Sacrifice

Chapter Three

I wake up almost every half hour tonight. That's tons more than usual. A couple times I forget where I am, and try to climb out of the cot in pitch darkness before bumping into Roadie. He snorts in his sleep, but doesn't wake. That calms me down. Roadie's only a heavy sleeper when he's sure we're safe.

Early in the morning, before the lights come on, I start awake and sit bolt upright, breathing hard. Sweat trickles down my nose and drips from my hair into my eyes. Explosions sound from far off, muffled and regular. Ten miles, maybe less. I try to slide out of bed and accidentally jab Mako in the side with my stump. He reaches out and puts a hand on my chest, holding me back.

"Stop," I hiss. "Let me go. They're carpeting just a few miles off. We need to evacuate. Get your bike."

"Rat," he says, "You're with Talon now."

"Let me go, Mako!" I'm screaming now, struggling against him as he holds me back. "They're after us! Please - please, we can't take the Omnics ourselves. There's too many of them. Please, Mako." I'm shaking so hard I can barely sit up. Mako takes me by the arms and looks straight into my eyes.

"Jamie, listen to me." I can hear the explosions drawing closer and I'm sick to my stomach with fright. "You're okay. This is Sombra's room. We're underground. Youre safe."

Safe?

I shudder violently, and he steadies me with his hands, still looking me in the eyes. I don't remember Mako having a scar. What happened? Why didn't he tell me?

"Hey! You okay, Jamie?" says a voice I don't recognize. I look up and see a short girl standing by the bed, watching me. Something shifts in my head.

"Sombra?" I whisper.

"That's right," Mako says. "There are no bombs. You're safe."

I look at him and my eyes focus for the first time. The sounds of explosions start to fade and I realize what I thought was an air raid is just the blood pumping in my ears. I relax, slumping against the wall. I'm still shivering.

Roadie tells Sombra to go back to bed and she does, though she glances at me one more time, curious and a little worried. I try to ignore her and hug myself, trying to stop my teeth from chattering.

Roadie watches me, silent. I can tell his brain is crunching away steadily behind his eyes but I can't imagine what he's thinking. Finally I swallow the lump and my throat and mutter, "Sorry, mate."

"For what?"

I press my forehead to my knee so I don't have to look at him. "Nevermind."

"You don't have to apologize," he says. "You know that, Jamie."

I shrug, jaw clenched to keep my chin from trembling. Roadie sighs heavily and drops back down onto the mattress. "Just... take care of yourself."

I stare at him until his breathing slows, until he begins to snore like a huge car engine, loud and rumbling. Blinding lights flash before my eyes, and in the corner of the room I sometimes think I see a fire, red and flickering and sending tongues of black smoke curling round the room. Eventually I lie down and huddle close to Hog. I try to match my breathing with his. Slowly my heart calms, and slowly I feel my eyelids droop.