Stonebrook High School

Chapter 43

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They stepped outside the electric fence, assuring themselves that it wasn't on as they slid through the wire. Jesse fixed the strap of his backpack and turned to face the scraggly group of adults and teenagers. "Okay, everyone, let's get moving."

The group followed Jesse as he staggered across the field, avoiding small hills that would disturb his balance. A voice behind him spoke. "Jesse, right?"

He inclined his head to see it was Ellegaard, now walking by his left side. "Oh. Hello."

"We haven't had a chance to acquaint ourselves properly. I heard you tried to save Gabriel from the original Wither. Sounds like you're a pretty impressive individual. Picks fights with figurative monsters? Always defending the weak and defenseless?"

Jesse shrugged. With half-joking intent, he said, "Are you making fun of me here?"

"Making fun of you? No!" the Engineer vehemently replied. "I'm saying you sound like a legitimately impressive individual. My apologies if my, heh, tone is a little hard to read?" She looked away to the trees and bushes brushing her arm. "In any case, I sort of wish that you had taken my side earlier but... water under the bridge and all that. Slight tangent - what's the... ah... deal with your friend, Olivia?"

He blinked in surprise and looked at the steampunk woman, wondering what she was trying to imply.

"I appreciate her enthusiasm, but she can be a little... much, sometimes? She's always very eager to jump in and help."

"You make her nervous." Jesse slowly brought out the words as he thought about what he wanted to say. "She's always wanted to meet you. Plus, she's one of my best friends, and she's smart and always has a plan. Don't look down on her." He glared at Ellegaard for a split second before facing the front again.

She flinched ever so slightly and blinked rapidly. "Oh, wow. Interesting. So... why didn't you listen to her plan to come and recruit me? I mean, not to make anything awkward."

He shrugged. "I figured that we needed firepower, and no one knows destruction better than Magnus."

"The man does know to blow things up with reckless abandon, that's for sure. I'll do my best not to let my feelings get hurt."

There was a short silence before Ellegaard chuckled awkwardly. "Joke. That was a joke."

Jesse rolled his eyes with subtlety and continued on.

They walked on for a few more moments before the sound of someone walking in the back quieted. Everyone turned around, curious to see who it was and why.

Lukas had his back to the group and was still as a rock. Olivia, who was closest to him, whispered, "Lukas? What's wrong?"

"Shh!" He silenced everyone with a single index finger and flicked his eyes around.

Heads were turning and looking at other heads, wondering what was going on. All of a sudden, Lukas twisted around and fiercely whispered, "Run!" A blur of black flashed behind the Ocelot, and you could see his bangs faintly lift up from the force of the resulting wind. From then on, everyone went into alert mode and darted off towards Soren's place, not willing to take a chance. If that air was strong enough to lift Lukas's carefully gelled and styled hair, it was too strong for most of them to take on.

Panting. Shallow breathing. They didn't dare stop to rest; one second wasted could mean an arm missing, depending on whatever that flash of black was.

Why did Jesse seem to run the most with his injured leg? This was not healthy or safe for him at all. First, it started with the inception of the Witherstorm back in Stonebrook; then, it was Magnus's dumb explosion in Boomtown. Now, it was running away from some thing in the middle of the woods. What the hell?

"Just a little farther!" Gabriel shouted, using his last ounce of energy to sprint out of the woods. Their collective footsteps thundered against the grassy terrain and any outsider would have mistaken the sound for a herd of frightened deer.

As the sight of an empty field emerged in front of the group, Jesse's foot got caught on a small hill of caked dirt and he slipped. A sharp yelp escaped his lips as he tumbled down to the ground, crutches flying a few feet away from him. He hit the grass, hard, and instinctively grabbed himself wherever it hurt. A shock of pain shot through his broken leg and he screamed through gritted teeth, biting down on his tongue.

"Jesse!" The twin couldn't tell who was calling out to him, but someone ran to his side and started to drag him by the arms. Another cry was elicited from the feeling of his sides rubbing hotly against the earth and they stopped pulling him. Someone else heaved Jesse onto their back and the sibling assumed it was Axel - but at this very moment, he didn't care. His body hurt from trying to run so fast with a handicap and slamming on the dirt. He wasn't meant for this journey. Not now. He had to heal. If he didn't, could he even make it any farther?

Damn. A single broken leg was a large hindrance on Jesse's capability to do anything. If he went any longer, his leg would probably heal incorrectly and he would struggle to just life. An image of him trying to outrun the Witherstorm without anyone else around to help flashed in his head and he saw himself fall, rising to his inevitable demise within the Storm. He shuddered, flinching from the simple thought. He had to stop and recover. After all, his leg wasn't the only thing that was broken.

"Hey, guys..."

"Yeah?" Axel responded with a short breath, clutching Jesse tighter and adjusting the smaller boy's position on his back.

Olivia's recognizable voice piped up. "What's up?"

"You need to go on without me."

Everyone had been listening and all stopped in their tracks. Every single head turned around and stared at Jesse, somewhat creeping him out how synchronized they were.

"What?" Lukas hissed out the question with the remaining air he had left in his lungs. His shocked expression told Jesse his question was not out of anger or exasperation.

The twin coughed and he held his chest before replying. "I said what I said."

"Um, guys?" The aspiring engineer tugged on her beanie before pointing in the direction of Soren's base. "We can talk about this later. Right now, we have to get out of here before that thing in the woods decides to ambush us."

"Right," said everyone with one final glance at Jesse.

The brother winced and cringed his face. He could already tell this conversation wasn't going to go smoothly.

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I don't always use whatever's in the game as the main content...

;)