They ran until Val’s chest was tight and his nostrils and throat were burning. In the darkness Val heard the skidding of gravel and a thud ahead of him. He didn’t see Asher lying on the path until he was right on top of him, but managed to stop himself from tripping on the same spot he had. Both Val and Taylor stopped for a moment to help Asher back on his feet then continued running without a word. It took them a few minutes to realize that Asher was falling behind.
As Val and Taylor waited for Asher to catch up, they could see he was limping and one of his pant legs was glistening in the moonlight.
“Can you still run?” Taylor sounded more accusing than caring.
Asher stopped to catch his breath and after patting down his own knee and recoiling in pain he shook his head.
“Lark needs these, Asher.” Taylor motioned to the bulge of cloth at the bottom of her shirt which she had been using to carry the small packages they had stolen from the docks. “Which means you need to pick up the pace.” She added.
Val could see that Taylor was not nearly as tired as they were; although there was a dark circle of sweat around the collar of her shirt, it only took her a few labored breaths until she was breathing normally again. With his hands on his knees Asher took a few more wheezing deep breaths and nodded at the ground. Taylor didn’t waste any time and continued jogging down the path. Asher followed close behind but it didn’t take long for the gap to lengthen and Asher had to stop again, this time bending over to vomit and then finding a rock to sit against.
Taylor was about to say something again but Val stopped her. “You go on.” Val said. “Get the medicine back to Lark and I’ll stay here with Asher.” Taylor stopped to think it over for a moment, looked at Asher then nodded and continued running, one of her hands at her side holding the packages under her shirt. Val listened to the scraping patter of Taylor’s feet on the gravel fade into the darkness between Asher’s labored breathing.
Val thought about starting conversation with Asher but the wheezing that was coming from his lungs sounded painful and Val was almost certain that it would be more burden than comfort to Asher. They sat there for an hour or so, waiting for Asher’s lungs to return and when they did, Asher and Val started back down the path.
Asher coughed and spat on the side of the road as they started walking. “You think Taylor made it back okay?”
Val looked through the trees and saw that the sky was just beginning to turn from pitch black to dark purple.
“She should be there by now.” Val said. “She’s a hell of a lot faster than we are.”
“Than I am.” Asher corrected him. “I can climb fine, but when it comes to running…” Asher hung his head a bit. “…I just can’t do it.”
Val laughed a bit thinking that it was supposed to be lighthearted but he stopped when he saw that Asher was just looking at the ground, silent. He didn’t know what to say so Val stayed silent as well focusing on the crunch of their footsteps on the gravel path.
When they arrived back at the shelter, Asher and Val headed straight for the infirmary and looked through the glass door. Lark was still lying on the bed hooked up to her beeping machines, and Taylor, Remi, Terry, and Taj were all standing over her. Taylor was the first to realize that Asher and Val were at the door and she smiled for the first time in the past two days. Without any of the others in the infirmary noticing, she mouthed, “She’s going to be okay.”
Taylor looked Lark over head-to-toe once more and then left the infirmary to join Asher and Val who held her in their arms and squeezed. Taylor repeated herself, audibly this time, her breath so close to Val that it tickled his ear.
“She’s going to be okay.”
Then, remembering Asher’s fall, Taylor inspected his bloody leg and gasped, taking him by the hand and leading him into the cafeteria. She sat Asher down on one of the benches and said, “Pull up your pant leg.”
Asher raised his eyebrows. “It’s fine, really. I’ll just deal with it later.” But Taylor insisted and Asher eventually gave in and raised the cloth over his leg revealing a large gash covered in dried blood and dirt. Taylor disappeared around the corner for a moment and came back carrying a basket filled with gauze and wound dressings. She crouched down and cleaned Asher’s leg and then started to bind it in a long strip of gauze. Val ran to the garden’s store room, grabbed three apples and took them back to the cafeteria, handing one to Asher, one to Taylor, and taking a large bite out of the last one. Being hidden from the sun in the darkness of the storeroom, the apple was crisp and cold, and Val immediately felt some of his strength return.
As Taylor finished wrapping Asher’s leg, they turned on one of the screens on the wall and sat back in the bench, crunching on their apples in turn.
The screen was showing an aerial shot from a camera drone, there was a group of people standing on a dock. At first it looked like the people were fishing, but they were all looking at one spot in the water, hauling something up with a large net. An announcer’s voice started to play over the footage of the dock and her words were unmistakable:
“The body of a local dock worker was found this morning floating in dock-number-three of the Rotterdam fishery. Dome officials say that he had been overly intoxicated and was unable to stay afloat or make it back to one of the safety ladders. There are no signs of an altercation and foul play has been ruled out.”
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