SOJOURNER (III): tmr gally

24: I should be green

Ella 24

My head hurts. I sit up, in the dark, looking around. There are bodies littering the floor, not at all unlike the space when I went to sleep. The Violet girl is beside me. I can hear her breathing. The push of her lungs and her heart, thumping together against her chest. Her warm breath fills the empty space hanging over our heads. Her arm lies delicately across my stomach, hanging out of her sleeping bag. I'm carefully tucked into mine, and I suddenly wish I wasn't. Without the layer, her skin would be that much closer to mine. The first thing I really want to feel is her.

I drag my hand across the ground, moving over to her side. I placed it there, unsure of how to make it fit properly. No matter where I place my hand, it doesn't seem to slot into the right position. I turn onto my back, and the movement causes her to stir. I look over to her face, which is barely a shadow in the dark. I can't make out any of her features, but I hear her yawn.

It a sweet sound, light and airy.

"You're awake," the sound is husky, as it scrapes across the inside of her throat.

I nod, though I doubt she can see the movement. The sleeping bag beneath me rustles with ever subtle twitch of my body. Normally, I can feel her smile across the room, but now, she doesn't let it take over her.

I lean a hand over, placing it on her forehead, and recoil. Her body is aflame. Clammy, and sweaty, and not like her. It's practically melting.

"What's..." I begin, scrambling backwards. "What's wrong?"

"I'm fine," she says, but the words are an after thought. They seem to struggle out of her mouth. "You're the sick one. You just woke up."

It doesn't matter that I'm sick. My body isn't that important, but hers is. I have spent far too long imagining it to let it slip away this quickly. Though she breathes, she struggles, and that makes me nervous.

"Besides, we've got no Meddy," she groans, rolling over. "No supplies."

Leo has left, I guess. Our coalition is crumbling. I stand up, moving around the room. There are no stars above us. Are we underground? My brain rattles in my brain. Hands flying up, crumbling down against a wall, trying not shake; I can't seem to be alive. What could I do to help her? Not that I would know if I saw it. I doubt that I could help myself if I was presented with the opportunity.

"What's going on?" Someone is awake, and moving around, but I can't speak. Instead, I clutch my ears as I lie against the wall. Thunder rolls through my head, crashing inside my ears. Don't think about it. Forget it. Don't remember.

The girls are leaving me, one by one.

"I don't like this plan," Eli's voice is quiet, and his hands are practically compressed in his lap.

"Why not?" It's a great plan. I've already started to work out the kinks.

"I don't know that it will work," he shakes his head, refusing to touch the food before him.

He just doesn't get people. Can't read them properly, not that I can blame him. It can be hard sometimes. I get up, off my chair and move next to him, so that we are sitting side by side. The cafeteria has filtered out, so it's practically empty.

"See the girl at the table in the corner?" I begin, turning my head to look at Eli so we aren't both staring. "She's the one facing us."

Eli nods, though he doesn't seem convinced. "She's the one they brought in from the Right Arm?"

I nod carefully. "I take it you know the boy they stole too?"

Though it is just a rumour, I'm inclined to believe it. If there is any chance we can get in the room, it's her.