Everlasting

A Pool of Blood

"Syl!" 

She heard Leif before she saw him. He was slumped against one of the shelves in the Holo-Store. She sprinted over to him, dropping the gun on the floor next to him and sinking down to her knees beside him. 

 "Leif," she whispered, turning his head to face her. "What happened?" 

 He smiled weakly up at her. 

"Hey, Syl. Did you happen to bring any bandages?" 

 "Bandages?" Sylrie asked, confused. 

Then she saw his side. There was a pool of blood surrounding the wound and the knife was still sticking into the flesh. 

"Oh, no," Sylrie whispered. "What happened?" 

Leif rolled onto his side so that he could look at Sylrie properly, then groaned. The knife slid out of his side and the blood started flowing out of the wound. 

"Leif!" exclaimed Sylrie. "Leif, stay still!" 

Sylrie took out the penknife and cut off the sleeve of her sweatshirt, exposing her scarred arm. Leif's eyes widened as he saw her scar. It ran down the inside of her arm, starting at her shoulder and ending at the inside of her wrist. He reached out and traced his finger down it, sending goosebumps down her arms. 

"Hold still," she mumbled, ripping her cut-off sleeve in half. 

She wrapped the makeshift bandages around the gash. The blood soaked through the fabric almost instantly. Sylrie cut off her other sleeve and wound it over the top of the first one. Once again, the blood soaked through in no time at all. She sighed and twisted a strand of hair around her fingertip. 

 "Please don't hate me but...can you stand?" 

 Leif raised an eyebrow. 

"Do I look like I can stand?" 

"No," Sylrie admitted, standing, pulling off her ruined sweatshirt and depositing it in the nearest trash-chute. 

"But you're going to have to stand, otherwise you'll lose too much blood. We need to get back to the hideout for medical supplies." 

Leif groaned in exasperation and sat up, leaning heavily against the shelves. 

 "The pharmacy is two stores down. The door is locked and the shutters are pulled over but there's a spare key in the back pocket of my jeans." 

Sylrie hurried back over to him and snatched the key. 

"I'll get some bandages, painkillers, healing-gel and a spare first aid kit. Just in case." 

Leif smiled weakly at her as she stood. She returned the smile and sprinted to the pharmacy. She shoved the key in the lock but it wouldn't turn. She tried again, and again. After the sixth try she shook her head and took a step back, facing the closed shutters. She lifted her leg and swung forward three times. The shutters buckled and collapsed, the sound of the crash ricocheting of the metal walls. 

"What was that?" called Leif. 

"Nothing!" replied Sylrie, stepping into the store. "The shutters and I just had a disagreement!" 

"What happened to the key?" 

 "Oh, that!" Sylrie examined the small, golden key in her palm. "The key and I also had a disagreement!" 

She could almost feel Leif rolling his eyes. 

 "Sure you did! Did you turn it clockwise?" 

 Sylrie smacked the palm of her hand into her forehead. 

 "I am not going to warrant that with an answer!" 

She grabbed the medical supplies of the shelf behind the counter. A mountain of dust cascaded down onto of her. Coughing and hacking, she buried her face into the crook of her elbow and pulled down the rest of the supplies. She raced back to Leif and ripped the sleeves of her sweatshirt off his wound. They were now damp and sticky with Leif's blood. She ripped the cap off a tube of healing-gel and smeared it on the wound. Leif groaned and tried to shift away from her, but she used one hand to stop him whilst her other hand grabbed the bandages off the floor and wrapped them tightly around his abdomen. Leif grabbed her hands and pushed them away from the wound, then struggled to stand. Sylrie put her arm around his back and Leif put his arm around her shoulders. She helped Leif limp to the train station and he sat down on the floor of the train, putting his back against one of the storage crates and closing his eyes. Sylrie hated to leave him there on his own, but she had to collect more supplies. She quickly sprinted back to the mall, grabbing their storage boxes off the floor. Just before she picked up the last box, she saw a note. It sat on top of the box in a neatly folded golden envelope. On the front, in elegant script were the words, Sylrie Noir. Sylrie shivered and picked up the note, stuffing it into her pocket before grabbing the box and running back to the train. Leif was still sitting in the cart and when she arrived with the supplies and he managed to give her a small smile. 

"Train, take us to the city centre," she commanded. 

"Transporting to city centre," the robotic voice replied. The train started to move.