“Miah!!!” she heard a voice scream.
“Connor?” she yelled back, wiping her eyes.
“Miah!”
She ran toward the voice, and found Connor lying slumped against a tree. Her heart skipped a beat. Her eyes widened and she stumbled to his side.
“Connor?” she choked, and stared at his shirt. It was soaked with blood. His chest heaved with each breath, as if from either great effort or great pain. He clutched his side, and his other arm hung motionless along the dusty ground.
He lifted his head, and the flames behind her burned in his eyes. “Miah. What are you doing here?” he rasped, and reached his bloodied hand out to her arm.
She flinched at the touch, and he drew back with a pained expression, closing his eyes and breathing with effort.
“Connor…” She blinked away tears, angry at herself for them. Ben's words played in her head: 'He’s not who you think he is.' Bitterly she looked at Connor, who was struggling to push himself into a better position. Who is he, anyway?
Connor blinked and lifted his arm to rub at his eyes. “You have to get away from here…they’re looking for you…”
Miah swallowed. “I can’t leave you. You can't get out of here alone, and the forest is burning.”
“Miah—” he choked, and caught his breath— “I’m gone! Don’t waste your time on me! I'm not worth saving. Get yourself out of here at least.” He shut his eyes, swallowing hard.
She sniffed through unbidden tears and took his arm, pulling him up as gently as she could. “Come on, I’ve gotta get you out of here. Come on.”
Connor, the shock of his wound worse than the wound itself, fought her at first; but, finding he had the strength to walk, let her lift him from his position.
Miah put his arm around her shoulder and pulled him up, and he could at least support himself with his legs. She caught her breath and stood for a moment; spots flickered before her eyes and she twitched.
“You got me?”
Miah waited for a moment, and then the black spots faded. She nodded, and whispered, “I’ve got you.”
Through the burning forest, they made their way toward the crevice and followed it from a safe distance. Connor coughed once, but his eyes remained open, and Miah had hope that they would make it out alive.
After a few minutes, she paused to take a breath, lowering Connor to his knees, and sitting there beside him. She watched him, should he need more support. “I hope Ben waited for me…He’s probably around here somewhere…”
Connor nodded, and then asked, “Why didn’t he come with you?”
She sighed, “I don’t know…I don’t know.”
With a cough, Connor looked ahead at the darkness.
“Yeah, we should keep going,” Miah nodded, and turned to him. “You doing okay?”
He breathed deeply and shrugged a bit. “I’m...well, I’m trying to ignore the pain…”
She sighed, looking around at the smoke rising to the sky. “Why'd they have to set the forest on fire?” she asked.
Connor's eyes were closing and his head nodded.
“Come on, we've got to go.” She started to help him stand again.
Connor shook his head at her attempt and spoke. “You don’t have to, you know. You could just leave me here.”
He looked serious, which frightened her.
Miah stared at him. “Of course not! I won’t leave you. What kind of person would I be then?”
“Really…I want you to be able to get out of here alive…I might not even survive this bullet anyway…” Connor looked down to where he held his skin and bones together and at the large amount of blood he had already lost.
Miah shivered. “Don’t say things like that. I can do it; of course I'm going to get you out of here.” Straining with effort, she continued on, with Connor trying to lift himself up as much as he could.
When they reached the edge of the forest, Miah suddenly stumbled through a clump of bushes and into a wide open space. It was a road! Miah tripped in her surprise and fell to her knees, and Connor groaned as he fell. “No!” Miah gasped, panting and trying to help him up.
“It’s okay, Miah…” He sighed and lay on his back, closing his eyes.
“We made it to a road.” Breathing heavily, she collapsed beside him and he looked over.
“You did good…Thanks for getting me out of there.” He smiled the best he could, and Miah looked at his shirt.
“You gonna be okay?” she asked, worried.
He smiled, and the dying embers of the fire cast shadows on their faces. As he closed his eyes, Miah looked up at the sky. The stars were disappearing, and morning was coming.
Ashes drifted down from the sky, and she closed her eyes and listened to the wind.
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