Only Each Other

Chapter 19- Erin

I woke up with a gasp, sitting bolt right up but then wincing. Everything just ached all over but the bullet wound in my stomach had fully healed almost as if Josh had healed me. I sighed,  swinging my legs out of the bed and putting on the clothes that had been put on a chair opposite. I looked like some sort of freedom fighter. Well, I guess I was now. 

"Erin?" a voice asked. I drew back the curtain that was sectioning off my bed and was crushed by a hug from Harry. "Oh it is so good to see you not dying anymore," he said.

"Thanks Harry," I laughed, pulling away. "Wow, don't you look professional. And the medals too, well deserved I think." Harry smiled sheepishly and looked away, his cheeks turning bright red. He was wearing military uniform with three shining medals on his chest. A gun was slung over his left shoulder.

"So, where's Charlie?" Harry's face suddenly turned serious and his sparkling eyes dimmed.

"Yeah...about that," Harry said. He rubbed the back of his neck. "You need to come up to the control tower. The General wants to speak to you about...well, about Josh." I froze and looked up slowly.

"What's happened to Josh?" I asked. "Have they found him?"

"Sort of," Harry said. "Look, you're just going to have to come with me." He led me through the corridors then across the tarmac. The sky was a brilliant blue and the sun was warming me up even then. There were fighter jets lined up and ready to go just by the hangers. This made me worry. It worried me a lot.

Harry and I hopped into an elevator that took us up to the control tower. "Just warning you," Harry said quietly, shifting his gun onto his other shoulder. "You're going to get a lot of attention in there. As soon as Charlie gave his report in, you and Josh became pretty big heroes around here. Everybody knows what Triple did to you guys and what they made you do. The fact you tried to resist makes you guys heroes."

"I'm guessing Austin isn't exactly welcome then," I said, fiddling with Charlie's mother's necklace.

"Not exactly," Harry mumbled. "What I mean to say, Erin is... don't do anything stupid when you find out. We need you."

"When I find out what?" I said. Harry didn't answer. The lift stopped and the doors opened revealing the beating heart of the United Army. Everyone was rushing about, passing papers, working on computers or shouting into phones. Red lights were flashing and alarms going off. It was complete mayhem until they all stopped and stared at me. 

"Umm...hi?" I said. In unison, they turned their faces to the ginger haired man at the back of the room. He was standing with Charlie, leaning on a table which was showing a hologram of a city somewhere. 

"Erin," Charlie said, looking around. "You might want to come up here." I obeyed, with Harry just behind me. Everyone went back to their work but I could see them sneaking glances up at me. 

"See, I told you," Harry said quietly.

"Oh shut up," I whispered. 

"You're Erin, I guess," the ginger haired man said. I nodded and held out my hand for him to shake. He did so a little tentatively. "It would have been nice to have met you in better circumstances but...well, Agent Hunt?"

"Charlie? What's going on?" I asked. I was getting really freaked out now. Charlie gestured to the big screen behind him. It flickered to life, showing a close up of Josh. 

"You found him?" I whispered but I was dreading something else. He didn't look like Josh. His kind expression was gone. The bright twinkle in his eyes was gone. This person wasn't the Josh I knew. 

"I'm...sorry, Erin," a voice said. I turned to see Austin standing in the corner, looking frightened and guilty.

"You can speak now?" I asked in surprise.