Save The Girl

Heart on My Sleeve

~ Demi ~

     My lungs felt as if they were about to burst. The water I stood in was now beginning to blanket me in a suffocating texture. Joe was still moving swiftly under the liquid. He maneuvered bricks in both arms above his head as he moved his legs to the beat of imaginary music. I too was moving my body as best as I could, but I was losing air. We had to have been under the water for a good eight minutes, which if I was idle, I would be able to stay under three times as long. I was on the verge of giving up when Joe dropped both bricks and signaled towards the surface. I did the same, pushing up as we both gasped for air.

     "You're so stubborn!" He declared, hopping out of the water as I followed behind. "We'd both rather drown than lose against the other."

     "True." I coughed out, lying against the ground as my outfit stuck to my body. The thin air on the mountain wasn't making it any easier for me to catch my breath. I placed my hand over my stomach, trying to capture a few breaths as Joe chugged down a bottle of water.

     "Tyler had informed me that we were seen on that 'Rest Area' camera yesterday." Joe wiped his forehead with his now slightly dry arm.

     "I've heard."

     "Our next training session is to get that girl out of your mind. She can't run the show Demi. Her carelessness and yours, is bound to get us killed. Although you have nothing to worry about. They actually need you alive." I studied the man as he laid against the ground, his eyes studying the sky.

      "What do you have against Selena? It's like you and Nick are switching roles." I closed my eyes, listening to my own heavy breathing.

     "I have nothing against her. But you need to be focused. You can't half ass this mission. Me and my brother's life is on the line here. You don't have much to worry about on your end."

      "Don't I?" The air between us was making me dizzy. It was definitely the altitude playing tricks with my head. "If anything happens to you or Nick, I'm not just losing my friends, I'm losing my family. I have just as much to lose than the two of you."

     "Let me be clear." Joe sat up as I faced him. "I will die for you, but only for you. No one else."

     "Who needs to keep their mind on the mission now?" I smugly asked as he made his way away from me. The air slowly began to trail along the grass as I followed behind my friend. "You know I'm kidding, right?"

       "No, you're being honest. I do often think about you. But that's because I'm going to wake up one day and find your pretty little head on a plate. That's just not a sight I'd like to see." We slowly began making it down the hill we previously climbed. The cabin in the distance flickering a welcoming glow.

     "Pretty? Are you turning soft on me?" I playfully poked his arm, his eyes practically glaring into my soul. I still couldn't get this joke thing down.

     "Tyler informed me that he's setting up a small tactical area. We have to meet him before high noon. We're going to suit up from head to toe before making it down to the road."

     "So you're just going to avoid what I previously asked?" My words seemed to have annoyed the man as he stopped and faced me.

     "These next few days require you to give me your complete and upmost undivided attention. Can you do that?" Joe awaited my answer, the small vein in his forehead bulging.

     "Sure."

     "I mean it. No fuck ups." Joe signaled towards my nose as I quickly and angrily swatted him away. The cabin came into view, my mind wandering towards Selena. "Besides, it's already going to be hell taking some untrained civilian into Ludlow again." He spoke up.