The Fire Inside

5. Three Musketeers

It had been a few days since Julien and Jimin had left Sunset Village. They were doing well, except for the fact that the amount of food they had was being rapidly depleted. Jimin watched as Julien drained his water bottle, forcing the metal container to give him a few more drops. Once he was done, Jimin handed him her bottle.

"That's yours. I can't take it."

"Technically it's yours because you gave it to me. Besides, I still have half a bottle left."

"How?"

"I'm good at saving up. I don't use more than I need."

"Lucky."

"That's why you should take mine!"

"No. I refuse."

Jimin groaned at Julien's stubbornness. She put the bottle back in her bag and the pair started moving again. During the few days of their travels, they had dirtied their clothes to the point they were even ripped. Jimin looked down at the jeans Riley had leant to her so long ago. There was a tear towards her right hip and a huge hole around her knee. If she looked through the dirt, she could see cuts littered all around the area, but she refused to tell Julien. Julien on the other hand, still looked as good as he had started. He wore jeans and a purple t-shirt. The purple had a few dirt marks on it, but nothing too noticeable. When Julien saw Jimin staring at him, he ran his fingers through his hair and smirked.

"Look too good for you?"

"Shut up. Let's go, we need to cover distance."

"We don't even know where we're going!" Julien groaned.

"I didn't ask you to follow me, ok! You could have stayed with your family and whatnot."

"Ok, ok. Sorry. It was my decision and I don't regret it. Promise."

"Stop promising."

"Ok."

"Thank you."

"I didn't promise to stop so maybe I won't!"

"Julien help me or I swear to god—"

"Ok!" Julien laughed brightly.

Jimin and Julien walked side by side in the large forest. Suddenly, Jimin's head began pounding. She clutched it and fell on her knees. She winced at the impact as her knee's cuts and bruises were met with a sharp rock. Julien, finally noticing her knee, propped her up, off her knee and against a tree. He couldn't do anything, but watch her suffer the internal pain.

"Jimin! You ok?" It was the voice again.

"Leave me alone! Are you doing this to me! Are you causing this pain!"

"Jimin, who're your talking to?" Julien asked worried.

"Go away!"

"I can't!" The voice screamed, "I'd love to, but that devil did this. I can't do anything about it. I'm sorry. You're our only hope. You must survive! Fight through the pain!"

"What devil! What hope! How can anyone fight this pain!"

Julien hugged Jimin.

"I don't know what's going on, but I'm here. Promise."

Jimin wanted to point out that he had promised again, but simply nodded. She could barely move with the piercing headache. After a little while, the pain finally subsided, but Jimin was left exhausted.

"I'm gonna close my eyes for a bit, ok?"

"Here, use my lap."

Julien sat down next to Jimin and pushed her down onto his lap. She curled up on the cold, damp ground and shivered as she closed her eyes. In a few minutes, Jimin fell asleep with Julien running his fingers through her hair.