Extinct

Chapter 6: Weaknesses

Nick Pov:
" how long have I been out ?" she asked while still half unconscious, she still will probably faint again from the pain and the exhaustion.

" a couple of minutes, i suggest you rest, this is going to be painful." i said while getting the miminal supplies we had gathered from the bunker to apply to Alex's wound. I didn't have much to work with, the wound would still be fragile but at least it wouldnt get infected.

" i can handle it" Alex said but i knew she was lying straight through her teeth, her eyes remained screwed shut with the intense pain she was probably going through, she bit her lip a few times which was turning me on quite a bit. it wasn't usual for me but at the end of they day im a guy, i know a beautiful woman when i see one and Alex was definitely on the top of the list.

" why are you putting yourself through this hell? It'd be so much easier for you to rest and let someone take care of you." i said while picking up the tweezers ready to get the shrapnel out.

" i've never had anyone take care of me...i've always handled everything myself...starting now would just be like giving up." i looked at her in admiration, i have truly never met someone like her, her breathing was shallow and she was getting tired again, i needed to keep her distracted from the pain to come.

" giving up isn't nessessarily a bad thing, sometimes it's good to stop and start anew." i lifted her top a bit but realised i didnt have her permission so i looked up to her beautiful doe brown eyes and asked her

" could i?" gesturing to lift her top up. She nodded her head briefly but i caught it and resumed to use the tweezers to take out the shrapnel. i needed to keep her distracted, maybe a conversation would do the trick.

" earlier on you said you lived in an orphanage." i said while she gave a small " mhm" confirming my sentence.

" what was it like, how did you come out of there with such a bold personality?"

Alex opened her eyes and raised her eyebrow at me but i just smirked at her showing her i couldn't care less about overstepping a boundary.

" i didn't come out willingly, i escaped." Alex said while wincing. i gave her a look of curiosity and yet she sighed and continued her story which i was not expecting that she would let me in.

" i never knew my parents. the nuns said i was left on a doorstep and that this was my new home. i grew up there, but it was never a home, not to me. i hated every single kid there, they saw the world in one way and i saw it in another. they would always pick on me,making me the weird one, the outcast. i was alone and depressed, thinking life wouldn't matter if i didn't exist, i mean my parents thought i wasn't worthy than why should I? when i turned 10 i decided to end my life but ... i didn't want to give up. so at 16 i grabbed what i could and jumped out of the window and ran, and ran and ran. i reached a house and i thought knocking on their door, asking them for shelter for the night would do the trick. turns out they kept there till i was 18. i never felt happier. they paid for my college, i promised to pay them back but they wouldnt have it, THEY were my family. i was about my degree in biology when this volcano-OW!" making her stop in her sentence once she realised one of the shrapnel was gone and gushing more blood

" go on, sorry" i said while rushing to wipe the blood away

" no, enough about me, what about you?"

" what about me?"

" how come from the whole year i have known you, you have been cheerier than cheerios, then all of a sudden you become a protective soldier of some kind and the most serious i've ever seen you, not to mention having a freaking arrow stuck in your arm and you not complaining once making me look like a wuss."

seeing her so fustrated yet filled with pain was somewhat amusing, i let out a small chuckle which she caught and frowned at. i decided that i should tell her about my past considering she shared hers with me.

" You said you weren't always like this ... what did you mean by that?" I wasn't obligated to tell her but seeing her in pain and curiousness made me actually want to open up to her. she seemed like someone I could trust.

I sighed and looked away for a few seconds getting ready to tell my story. I looked back at her seeing her eyes are closed in pain, so I focused on the wound again and began my story to distract her.

" When I was 20 I applied to be a soldier in war countries. We were all trained and pushed to be the best we could ever be. But it was never good enough, I was never good enough. They beat us into being a machine rather than a skilled humans. Torturing us to learn how to endure the pain, exploring our fears and crushing our spirits to show us that there was nothing more to live for other than war. Everyday was hell. I always looked back and thought that was this really the life that I chose? I was losing my sanity while the others embraced it and let it consume them. I couldn't bare it, so I packed up and escaped. I started a new life with a new identity and job. I promised myself to change and try to be a different person to what they made me. I guess that's why you always saw me cheerier than Cheerios as you put it. But when I saw those fuckers I- I guess old habits never die really." i finished off the sentence with the last bit of the shrapnel coming out making Alex breathe a breath of relief filled with a bit of pain. 

i wrapped the bandages we had around her stomach and pulled her shirt back down for decency. i was about to stand up to get some more firewood but she held my hand down in place as if to say something.

" I guess we both ran away from something, maybe we have more things in common than I thought, I'm sorry I judged you."

I was surprised by her comment but also content That she decided to give me a chance. I squeezed her hand back gently to let her know I accepted her apology. I wanted to make it more lasting and tease her but with the current state she was in I decided to not. There would be plenty of times after today I'm sure.

She was something else that's for sure. Her hand was becoming weaker below mine and her eyes began fluttering shut trying to stay awake. I leaned forward and kissed her forehead after removing her sweaty hair out of the way and softly said
" Sleep, I'll still be here when you wake up" and before I knew it we both Drifted in slumber  in each others arms enjoying the quiet for once.