Guilt (A Zero Spin-Off)

FortyEight - Kyle

Two thoughts assaulted me the moment I became half-conscious. The first was the unreal amount of pain I was in - seriously did someone shoot me again? The second was the memory of telling Ella that I loved her. It was muddled and the memory felt a bit unreal, like a dream, but I knew it hadn't been. I didn't regret it though. The third, as I blinked open my eyes, was the chaos in the room. Okay, that was three things, not two. I blamed the pain for inhibiting my ability to count to three.

Everyone was moving around the room and if they hadn't been moving so quickly and quietly, I would have assumed it was the commotion that woke me up and not the pain. But as I shifted, propping myself up on my elbows, it was definitely the pain that woke me up. I groaned as the movement caused pain life fire to spread through my leg. Atlas caught my eye, loading up a magazine, a few other already full sat in a pile next to him.

"Feeling better, sleeping beauty?" he asked.

In too much pain to care about hiding it, I shook my head. "What's going on?"

"Your little Mouse, there," he nodded to Ella who was filling up backpacks with waters and what looked to be a small private pharmacy. "Sort of killed her mentor. Destroyed chance for a cure." He shrugged. "You know, regular Tuesday around here."

Well, shit. I looked at Ella who was concentrated on what she was doing. Her face gave nothing away, but I was sure she was hurting over this. Finding a cure was what had driven her and in the last few weeks I knew there were times she wanted to give up, run away, forget about it all... but she hadn't. Because she knew she'd be saving so many more lives by getting everything back to Dr. Summers.

And then she just gave that all up.

I didn't know exactly what had gone down, but I knew no one intended for that to happen. Ella wanted to scare Dr. Summers, just enough to get Zero out of here. She hadn't wanted to kill the woman - the only woman she thought could create a cure.

Feeling my eyes, she looked up meeting my gaze. Concern furrowed her brow even as she tried to smile my way. Forgetting what she was doing, she walked over and sat on the edge of the bed next to me.

"You're in a lot of pain aren't you?"

"Not too bad."

"Liar," she said quietly and then shoved a couple pills into my hand. "It's just motrin, but hopefully it will take the edge off. We have to leave or I would give you something stronger."

"This is fine." I popped the pills in my mouth and finished off the drink everyone had been pushing of me all day. If nothing, I was well hydrated. Reaching out, I touched the side of her face. "Are you okay?"

She sucked on her teeth and blinked rapidly trying to clear her glossy eyes.

"We have to go," she said. "I'm really sorry for how much pain you're going to be in, but you've got to get up."

"Ella," Hunter said. She turned and he held up the same belt she'd worn we I first saw her the night before. "Let's hook you up."

A belt full of grenades. He thought she needed to wear a belt full of grenades.

I sat up, probably quicker than I should have, and twisted my legs over the side of the bed gritting my teeth at the pain. When I stood, Ella was quick to my side, catching me before I crumpled to the floor.

"She's not wearing that," I said. I held out a hand, gesturing for Hunter to give me the fucking belt of explosives.

"We don't have time for this," Ella said. Keeping a hand on my waist to steady me, she twisted away and met my eyes. "Kyle, you can barely walk and it's going to take Hunter and Atlas practically carrying you to get us out of here before we all wind up in Hudson jail. I really appreciate that you're being protective, and I love you for that, but now isn't really the time to go all He-Man on me. Look, I promise not to blow myself up, okay?"