Half-Breed

Chapter 6

I'm too lazy to write anything of significance in this little author chat box thing, so...JUST READ THE CHAPTER!!!

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         “Help!  We need help!” yelled Artie.  Hinda violently swept everything off the counter and yelled,

         “Place him here!”  Blade cleared the way and Artie gently placed Ace on the countertop.  Hinda began skillfully cutting off his shirt.  She paused and looked at the crowd staring on in shock.

         “Get out!  I need room!” she barked.  Everybody snapped out of their trances and slowly made their way out of the cabin.  I followed in a daze and sat down on a chair outside.  My mind was a blank mess of shock and worry.  I kept playing the image of Ace, bloody and unconscious in my head.  I had no idea how long I had sat out there before Blade walked out of the house and slowly made his way towards me.  I looked up expressionlessly.  He looked down at me and shook his head.  He turned away and stared up at the starry sky.

         “It doesn’t look good, but I’m confident in Hinda’s medical skills,” he reassured me.

         “What happened?” I whispered.  He glanced down at me and then looked back up at the sky.

         “We noticed them when we walked outside, they were trying to ambush the cabin, one got a hold of Artie and pinned him against the wall, but Ace knocked him off of Artie.  Ace distracted them and led them into the forest.  We tried to follow, but he told us to thoroughly check the cabin.  After we were finished we made our way to Ace as fast as we could, he was barely holding on to consciousness and had three bullet wounds.  After all going up against a whole infantry of HACK soldiers and living, that’s luck in itself,” he concluded.  I nodded and stood up; I needed to do something useful instead of sitting here and being all gloomy.  Blade walked back into the cabin and shut the door.  I looked around and saw the children huddled up together.  They looked terrified and I immediately felt guilty for feeling sorry for myself.  They were probably traumatized by the event.  I walked over and knelt down in front of them.  A young boy with black hair looked up at me.

         “Is Ace going to be okay?” he asked innocently.

         “He’s going to be fine, don’t worry about it,” I replied beaming at him.  The other kids had overheard what I had said and all of their eyes began watering.  The black haired boy jumped up and hugged me, then the other children followed.

         “There there, it’s going to be okay.  Ace will be fine,” I cooed.  But the truth was that I didn’t even know if Ace was going to be okay.  I felt bad for lying to them, but Ace was going to make it…right?

         Later on, Artie brought out sleeping bags for everyone saying that Hinda wasn’t done treating Ace yet.  I grabbed a bag and went to an empty spot of grass and immediately settled down.  I lay back and glanced up at the peaceful stars.  My lids were heavy with fatigue and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

I woke up the next morning to sunshine glaring into my face.  I sat up and rubbed the sleepiness out of my eyes.  Blade was busy making breakfast on a small gas stove and I noticed that only a third of the group was here.

         “Where is everyone?” I asked Blade yawning.

         “They’re all preparing to leave,” replied Blade.  I looked around and then came to a realization.

         “Does that mean that Ace is okay?” I said desperately.  Blade looked back at me and thought for a little while.

         “He’ll live…” he said.  I didn’t like the way he said that, as if something was wrong.  I sprinted into the house and whizzed pass half-breeds busily packing beds and cots.  Hinda was scrubbing the kitchen counter when I slammed into it.  She must have seen the panic in my eyes because the first thing she said to me was,

         “He’s over here.”  She walked to a door hidden in the corner beside the counter.  She opened it and walked in.  I nervously followed her into a small, cozy bedroom.  The walls were wheat colored and the furniture was made out of maple wood.  The sun was shining in through a small window hidden by lacey white curtains.  There was a small twin-sized bed with yellow sheets to match the theme of the room.  In the bed lay a peaceful looking, unconscious Ace.  His skin was still pale from the stress of his wound.  His torso was tightly wrapped in bandages and you could see hints of pink where he was still bleeding from his wounds.  I sat down on a maple wood chair next to the bed and took one of his hands.  I searched his face for familiar features, his radiant smile, his glowing eyes, his warming laugh.  But he was still as a statue; only the steady rise and fall of his chest gave me the reassurance that he was alive.  My eyes started tearing up, he looked so fragile lying there.  I squeezed his hand and Hinda rested a comforting hand on my shoulder.

         “I’ll give you some time,” she walked out of the room and closed the door.  I rested my head against the bed and silently sobbed.  I sat up and wiped my eyes.  Ace wouldn’t want me to be depressed.  It would just make him feel guilty to know that I was crying because of him.  I glanced back down to his face and then his wounds; I noticed that Ace had scars all over his body, from scratches to stitches.  I imagined how horrendous these wounds must have been.  I lay my head back down on the bed and wondered what had happened to Ace in the past and eventually fell asleep.

         I dreamed that Ace and I were running frantically, he was pulling me by the hand and I was struggling to keep up.  Every breath I took burned my throat.  My body was ready to give out, but I was afraid, afraid of something behind me, so afraid that I knew I couldn’t stop.  I suddenly tripped over something in the dark and my hand slipped from his as I hit the ground.  Ace immediately ran back to me and tried to quickly help me up, but they were already upon us.  Masked soldiers with guns surrounded us.  Ace grabbed me and looked into my eyes with a mix of fear, sadness, and love.  The first shots rang out and Ace shielded me as the bullets rained down upon us.  I heard the gunfire stop and felt Ace fall and hit the hard floor.  I was afraid to look down at him, but desperate to at the same time.  I slowly tilted my head down, my eyes wide with shock.  Ace was lying on his side in a pool of his crimson red blood.  His eyes closed and his entire body still.  I knew right at that moment, that Ace was dead.