In The Shadow of Steel (Paladin Danse)

Part Twenty Five

It had come up through the ground out of nowhere and without warning. Despite us both having remained vigilant, we could not have been ready for that attack, not when she'd stepped on its stinger and aggravated it.
I swung my laser rifle into action and began firing at the enraged Radscorpion, but my attacks did nothing to keep his attention. He was gunning for her, and I was powerless to stop it.
   "Evelyn!" I shouted and made my way towards her, reached for her hand as the Radscorpion swung his stinger like a swatter straight into her side. Our hands barely scraped against the other as she began tumbling down the slope. That was when it turned to face me. I charged, firing cell after cell to put down the beast all the while it was trying to skewer me with his oversized stinger, and when it scraped against my arm I was grateful for my suit of T-60 power armor. Using the extra protection to my advantage, I leapt to the side, swinging my arms and smacking the butt of the gun with a brunt force against its face, staggering it. Then a final shot to its eye was enough to put it down.

The air was growing thicker around me, illuminated by flickers of radiation that hung in the air like fireflies. It would have been a pretty sight if it weren't for the intense feeling of asphyxiation, threatening to close up my trachea.
   "Evelyn!" I called out to her, heading down the slope she'd fallen down minutes before. It was so hard to see, and desperately I tried to ignore the harrowing thought of losing her.

It wouldn't be the first person you've lost to the darkness.

No.

   "Evelyn!" I screamed her name, not caring about attracting any unwanted attention, I needed to find her, needed to know she was safe. That's when I saw her, laying face down amidst a puddle of glowing radiation, the metal of her power armor rusting at a rapid pace beneath the heat. She wasn't moving.
My heart beat was pumping faster than ever before as I raced to get to her side.
   "Evie!" I shook her, noticing her fusion core had been destroyed, ruined somewhere among the duration of her fall. "Shit." I groaned, what do I do?
I only had a few seconds to think about it. The sound of the ferals fast approaching cut my thought process in half, and I had no choice but to get her out of her suit.

   "Come on!" I pressed. The wheel spun with ease and seconds later the armor separated revealing an unconscious girl. I grabbed her up into my arms and made a run for it, spotting a large pyramid just up ahead. The bomb disposal facility. We're here.

Hot on my tail the ghouls screeched their hideous roars, holding up the hairs on the back of my neck. I had no time to stop and fight them; there were too many, and I couldn't hold her in my arms at the same time. Her safety comes first. And first before mine.
The doors were just metres away, and the ghouls just far enough away to make time for us to get into the safety of the facility. With a loud scraping bang of metal, the doors sealed closed behind me, and the ferals were unable to get through. Finally I could focus all of my attention on her.
   "Evie," I cooed, removing my helmet and placing a shaky hand to her cheek. She stirred but her eyes remained closed. I gave her entire body a quick once-over, noticing the scrapes on her flight suit, and the blood seeping from her side. She came to for a momentary second, her eyes glazed over but open still. "Hey?"
   "I'll sleep now." She whispered softly.
   "No." Frantically, I reached for my backpack and pulled out a Stimpak, injecting it beside the wound from where the Radscorpion's stinger had got her. She winced and closed her eyes, feeling the burn of the Stimpak ease the burn of the venom.
   "No no no no no no! You stay with me Evie!"

My heart beat only increased as her body sprung back to life with a force that had her flying to her hands, vomit rocketing out of her mouth. Her back continuously arched as she choked out the irradiated sickness that had contaminated her. I crawled to her side, gently grabbing ahold of her.
   "Evie? Evie, look at me." She turned to face me, eyes wide with worry and fear, exhaustion in every feature. She closed her eyes, exhaled a deep breath, wiped her mouth and looked up at me once again.
   "Oh, there you are. Don't run away like that again."
A shaky gasp left my mouth and I pulled her right into my arms, cradling her so she couldn't escape. Tears were cascading from my eyes, and though they made me feel weak, that was the realisation of a fear that had been unbeknownst to me before. I could have lost her, she nearly died.
   "I love you."
I wasn't sure I'd ever know how it felt to say those words out loud, or whether I deserved to feel them. But the girl in my arms meant so much more to me than mere imagination. She was real, just as real as the feeling of warmth spreading throughout my insides the longer I hold her against me.
   "What?" She leant back to look at me, but I pulled her close again and planted a kiss atop her forehead. "You're gonna have to let me go at some point." She giggled, but wrapped her arms around me all the same.
   "Nope."