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We are alive.

The air cleared in what seemed like minutes. It was like a wasteland. The house completely flattened, debris crackling in the flames. Hiro and Alexander lay unconscious, Melissa scrambling over, frantically trying to wake Alexander. Very slowly, his eyes opened, bloodshot, blood streaming from the huge gash down his face. A puddle of blood was beside his head from the wound but it didn't seem right. It was bubbling.

Melissa carefully wiped away excess dried blood. "Are you okay? What happened?!" She cried, tears welling in her eyes. She cupped his cheek, looking into his eyes. Alexander looked at her. "Most importantly, are you alright?"
Melissa nodded "just a little scratch I suppose..." blood ran from a cut in her arm which had shrapnel lodged into it.
"We have to get you patched up." Alexander stood up, wincing at the pain. Blood stained his hoodie from the collar, his shoulder and stomach scolded and burnt. "Where's Hiro?"

They both went silent and the sound of hissing could be heard. The putrid smell of burning flesh and chemicals stung their noses. Hiro laid face-down on the ground. A pool of blood under him, bubbling with the heat. Half of his body was scorched. From the left side of his head down to his hip. Alexander dashed over to him, pushing him onto his side. "Shit. Boss... boss wake up. God damn it Hiro wake up!" Hiro's eyes opened.
"I... I can't feel my face... or my body..." the left side of his mouth was burnt away, leaving just his teeth and muscles exposed, some burnt skin layered over top. His eye was like a wrinkled, overcooked grape, all colour, that was once a chocolate brown, drained out of it, leaving it a murky grey.

Alexander pulled him up so he sat up. "Boss holy shit are you okay?! You look like hell..." Hiro looked at the stub that was once his left arm, gripping it with his right one.
"Besides from the whole burnt bacon look, yeah I'm fine. Are you? Jeez that blood is like green. And... your eyes... forget it we'll sort it later." Melissa ran over "Hiro! You're okay! I'm so happy! We should go to the hospital..." she nervously gripped her injured arm.
"Poor kid doesn't know his name, what's the point? We'll get found out too. Arrested and put in the nick. Why would we want that. Besides, I'm not bad with a needle and thread." He stumbled to his feet, becoming nauseous. Alexander supported him and Melissa, wincing as Melissa touched his shoulder.
"Ah! Sorry!" She pulled away.

Three days passed and Hiro could function without stumbling. He sat Alexander down and pulled out some thread and a needle. "It's still bleeding. Let's get it sewn up just a little." Alexander nodded and waited as Hiro carefully stitched the gash. The kitchen door opened and Melissa trudged in, shaking. "I don't feel very well..." her face was pale, tears in her eyes and hid her arm behind her back.

Hiro looked over, concerned and finished stitching. "I'll get you a drink of water." He walked over to the sink and grabbed a cup. She took her arm from behind her back. It was throbbing, blood clogged up from the wound entry. The part where the blood couldn't circulate turned a deep purple to black. "I'm scared..."
Alexander's eyes widened. "I-I think she needs more than a cup of water..."
Hiro looked over "Hm- oh my god... what happened?!"
Melissa sobbed, gripping Hiro "Please take it away! It hurts!"
Hiro looked at her softly, a concerned look on his face.
"It's okay Melissa. We'll get it fixed right up." He said softly.

Later, Hiro had her sat in the garage. He was looking through some tools, shoving a bunch of spanners, pliers and Alan-keys besides. "Aha! Found it." Slowly, he dragged out a rusting saw, the rust flaking off. Melissa didn't look, she just held her arm out and kept her eyes tightly closed. Her lip trembled, hands shaking, even the one that she felt nothing in. Her arm pulsed, blood dying to spray out but is still firmly blocked. Her arm from her hand to her elbow was a charcoal black. "Am I going to die?" She whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Hiro shook his head to reassure her "no you'll be just fine. Relax. This will be over sooner than you know." He approached her, saw in hand. She tried to back away but there wasn't much room to go.

"It will be just a scratch." Hiro lifted the saw above his head, swinging it down at the joint of Melissa's shoulder. Blood spurted out, Melissa writhing in pain, trying not to scream. "Stay. Still!" He lifted it up, Melissa pulling her arm away, letting out a scream as blood sprayed out, blanketing the floor. Hiro grabbed her, trying to restrain her.
She kicked and tried to pull herself away but Hiro persisted, managing to hack pieces of her arm off as she squirmed and shrieked in pain. Hiro bit his lip but continued.

Chunks of rotting flesh hit the walls and floor, black, clotted blood trickling down the walls. Hiro caught the joint of her shoulder, shoving the saw deep in, vigorously hacking away, the bone cracking and twisting, endless streams of blood spraying out. Melissa let out a bloodcurdling scream as it was over.
She fell on a chair, face pale, blood staining her clothes. Hiro put the saw on a wooden table and looked at the scene. The shed was almost painted red and black on the inside, blood dripping from the ceiling. His clothes and face was covered. It almost looked like a murder. He wrapped the now crevice of flesh with a bandage to stop the bleeding and shrugged it off. "Come on let's go take a shower."

He picked up the severed, black rotting arm and tossed it into a burning bin as he walked down the yard. Melissa trudged behind, face whiter than paper yet more red than the blood itself.

Inside, Melissa stood, not moving an inch. Tears ran down her cheeks, eyes wider than an owl's. Alexander looked at her "Hey... you need help showering? It looks... really painful..." he gently put his hand on her shoulder. Melissa shook her head and snapped out of it, giving a small nod in acknowledgment. She hooked her arm with Alexander's and walked to the bathroom where he sat her down, carefully undressing her. "Let's get you some fresh clothes out. These... will smell... and won't be clean. Ever." He dumped them into a bin liner and walked back in, gently ruffling Melissa's hair. He ran the shower at a lukewarm temperature.
"You're like a big brother..." Melissa whispered, sat on the counter, swinging her legs, looking at the floor.
"It's not much. Just don't want you to get sick. You're so young. We... both are I suppose. Come on let's get you cleaned otherwise this will be taken out of context by Hiro." He helped her down. Melissa giggled and stepped in, the bright smile that was once there back again. A small smile grew on Alexander's face which was alien to even him.

They heard a knock on the door "Hurry up in there. I'm sure Melissa doesn't need help new kid. Hands off her." Hiro was waiting outside. Alexander simply rolled his eyes and washed out the shampoo from Melissa's hair, making her hair go over her face. He chuckled "Hey! Where'd you go!" Melissa giggled and pushed her hair back "You're such a nerd." she smiled and turned the water off, stepping out.

Later, Melissa was drying her hair while Alexander brushed it for her. Hiro walked out with a towel around his waist "Also the shed's cut off for a while... looks like a murder scene." He pointed his head towards the yard window and dried off, pulling his clothes on.
Melissa looked back at him "It does? I can't remember much. I almost passed out... I'm still in so much pain..." she sniffed, her sentence trailing quiet.

They assembled in the garage, Hiro switching on the lights. "So. Just a run over of who we are."