Welcome to Nuketown! (On Hold)

What Now?

"Where the hell have you been?!" Brady yelled at Braxton. "In the attic, shining the 22."

You felt sick. You wanted to throw up.

You looked at the body on the ground and the image of it falling went through your head again and again.

The nausea was starting to get to you and you wobbled slightly. You ate a good breakfast for nothing.

You stumbled over to a tree and got sick behind it where the others couldn't see you. You were in a war in the previous years but you'd never seen someone get shot at such a close range where their brain was put out of their body.

You continued throwing up until there was nothing left in your stomach. You came out from behind the tree as casual as possible, which wasn't very.

Being so concerned about hiding yourself from the others, you had ended up getting a little sick on yourself.

"You okay there Rookie?" Bri noticed your sickly state. "I-I don't..." You started to rock side to side and your vision went blurry.

"Rookie?" Bri ran over to you and you fell forward on her. She managed to catch your weight and stabilize herself. "Where's Talon?" She asked the others without looking away from you.

"He stayed back at the house. He wasn't interested in coming to the duel if his friend had a chance of dying." Blake informed his sister.

"Damnit." Bri mumbled. She picked you up to the best of her ability with your leg. She carried you easily and obviously wasn't bothered by the vomit on your shirt, which was now going to be on her clothes.

"Let's get home. Rookie needs rest." Everyone followed the leader onto the helicopter as she set you down into a seat and clipped the harness around you.

"So this whole time, during everything that happened yesterday, you were in the attic?" Gillian asked the ginger. "Polishing the 22." He simply responded.

Flashback
Braxton's POV

I was sitting on the edge of my bed all day. Yes, I was bored, but I didn't want to deal with the shit going on downstairs. One could only put up with them in quantities.

All day I was also calmly polishing my custom 22. Okay, so calmly is a lie.

5 Minutes Ago...

"Must...get...every...speck!"

Back To The Original Flashback

Yes I was very picky about it. But a good gunman should always take care of his guns.

At one time, around breakfast, Bri poked her head in to check on me. "Everything alright up here?" She walked in carrying a plate.

"Yeah, I'm good." I replied without looking at her. "I brought you something to eat. I figured you were awake, since you practically never sleep." Well, she wasn't wrong.

She would wake up in the middle of the night at the early hours to find me rustling around in the kitchen. I owned pajama pants but only used them to relax.

She set the plate beside me. "Come down when you want to. Also, I need to talk to you later." Then she turned for the door. "Hey Brianna?"

"Yeah?" She stopped and looked at me. "Thanks. For the food." She smiled. "Not a problem." Then left.

Later that day she came back in. "I need to ask a favor." I sighed. "What is it this time?" I asked over dramatically. She softly punched my arm.

"C'mon. I haven't seen you in years, I've gotta bother you with something!" She joked. I chuckled and set the 22 and the polishing rag down. "What do ya need?"

"I need you to kill E for me..." She looked at me shyly. I was stunned. "Why do you need that?" I moved over so she could sit down, which she did.

"I've requested to duel with her. I don't wanna shoot her, but I want revenge. All the names she called me, all the times she wasn't there when I needed her. I want her gone." I sympathetically nodded my head. "I understand that. And she wanted you dead." I placed my hand on her knee.

"During the duel, you'll walk up behind her without her noticing. After I lower my gun, that's when you can shoot." She looked at the ground.

"I'll help." I simply said. "Really?" She looked at me and I nodded my head. "Thank you." She hugged me. It caught me by surprise at first, but then I hugged back.

When we first met in 5th grade we were shy about any physical contact. After one day, a hug from her was rare, but it happened sometimes.

She moved back and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I should probably head back down." She said. "Yeah, probably." She stood and walked towards the hatch.

"I'll see you in the morning." And she left.

Back to now
Your POV

You heard the voices around you but ignored them. It's just a dream. You kept telling yourself. This isn't real. You tried over and over again to convince yourself.

I'm laying in bed. None of this is real. You pleaded that you were right, but you didn't believe yourself. Help me...please.

"Rookie...Rookie!"

"Ah! What?!" You awoke to Bri hovering over you and the others surrounding. "You passed out on the flight home. And left a mess in the Pelican." She chuckled.

"Are you alright?" You could see the worry in her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." You went to lift your arm but Bri accidentally had it pinned down. She moved her hand and backed away.

"S-so what happened exactly?" You went to sit up and felt pillows underneath your back. "After we rode for a few minutes you threw up again then passed out cold." Braxton said from his spot on the couch.

You slightly scoffed at the information. Like there was anything left to throw up. "You will need sturdy medical attention though. The second time you threw up had some blood, so something might be going on inside that we need to get checked out." Bri told you while she stood next to Braxton. Your skin was pale, most of the color drained from your face.

Blake cleared his throat.

"Well, it's getting late. We should get to sleep." He tried to make sure his sister didn't stay awake all night, he was looking after her like he promised their parents he would.

"You guys head to sleep. I need to talk to Bri for a minute." Everyone left for bed and you and Bri were left in the room alone. Silence filled the room.

Through the silent air, you looked at her. "Bri?" You asked. "Yeah?" She mumbled. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

"No you're not. You've been through rough times these past few months. The infection, the coma, the duel. I don't know what it's like to deal with those things happening to you, but I know it's rough. You just need someone there for you." You felt like you were really helping her feel better.

She sighed. "Rookie, you're right. You're absolutely right. There's been so much going on lately that it's stressing me out. Things were better when I was little. I don't like being an adult, I just wanna be a kid again."

You looked at her dark blue eyes and saw how lost she was. Hardly anything made sense to her anymore. She had a virus that could've killed her and Gillian, she got put into a coma for three months, and one of her old friends was shot right in front of her. All of that would've drove you nuts. How does she still have her sanity?

"Things will get better." You said to her. "But how are you sure of that? How could things get better when they've already gotten so bad?" Her voice was pleading for an answer. "Somehow," You rubbed your arm.

"Somehow it'll get better."