With Stars In Their Eyes

Chapter 16: Sacrifice

With their back's up against the desk, they could hear the screaming and clawing of the creatures on the other side of the door. Luna had her eyes closed, bracing herself. A tear rolled down her cheek as she tried to think a way out of their current situation.

Joe emerged from the hallway with a gun in one hand and a lighter in the other. He ran to them and placed himself in between them on the desk. Luna could tell his brain was going a million miles an hour, thinking through his next move.

"I have a plan," he yelled over the shrieks, "You two need to run out the back door!"

"What about you?" Adam yelled, concerned. "What are you going to do?"

"Don't worry about me! Just get yourselves out!"

That's when Luna smelled the gas. It was like rotten eggs filling her lungs. She knew what he was planning now. But at what cost? Was he going to follow you? She forced the thought out of her mind, there was no changing his mind now and it was the only way out. They didn't know what these creatures would do to them if they got their hands on them.

Luna took a deep breath, clenched her fists, and the three of them ran. Almost immediately, the creatures pushed the desk an entire foot towards them. The edge caught her heel and sent her falling forward. She stumbled, but caught her balance and kept running full speed towards the back of the station. She was a few feet behind the men, trying to pick up speed to stay with them. Joe was in the lead, he had had a chance to explore so he knew where he was going.

Luna could hear them behind her, shuffling and knocking into walls. The screaming made her ears hurt and she could feel a headache erupting from behind her eyes. She didn't know if it was from the noise or the gas.

Joe got to the door first. He flung it open and Adam ran through it, looking back at Luna. Joe grabbed her arm and flung her into Adam's arms. The two of them paused and looked back at Joe, willing him to follow them. But, instead, he smiled and closed the door behind them. Luna stumbled back into Adam. He threw his arms around her and made sure she kept moving.

Joe never screamed, but they knew what was happening to him. They could only keep moving in order to outrun anything following them. Adrenaline was coursing through Luna's veins, giving her tunnel vision. All she could think about was getting to safety.

The explosion blew them forward onto their knees. The heat from the fire hit them in the back like a wrecking ball. But they picked themselves up off the ground and kept running, not looking back. Nothing was going to stop Luna from getting to safety, not even the sensation of burning hair on her neck.

Tears streaming down her face and eyes stinging from the smoke, Luna finally collapsed. Nothing was following them, Adam was the only person in sight. She collapsed on the ground out of breath. He wrapped his arms around her after he put out a small fire in her hair. It would have smelled terrible if their nasal passages weren't singed.

They both sat there for a while, riding out the shock. Maggie and Gary came running. Luna could tell they were saying something, but the blast had deafened her. All she could hear was a high pitched ringing. Maggie picked her up onto her feet and put an arm around her, guiding her back towards the school. Luna allowed her to direct her. All she wanted was to lay down.

Luna had never lost any one before besides her grandparents, but that was from old age. No one she had ever known had passed too early. Thoughts of Joe and what he just did for them were swimming around her head, making her nauseous.

Luna paused for a moment and looked down at her feet. Maggie pulled on her arm lightly, trying to encourage her to keep moving. But, she couldn't walk any further. Her nausea had got the best of her and she fell to her knees, vomiting on the ground before her.

Supporting herself with her arms, Luna sat there with her eyes closed. Joe just gave his life for them. He died for them. But why? What makes them so special for someone to kill themselves to save them?

Luna felt yourself being picked up, once again. Adam cradled her in his arms, holding her tight. She let the sadness overcome her, bawling into Adam's shirt. Is this what life was going to be like now? Death and pain? It was too much.

Luna cried until she couldn't produce tears any more. But her body kept trying even though she was dry. She had to stop Adam one more time to throw up on the side of the road before they got back to their home.

Once inside, Adam set Luna on her comforter and handed her a bottle of water. Maggie sat next to her and wiped her face with a damp rag. When she pulled it away, it had turned red and grey with blood and soot.

Luna's hearing was starting to come back, but everyone was silent. Freddie was sitting up in bed, looking over at them. Gary walked over to him to explain. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about what just happened. All she wanted was sleep.

Maggie brought them some food, but Luna's stomach hurt so bad that she couldn't find the energy to lift the food to her mouth and she didn't even know if she could keep it down, so it seemed pointless.

Luna could see Freddie in a crumpled heap on the floor, crying. Gary was trying to console him. He had grown close with Joe over the past couple of days. They ate together, went on supplies runs together, and even slept near each other. His pain was contagious.

Luna pulled the comforter over her head, blocking out the rest of the world. She could hear Freddie's muffled crying and the children giggling in the distance. It was almost insulting, but they were just children, so she couldn't hold it against them. They didn't know better and no one had the heart to tell them to stop.

Luna covered her ears and retreated into her own mind. She tried thinking about something happy, but she couldn't think of anything past the trauma. Rocking back and forth, she couldn't do anything but hum to yourself to drown out the sobbing. Fearing that she had officially lost your mind, she laid back on the ground, wishing for sleep.

A few minutes later, she felt a slight tug on the comforter. She lifted up about a foot to reveal a face.

"Can I come in?" It was Adam, laying on his back and looking up at her.

"Sure," Luna choked out. He slid in next to her followed by Stella, who was not as graceful. She Pushed past Adam and went directly into Luna's lap, putting her face an inch away from Luna's. She was not a lapt dog, but Luna didn't protest.

Adam pulled her in to him, kissing her on the forehead. He was warm; Luna didn't realize how cold she had been. She melted into him finally feeling the comfort that she needed. Stella licked her on the cheek and curled into a ball at her side.

Luna smiled. She was alive. Adam was alive. They were surviving. Instead of letting the dreadful feeling of losing Joe completely consume her, you needed to focus on the present. And the present felt a lot safer in Adam's arms.

They knew they couldn't stay at the school forever. And the creatures may have been the last straw. They didn't know where they were going to go, but it wasn't safe here any more. They needed to find a permanent home, but nothing seemed permanent any more. Not even their lives.