Flaw

Chapter 17: B

My lungs burnt like I had drowned a river of salt into it, and I realized that I could not keep on running. I was running anywhere, but I knew I could not go home. I could not make sense of what happened back there with Flaw, but I knew that she was carrying a new kind of danger around that I had never seen before.

I rested against a tree when my chest stabbed itself, screaming no more. The plastic clung to my salted body, and I found myself ravaging at the itch that it caused. I closed my eyes and inhaled the poisoned air as it broke its way into my lungs with an unstoppable persistence. The humid air only added to my own discomfort, but that was politics no one cared about.

Flaw came around the corner, and I opened my eyes to look at her. She looked as exhausted as I felt, but her laminated suit never showed any indication of sweat or dirt. She had a guilt-filled glimmer in her eyes that I had no solution for. She looked around as if she expected the shadows to chase us, but we both knew that for now we were okay.

Those . . . people, from the laboratory would not come looking for us. They had too few men and had to think of a new strategy first. Even they had to be smarter than to think they could just show up and capture Flaw. It was not that easy. They had failed too many times, and I could not help but stress the thought, thinking what they would turn to-to capture Flaw and destroy her existence.

"I knew you were different than me. You are obviously stronger, faster and more intelligent," I started to say, pausing before looking at her for answers, "but I never thought that you could – how do I even explain it – set a person alight with your mind?"

There was a pause, as if Flaw had just realized what she had done. She didn't show remorse, just the same deadpanned expression as always. I wondered if she could even feel any emotions other than anger and distrust. Her lack of care for anything and anyone was an artwork.

"They were going to hurt you, and I had to save you." She responded briefly.

"A few men with guns never scared me, I was born for the apocalypse." I said jokingly. I felt thankful for her bravery since I had no idea the toll that it had taken on her body to do something so extraordinarily unique, but at the same time I felt that she had done something unnecessarily cruel, and for that I couldn't help but judge her. In her efforts to save me, she showed me that she was no different than them. We all make mistakes, but only a few of us realize the impact of our mistake.

"I don't even know how your apocalypse began." She said, breaking the silence. It looked as if she really thought about it, and it felt to me like not knowing what the Dommasc society did to us bothered her. Maybe deep inside of her, she was scared that she would be just as bad as the Dommasc Society, her creators.

I thought back to that day, and I started explaining to her. It was three months after my mom's death. My mom had named Wesley's parents, Bizzie and Danny, as my guardians if anything had to happen to her, and I remember being called downstairs one morning. It was a Sunday, and the sun was extremely affectionate that day – it was blistering. The birds were singing softly, and I remember there being a warm breeze through the house because someone had left the front door open.

I made my way down to the kitchen, my eyes following the faces on the portraits hanging on the walls. Everyone was happy, smiling. Wesley was the only child. He was supposed to have a sibling, but his mom had a miscarriage two years after he was born and losing a child in that way broke their hearts so much that they never tried again. They never speak about it, but I could see the sadness they carried in their smiles if I looked close enough.

Wesley's mom, a woman who was quite tall for her gender, stood there waiting for me with a pair of scissors in her hand. Her red hair had genetically imposed Wesley for a lifetime of being labeled as a vampire by the kids at school, and me being the best friend that I was, would always tell them to fuck off. He was more unique with the color of his hair than they would ever be.