Mines

Chapter Thirty-three

"Has anyone else noticed it's been raining non-stop?" I ask Lafayette and Hercules, with my hand cupped around my chin and propped on the windowsill of the community center building. "I mean, I know we just got out of the desert and all but, still."
     "Maybe we're just in a stormy area. Or- you know what I think it is? All the clouds that we saw when we were in the desert- I think they collect here." Lafayette replies, lounging on his bunk and turning on his side to stare at me. I turn around to see Hercules on the bunk below Laf, and I notice that his eyes seem to be glazed and unfocused.

     "Hey," I say to him, seeming to break him out of his stupor. "Are you okay? You seem off." he looks at me suddenly with widened eyes and then turns his head and continues to stare off into space.
     "Fine." he mutters.
     "You know, now that I think about it," Lafayette says suddenly, and he leans over his bed to talk to Herc. "You have been acting oddly ever since that fight we had in the quarry. You know, when John came back and then fainted, and everyone thought he was dead and-"
     "I'm fine." Herc snaps at Lafayette, cutting him off. "So why don't you shut up?"
     "Hey man, not cool." I butt in, because Lafayette is looking very hurt. Nobody yells at Laf, he either stops the yelling or yells at you to stop fighting.
     "He's just talking and so annoying all the time, how do you stand him?" Herc shoots back at me.
     "How do I stand him? He's my friend, that's why," I retort. "And since when did you stop including yourself in this friendship?"
     "I never stopped! I just- I'm just having a bad day, can you just stop jumping on my case all the time?" Herc shouts at me.
     "Dude, it's not like we're all having the time of our lives here. I for one-" I start, but he cuts me off.
     "Oh so now we're talking about you again," he suddenly stands up, and towering over me he continues yelling. "Everything's about you, isn't it? You think you're all special because you got depression and sad backstory and whatnot? God you get on my nerves." I can feel tears pricking my eyes, and I will them not to fall because I can't cry in the middle of a fight, and I have to prove him wrong. I'm not useless, and not everything's about me. I care about other people. Or do I?

     Hercules knocks into my shoulder as he storms out of the door and into the rain outside. I let him go without saying anything, because I've learned it's best to leave Herc alone when he gets into this mood. It's not like this is our first fight or anything, but he's never blamed the way I behaved because of what's happened to me. He's never brought up my depression in our fights, he's never hit me where it hurts before. He's never told me all of those terrible things, and he's never left me alone like this before. And it all hurts so much because I need Hercules to survive, he's been with me from the beginning and I can't be without him. It's why I'd do so much for him, why I'd risk my life for him. Why I have risked my life for him. And I know he'd do the same for me.

     "Are you okay?" Lafayette says, placing a hand on my shoulder. He's hopped down from his bed to be by my side, to comfort me when I don't deserve it.
     "I- I'll be okay. We've fought before, right?" I mutter.
     "Oui, yes, you have," he answers. "But he's never-"
     "I know. I know," I say before he can finish the sentence. "Laf, I think something might be wrong with Herc, he's been acting weird."
     "I was going to say the same thing," Laf tells me. "We should go after him. We don't need him to apologize, we need him to tell us what's wrong." he looks at me for confirmation, and I nod, because it's the same thing I'd want them to do for me.
     "Let's go."

     "Herc, Hercules," I shout, running into the downpour, immediately getting soaked. Lafayette rushes behind me. I can see a black figure in the the rain, barely visible, and I run towards it, and place a hand on Hercules' shoulder. "Hey. I- we want to know what's wrong." Herc jerks his shoulder from under my hand.
     "I told you, nothing's wrong."
     "You can't expect us to believe that. You've been acting strange and we care about you, so please, tell us what's wrong." Lafayette says, rushing to Herc's other side.
     "Geez, can you get out of my business for a second-" he suddenly freezes, and looks around him wildly, as if noticing he's in rain for the first time. "I need to go inside." he suddenly mutters, and turns around and starts to head back to the orange glow in the distance that's the community center.

      "Hey," I say, and I step in front of him, blocking his path. "Tell us what's wrong first. No one will hear you expect us, it's okay."
     "No you don't understand, now get out of my way," he steps forward again, but I don't walk away from him. "I said, get. Out. Of. My. Way."
     "Herc, you're not acting like yourself, are you okay?" Lafayette asks, grabbing his arm, but Herc yanks it out of his grip and hits him across the face with the back of his hand.
     "Hey!" I yelp, and I grab Herc's shoulders, holding on tightly, not letting go. "What the fuck man?"
     "You idiot! You don't know what you're doing, let me go right now!" he spits at me, but I glare at him and don't let go. "Do you realize what will happen if I stay out here to long? The Captain's plan will be ruined, and I'll be a failure, and he'll punish me! I can't let that happen."
     "The Captain?" I say shocked, and for a moment, my grip loosens and Hercules takes his chance. He frees himself from my grip, and then dashes towards the community center. But he trips over a protruding root and splashes into a puddle. I run after him and grab him by his arms, then force him up and press him against a tree. "What's going on with the Captain? What are you planning?" But before he can say anything, he lets out a static like scream, admits a small electrical shock that runs through me and momentarily freezes me in place, and the falls to the ground.