Evelyn Earth Part 22

At any other time Sebastian would have out run me, his body looked like it was made for high speed hunting. Right now though he was sapped of energy and I felt almost normal. I scrambled up the side of a hill that marked the edge of the shipping yard. It sounded as if the voices had come from deeper inside the compound and true enough another scream punctuated the air, bouncing back and forth as if hitting an enclosed space.

Sebastian wasn’t far behind me when I skidded around the corner of a container and almost rammed into someone’s still frame. I managed to stop myself just in time and the person, who in the dim light looked like a young Asian boy, let out a surprised gasp. Sebastian on the other hand wasn’t dexterous enough to slow his speed and slammed into both of us with enough force to send us sprawling.

“Aiii” the Asian boy groaned as I pushed myself off him and rolled over to one side.

“What the fuck” I kicked Sebastian who had landed horizontally across both of us.

“Watch it” he hissed, “I didn’t mean to bloody bump into you did I!”

The Asian boy was still groaning, probably because he got the worst out of all of us.

“You ok there Izzy?”

“Izzy?” I mimicked.

“My name is Izwan” he moaned. Sebastian began to laugh and I couldn’t help but join in, his humour was unbelievably infectious.

“You hit me damn hard man, why you laughing? She doesn’t even know me man and the girl laughing at me already. Only girl I see in month and she laugh at me! Fuck you man!”

Sebastian only laughed harder. I struggled to my feet and offered my hand to the disgruntled Izwan, but he just shook his head and stood up on his own kicking Sebastian in the process.

“Ow! What is this kick Snow day?”

Somehow hearing Sebastian use a fake name sobered me up. The ridiculousness of the situation had distracted us from the real reason we had come careening around the corner.

“Who was screaming?” I cut in sharply. Izwan’s face dropped.

“One of your people hurt” he muttered, “In the container there” he pointed in its direction. I looked down at Sebastian who was still sitting on the ground, but his face didn’t betray any emotion. If one of his men had hurt one of my friends we both knew that I wouldn’t let it slide. Slowly I made my way to the container, it was only 100 metres or so away, but it felt like I was walking a kilometre. More soft screams and groans of pain lashed out at me from its direction. Someone had lit a fire next to the entrance and I could see Old Mal sitting down next to it prodding the embers. He looked up at me when I approached and I small smile played across his face.

“Back in one piece”

“Who is it?” I asked softly. Before he could answer Marla came out of the container her hands drenched in blood. My stomach did little flip flops and I felt the same as I had the first time I had ever seen blood as a child, feint and scared.

“I managed to get one of the pieces out, but there are at least three more still in there.” She looked at Old Mal as she spoke and I knew that she felt the same way about me running off as she did about Jack and Tod.

I stepped inside the container and the scene that greeted me was like one out of a war movie. I imagined Owen lying there in front of me, bleeding out, but his strong arms grabbed me as I came in.

“Oh thank God you’re okay” he groaned. The pain in his voice was almost palpable. I gently moved his arms aside and knelt beside Fins. His eyes were closed, but his hands were moving spasmodically. Small uneven breathes escaped his blue lips and every few moments a deep moan of pain. Someone had ripped his shirt off to reveal the shredded horror that was his abdomen. A large hole bubbled with dark thick blood whilst a sharp metallic object stuck out from his side.

                Unfamiliar voices rang out behind me. I caught snatches of the conversation as what had happened was explained to Sebastian. They had been swimming back to shore when the bridge had begun to disintegrate. They had almost made it when the destruction process had stopped. The leftover pieces of the bridge that had hung suspended by the darkness had fallen right on top of them piercing Fins through the back and grazing a few of the others.

                Owen was holding onto my shoulders when Sebastian came into the container. His eyes took in the whole scene with a cool appraisal.

                “We could remove the pieces still inside him” he said as he knelt on the other side of Fins. His green eyes reminded me of ivy. I shook my head quickly from side to side. I knew what he meant, I could disintegrate the metal leaving only human flesh, but I wasn’t ready for the way Owen would look at me when I finally revealed my darkness. Sebastian sensed my reaction.

                “I could try and do this alone…”

                “It wouldn’t matter” Marla had re-entered the container, “the metal fragments that are still in him have pierced most of his vital organs. Taking them out will only accelerate the rate of his death.” She was so blunt about it that I glared at her in anger. I had known that from the moment I saw him, I could practically feel his life force sinking into the earth—leaving his body. I wondered if Sebastian could sense it. If he could then he wouldn’t have suggested removing the metal shards, unless that was just him being considerate.

                “Who are you?” Owen’s attention was firmly fixed on Sebastian.

                “He’s one of us” another male voice chimed in from outside. Owen didn’t even turn to acknowledge it keeping his yellow dappled eyes on Sebastian.  

                “Where were you when the bridge went down?” he asked. I was surprised at how direct he was being, for Owen to doubt anyone before meeting them properly seemed completely out of character for him. He was treating Sebastian with open hostility and I wondered why this sudden change had taken place now.

                “I took the other service ladder. I was the last one going down and I thought I’d have a better chance of making it if I wasn’t following six other people.” Sebastian replied casually.

                “You were the last one?” Owen repeated. A stretch of silence followed where both men sized each other up.

                “The last one alive you mean? I saw that poor man caught in the black hole” I spoke up.

                Sebastian’s eyes met mine and he nodded with feigned grief.

                “Johnny didn’t make it”

                “I’m sorry” Owen said quietly. He knew all about people being destroyed by ‘black holes’ and when he saw Sebastian swathed in liquid darkness, suspended over the water he would have naturally assumed that he was being devoured. Seeing as similar looking man sitting next to him though must have set off some suspicion radar that I didn’t even know Owen had. Luckily it doesn’t take a lot for Owen’s perception of things to be clouded by my semi-plausible explanations. I had learnt that lesson early on.

 “Should we, I don’t know, do something to make him more comfortable” Owen asked no one in particular.

“He’s not feeling much of anything right now, best to just let him lie” Marla answered sombrely, “he doesn’t have much time.”

I brushed back Fins’ damp hair and tried to remember some of the good times that we had together, but in actual fact we were strangers to each other. All we had were those few stories he had told me next to the bonfire. I stood up and left the container. I thought maybe Owen would follow me out, to comfort me but it was Sebastian’s presence that I felt behind me.

“Were you two close?”

“No” I shook my head, “he was just a kid that I met.” He came up next to me and we both stood there looking out at the night.

“In the grand scheme of things he was nothing” he said. I knew exactly what he meant and nodded in agreement.

“So do you have any food around here?”

“You’re unreal” I laughed.

“Real enough” he slid one arm around my waist. I looked at him from the side and true enough his sly smile was looking back at me.

“Get off!” I tried to twist out of his grip.

“But you said I’m unreal! I’m proving my corporal reality to you!” he pulled me into a bear hug and I tried unsuccessfully to punch him in the side. I squealed as he bit down on my shoulder and spun me around to the side. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Owen and went completely still.

“Alright?” Sebastian asked.  

“Yeah” I straightened up as he let go of me. He had seen Owen too and now all three of us were staring at one another until Owen turned on his heel and walked back into the container.

“Is that your boyfriend then?”

“No, something like that” I replied hesitantly.

“You going to run after him?”

“No” I said again. Honestly a part of me was relieved. Owen’s attachment to me had become overbearing, but then again I didn’t want to hurt him. Confusion clouded my mind and once again I was plunged into that dank pool of uncertainty. Did I want comfort and normality, all the things that Owen could give me or did I want to follow my destiny—the destiny that Sebastian shared.

“Come on then love, let’s go find that food.”