The forest butted up right against the wall, providing excellent coverage in the foliage. There was a log we looked for that covered the hole but allowed us to enter without giving us away easily. Then I remembered, we would have to crawl. I braced myself as I knew the pain would want to take over, not to mention the smell was already nauseating without the pain to add in the mix.
"My favorite part." Sarcasm radiated from me with a smile as he smirked back in response.
"Hey, are you okay? You look pale." Squinting his eyes at me before quickly looking up and down to see what could have caused it.
"Oh, you know! Just being a girl in these hot woods, I'm good." I waved him off with a smile and overreacting with a bubbly personality.
His eyebrow raised as he looked away and looked at me one last time before going into the hollow log. As I stretched once more, I grimaced as I felt the rib protest. It didn't feel broken, but I couldn't remember if I was hit. A bullet would have done more damage, but perhaps a flying blockade piece of debris. I would have to look at it closer later when I would have a moment to myself.
The log was full of moss and small bugs that crawled around when I entered. I tried to move quickly although the next part to hit me was the smell of sewage. I gagged for a moment as the bile built up. A small amount pooled into my mouth as I spit it out. However, that made it worse because now the taste was there too assaulting my senses as a whole. We crawled on a narrow cement frame that if we were to lean to our right we would roll into the sewage river about five feet below us. We had a wall to brace against on our left, but it left smears of remnants on ourselves.
"The heck do they feed these people?" I asked out of frustration and misery.
"Whatever they want. Stop whining and hurry up, so we can get out of it," he replied obviously trying to hold his own stomach together.
While the crawl was only ten minutes, it felt like an eternity with my rib constantly hitting the cement below my stomach. I only hoped it wasn't broken by now and the muscle needed a moment to heal. Being out for a day would kill us, but I also knew my body. To truly heal I would need at least a week. We didn't have a week.
"Finally!" The metal ladder showed itself to take us to the water supply. There was a place to quickly shower off with some hidden supplies of soap my 'friend' usually had there. However, in my haste I let out a grimace that even Tyson noticed. He looked at me as he grabbed the latter. Looking to the latter then back at me he removed his hand and motioned for me to go up first instead. He was mad. The heat of annoyance radiated from him in waves as I climbed slowly up the latter.
As I reached the top, I started to make my way to the designated shower area until his hand squeezed on my shoulder. I gave a small whimper as I turned to face him. He released my shoulder and raised an eyebrow.
"Where?" he asked as his eyes looked me up and down, scanning.
"My rib," I groaned as I started to turn. He grabbed my shirt and lifted it, even though I protested.
"Milana," he scolded sternly looking at my ribs. When he pressed a spot, I could not help but cry out in the agony. Covering my mouth, I tried to stop further yelps as he looked at it and felt for anything broken. "It's not broken, but close. Probably a small fracture that didn't get to break off. Airhead, why didn't you tell me?"
"Because this mission takes precedence over everything, including me. My rib will do what it does. I'd be shocked if I make it out of this alive in the end, so why not just deal with a patched-up body in the meantime?"
I didn't mean to yell. However, I was frustrated. I didn't mean for hot tears to stream down my face. But I couldn't stop them either. I couldn't wipe my eyes from the gunk over my body, and I was mortified he had to see me cry. What I didn't expect was a warm embrace of reassurance. He never hugged me before, but he silently stood there bracing me against everything we were stacked against. The strong pillar against the winds of fate. An unmovable object against an unstoppable force.
"You're not going to die, Milana," he said soothingly as he brushed his hand through my hair. "But if you don't shower, now you may die of what we just had to crawl through."
I was about to hit him for that when he put his hand on the top of my head. He smiled. A genuine smile, not a smirk but a calming, warm smile. My cheeks flushed profusely in response.
"Well, well, well. Look who's blushing now, Air head. Go shower, I'll go second," he said turning my body and slightly pushing me forward as I heard a chuckle behind me.
Turning to face him and thank him, but he was already looking around the water treatment plant and shutting the hatch we came out of. Moving forward to shower, I found the stash of soaps. I washed my body and clothes as quickly as I could, but my mind kept thinking about that other life. If I didn't have to do this, there was a chance of happiness? Would I have had to sacrifice a chance for a normal life so that others enjoyed life for generations? There was no guarantee we would win. So, I closed my eyes to savor the moment because when I opened him, I would have to shut away any lingering feelings for Tyson. My box of precious memories was small tucked away in my mind, but I would remember this one if the end came soon for me.