Minutes of silence passed before the idea of movement even entered Gabriel's head. But slowly, with him walking onto the dirt road, he saw that there was no one else nearby.
Their threat was far enough away.
That was when he had his group continue their journey to their destination.
For the final 15 minutes that remained, the group kept up to speed, with Gabriel steering his eyes behind him.
The thunderous clouds came quickly.
When Claire looked behind her, she saw a row of clouds that looked like the mouth of a whale. A flash of light ignited the shy for a mere second with the crackling of the fast lightning shock being heard only seconds later.
The wind picked up a noticeable amount of strength. But they didn't have to further worry about surpassing the storm.
When Claire looked back forward, her eyes were met by a big, dome-like building. It was the base.
They were briefly welcomed and ushered into the building by friendly soldiers.
"The bus is ready for you," one of the friendly soldiers conversed with Gabriel. "But you have to hurry up. We saw the enemies too, they were here, but we told them nothing. We don't know if and when they'll be back.".
Gabriel shook his head in acknowledgement. "Thank you," he spoke, taking the soldier's hands into his and shaking them. "Thank you so much.".
"Of course. After all, the only way to win this through is if we stick together.". The soldier paused. "Good luck, to both your group and you, Captain!". With his words, he proceeded on sending Gabriel a salute.
Claire was a witness to this all as she stood with the rest of her group, by the wall as they all waited for further instructions.
A few minutes and loud, nearby thunder strikes later, the group was escorted to their bus.
With half of the atmosphere already painted a dark grey colour, the big, dark clouds slowly began to take over more of the sky.
Gabriel and his people all boarded the bus just as the rain began to fall.
Claire was sat near the middle of the bus. It reflected a similar position to that of where she stood on their journey to this establishment. She also noted the fact that this bus was smaller, compared to the one she was on only hours ago. Only hours ago when Trina was still... alive.
Slowly, confusion aroused within Claire when she found the bus still hasn't departed, despite everyone being seated. Then, a male voice caught her attention.
She looked up and towards the front. Gabriel stood up and awaited the man who was outside.
Suddenly, two loud gunshots pierced through the air. Claire's eyes immediately went to Gabriel. His eyes widened as he crouched down ever so slightly. It was this that caused that same feeling to resurface within Claire and the pit of her stomach.
More shots were heard, but when Claire glanced out her window, it was the friendly soldiers defending the bus. With that, Claire returned her attention to the front of the bus.
"Are you okay?" she heard his voice. 'That means it wasn't him, he wasn't shot, right?'.
It was moments later that Claire saw Gabriel's head come back up. Milliseconds later, she registered a hand on his shoulder. He had a man on his shoulder.
They both walked up and onto the aisle of the bus. Slowly, they began to walk down the rows of seats as the front door of the bus closed.
The man looked big himself. Muscular, his frame was wide. But when compared side by side, Gabriel seemed to be that bit bigger.
Claire didn't notice, but the bus began to move. Only when she glanced outside, did she see the ground move, realising that they were off.
Her attention went back to Gabriel and the soldier he carried.
They stopped by the first row which had a seat that was empty. Claire's row.
Gabriel looked at Claire, their eye's locked. Then, his gaze descended down to the empty seat. Claire instantly knew what followed. No words needed to be exchanged.
Slowly, Gabriel aided the harmed soldier down onto the seat beside Claire.
Standing back up, Gabriel looked back at Claire. "Would you be able to tend to his injury? He was shot just as he was entering the bus. Thankfully, it was only one bullet that managed to hit him.".
Claire nodded to his words. Internally, she let out a big sigh of relief. 'So it defiantly wasn't Gabriel...'.
"Also, Claire. Give me a call if anything... unexpected happens.".
Claire gave Gabriel a small smile. "Yes, Captain.". With that, he too smiled before beginning his way back to his seat.
Claire got her bag that Gabriel gave her. She got ready with whatever it was she needed. Then she looked up at the soldier. She saw the way his face was scrunched in pain as he released quiet groans of agony.
"Okay, can you tell me where it is you got shot?" Claire requested.
"T-the back of my thigh. That fucker..." he hissed through his teeth as he turned on his side. And there it was, the bleeding bullet wound.
"Would you be able to take off your pants for me, please?" Claire asked again, dabbing the gauze against the wound in the hope to control the bleeding.
"Woah, woah, lady. We barely even know each other and you are already asking me to take off my pants?".
Claire furrowed her brows to his words. "I-I am sorry?". A pause. " I am here... trying to help you. I really do hope you realise that, Sir.".
She saw the way he turned his head as much as he could. A small, sheepish smile appeared on his lips. "I-I umm, I didn't mean it...". Seconds later, he gave up trying to explain, excuse his doing. "I-I'm sorry...". With that, he did as he was asked. He took off his bottoms - leaving his underwear on.
Claire took a closer look at the wound and began the extraction of the bullet.
She sunk a pair of tweezers into the wound and began navigating her way to touch the bullet. Upon touching it, she took a tight grip of it before beginning to pull it out.
"What is your name, Sir?" Claire asked as she worked her way with the bullet. She hoped to get the soldier to talk so that he'd focus on something other than the sensation of Claire practically being inside of him.
"Frank..." he replied. Sort of picking up what she attempted to do, he wanted to carry on the conversation. "And what's your name?".
Claire was slightly surprised upon hearing such a question. In fact, she was surprised to hear him ask a question anyway. But she was glad to know that he was comfortable enough to carry on their conversation. "Claire," she replied.
"Claire..." he repeated. "That's a very nice name.".
She couldn't help but smile ever so slightly at his compliment. "Thank you. And I must say, your name is not too bad either.".
Now, Frank was the one who smiled. "I'll take that as a compliment.".
"Well, it was. It was very much a compliment," Claire responded. With that, she managed to pull out the bullet.
She cleaned the wound before she wrapped his thigh up. With that, he dressed back up.
He tried to sit back down on the seat. He also tried to look as comfortable as he could, but the wound was the only source of pain that was in the way of him doing so. And Claire noticed this.
She saw the way he had bags under his eyes. The way parts of his face were littered with small, fine lines. He looked exhausted.
Diverting her gaze out the window. And as she looked at the dark landscape and the even darker sky, she thought to herself, 'When was the last time he had a proper night's worth of rest?'.
With bolts of lightning strikes crackling through the air, the rain began to pound against the metal of the bus, increasing in intensity with each passing second.
Once more, she looked towards Frank. His eyes were half-closed.
With that, she made a decision. She stood up, catching Frank's attention.
"Claire? Is everything okay?".
She nodded to his inquiry. "Take my seat. Lay down across both your and my seat and try to get some sleep. You look exhausted.". A pause. "I also hope by laying down, your wound wouldn't bother you as much.".
He shook his head. "It's fine. I'll be just fine like this.". But his eyes left a counter effect his words attempted to make. She saw it in his eyes that welcomed the idea, the thought of resting, somewhat, properly.
"Look... you need some rest. I see it on your face, in your eyes. You are exhausted.". A pause. "I'll find some other place to sit. You'll need all the rest you can get," Claire replied.
Hearing her words, she noticed the way Frank's eyes glistened with gratitude. "R-really??".
Claire nodded, a small smile evolving on her lips.
He too let a smile form on his lips. "T-thank you. Thank you so much!".
She quickly took her things. "I hope you feel better soon, Frank.".
"I... I hope so too..." he began. "And thank you, thank you for helping me.".
"Of course. You are most welcome.".
Walking to the aisle of the bus, she looked towards the front and the back, debating which direction she should pursue. In the end, her mind went black and her legs took over.
Subconsciously, she began her way towards the front of the bus. Claire held onto the seats beside her as she took her steps, they helped her stay on her feet. She took the first seat that was empty. Looking across from her, she saw Gabriel as he rested his head against his seat. Eyes closed.
It was as if he felt her presence. At first, he tilted his face towards her before he opened his eyes. Almost immediately, his eyes locked with hers. "Claire? Is everything okay? Did something happen so you changed your seat?".
She shook her head. "Everything is fine. I just let the man take both his and my seat to rest.".
Gabriel felt a smile stretch across his lips. "How considerate.". A pause. With that, his face straightened ever so slightly. "You know... I am very glad to have you on my team, Claire.".
A small smirk appeared on Claire's lips too. "Thank you for having me, Captain.". Her eyes remain on his, as his on her. Claire was the first one to break their eye contact. She looked to the windshield of the bus.
She spectated as the curtains of rain crashed and splattered against the windshield. The flood of wetness from the rain spread in all directions, the wipers tried their best to clear the small rivers of rainwater that ran down the windshield. But the intensity of the storm made their efforts futile.
Moving her gaze elsewhere, she felt her eyes begin to shut. The sound of the rain and thunder acted as some sort of white noise. It helped her calm down.
And before she knew it, she felt herself begin to fall asleep. Not too long passed before she allowed for sleep to devour her.
And Gabriel couldn't help himself but steer his glances every once in a while to Claire. He gazed at her as she slept peacefully.