zoe blinked at him, her expression a little bit like that of an owl's. Jack chuckled and said so only she could hear, "You know, you didn't give me a chance to respond earlier today."

She didn't say anything, but he could see her body relax slightly when he turned to his family. 

"So Zoe is involved in this too..." said his mother in surprise as she took in Zoe's appearance with awe. 

Zoe smiled slightly. "Why are all of you here?" she asked. 

Sarah sighed and rolled her eyes. "They wouldn't let me leave so I had to bring 'em along."

Jana shot daggers at Sarah and Sarah just rolled her eyes again. Zoe smiled and Jack couldn't help but to stare at her. Despite how worn out she looked, he thought she looked beautiful. He wished this entire fight could be finished so he could spend some time with her, but of course that was just wishful thinking.