(no subject)
Story came in 162 words over. Tried to shave it down but didn't work.
In The Name Of
Zoe flinches from a piece of rock that breaks off and stings her cheek. Blood trickles from the small wound but she impatiently wipes it away. The bullet that caused it zings away, leaving her to make an inarticulate growl of rage. She wants to fire back but knows she should save her bullets. Time has slowed down, but she estimates they’ve been under fire for about thirty minutes.
She looks down at her husband, his head resting in her lap. The soft rain that’s been pouring from the sky for the last hour has plastered his hair to his face. She brushes it away from his eyes and closes her own for a moment at the heat starting to radiate from him. He’s got a bullet hole in his leg and one in his side. He’d gotten the one in his side by pushing her out of the way when the attack had started.
Eyes, cloudy with pain open and he gives her a brief smile and she wishes fervently they were back Serenity. Jayne was with them on this barren rock but she doesn’t know what happened to him once the shooting began. She hopes he’s okay and saving a bullet for himself if those are reavers out there. She’s not a hundred percent positive it’s reavers but all clues point to that soul numbing fact. Terror and panic reach out to grab and hold her, but she refuses to let it overwhelm her. She’s been through fear and despair before and she won’t use her last two bullets without doing everything she can to get them out of this.
Quick peek over the bullet-ridden boulder and she sees a shape moving closer through mud and pouring gray rain. Her eyes narrow and she aims, feeling no pleasure or relief when a scream of pain and rage reaches their position. She ducks back down and waits out the barrage of bullets. She pulls her husband closer, clutching him to her like a lioness guarding her wounded mate.
That she’d die for Wash is a given and like Niska found out, there is no choice when her husband’s life is in the balance. Her eyes sadden for a moment, remembering the words Wash had thrown at her about Mal. She’d tried to make him understand, make him see that the love she gave to the Captain was very different than the love she gave to him. She was usually good with words and could make herself easily understood but the years of speaking with guns and fists sometimes made explaining hard.
A murmur causes her to look down and she gives him a smile hoping he can see the measure of her love in her face. Daylight’s fading fast but since the rain is clouding everything it’s hard to tell the difference. A skittery sound and something out of the corner of her eye has her shooting before she thinks. A small lumpy shape collapses fifteen feet in front of them and it’s the closest they’ve gotten. She shifts Wash’s head and pulls out her last gun. Her shotgun and another gun lay wet and useless behind her.
“Hey babe, how we doin?” She glances down at his face and it’s gotten even paler. She bends down and kisses his cheek quickly before raising up to face the landscape again.
“We’re doing fine, husband. We’ll be back on board soon and doc will fix you right up.” She doesn’t want to lie to him but he’ll know the truth soon enough. She fires and misses the first two times and hits something the third and fourth times. Four bullets left and she wipes her face, refusing to acknowledge that some of the wetness is not rain, but tears. She has a knife, actually she has two, but a bullet for her man and her will be better, quicker.
She shifts position and carefully pulls her husband back until he resting between her legs. He feels solid, heavy, and familiar. She used to reassure him that despite not being as tall or muscular as some men are, he holds his own very well. She kisses his hair, inhales, catching the unique smell that is Wash and feels her heart clinch at the thought of this being the end.
A sound has her moving Wash and standing up. It’s a mistake she realizes, almost as soon as she does it. The bullet hits her shoulder, turns her around and she’s face down in the mud. It feels like the bullet has shattered bone and she looks at Wash lying watching her with horror on his face a few feet away. Loud whoops sound out from all around them and damnit! this will not end with them watching as reavers eat their insides. She tries to push up, but her shoulder won’t let her. She uses her good arm and crawls the few feet through mud that is trying to hold her down and keep her away from her man, her husband, her everything.
She reaches him, grabs her gun and fires off two shots, hitting something that sounds like a wounded animal. Two bullets left and decision time is here. She can barely reach her knives but gets them out, the rain making it hard to hold one while she sticks the other, sharp side in the mud. Wash inches closer and she’s glad because she can’t prop him on her lap. Hair heavy and wet on her neck she shakes it off her face and smiles at him, like the first time they kissed. A smile full of promise and sweetness that she never showed to anyone else.
“I love you.” He nods and she knows he’s aware of what’s about to happen. Fast as she can she throws a knife at the gathering shadows and then throws the other one, at last feeling satisfaction at the gurgling scream the sharp knives produce. She picks up her gun and gets ready to end it for Wash and then herself.
She can’t breathe and can’t swallow but it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters except the hope that after this they will be together someplace else. She whispers and knows he can hear her or at least, read her lips.
“I’ll love you forever.”
She puts the gun to his head and feels his lips kiss her wrist. She briefly thanks whatever god above gave her Wash. A shot rings out and a few seconds later another one.
Pain that can’t be controlled pulls her awake and she looks around the white, clean infirmary and spots Wash lying on the bed across from her. She also spots her Captain, dozing in a chair next to her bed. As if sensing her, he wakes up and their eyes meet. They nod, no words needed, after all they’ve faced. He gets up and leaves while she watches her husband’s chest rise and fall.
In The Name Of
Zoe flinches from a piece of rock that breaks off and stings her cheek. Blood trickles from the small wound but she impatiently wipes it away. The bullet that caused it zings away, leaving her to make an inarticulate growl of rage. She wants to fire back but knows she should save her bullets. Time has slowed down, but she estimates they’ve been under fire for about thirty minutes.
She looks down at her husband, his head resting in her lap. The soft rain that’s been pouring from the sky for the last hour has plastered his hair to his face. She brushes it away from his eyes and closes her own for a moment at the heat starting to radiate from him. He’s got a bullet hole in his leg and one in his side. He’d gotten the one in his side by pushing her out of the way when the attack had started.
Eyes, cloudy with pain open and he gives her a brief smile and she wishes fervently they were back Serenity. Jayne was with them on this barren rock but she doesn’t know what happened to him once the shooting began. She hopes he’s okay and saving a bullet for himself if those are reavers out there. She’s not a hundred percent positive it’s reavers but all clues point to that soul numbing fact. Terror and panic reach out to grab and hold her, but she refuses to let it overwhelm her. She’s been through fear and despair before and she won’t use her last two bullets without doing everything she can to get them out of this.
Quick peek over the bullet-ridden boulder and she sees a shape moving closer through mud and pouring gray rain. Her eyes narrow and she aims, feeling no pleasure or relief when a scream of pain and rage reaches their position. She ducks back down and waits out the barrage of bullets. She pulls her husband closer, clutching him to her like a lioness guarding her wounded mate.
That she’d die for Wash is a given and like Niska found out, there is no choice when her husband’s life is in the balance. Her eyes sadden for a moment, remembering the words Wash had thrown at her about Mal. She’d tried to make him understand, make him see that the love she gave to the Captain was very different than the love she gave to him. She was usually good with words and could make herself easily understood but the years of speaking with guns and fists sometimes made explaining hard.
A murmur causes her to look down and she gives him a smile hoping he can see the measure of her love in her face. Daylight’s fading fast but since the rain is clouding everything it’s hard to tell the difference. A skittery sound and something out of the corner of her eye has her shooting before she thinks. A small lumpy shape collapses fifteen feet in front of them and it’s the closest they’ve gotten. She shifts Wash’s head and pulls out her last gun. Her shotgun and another gun lay wet and useless behind her.
“Hey babe, how we doin?” She glances down at his face and it’s gotten even paler. She bends down and kisses his cheek quickly before raising up to face the landscape again.
“We’re doing fine, husband. We’ll be back on board soon and doc will fix you right up.” She doesn’t want to lie to him but he’ll know the truth soon enough. She fires and misses the first two times and hits something the third and fourth times. Four bullets left and she wipes her face, refusing to acknowledge that some of the wetness is not rain, but tears. She has a knife, actually she has two, but a bullet for her man and her will be better, quicker.
She shifts position and carefully pulls her husband back until he resting between her legs. He feels solid, heavy, and familiar. She used to reassure him that despite not being as tall or muscular as some men are, he holds his own very well. She kisses his hair, inhales, catching the unique smell that is Wash and feels her heart clinch at the thought of this being the end.
A sound has her moving Wash and standing up. It’s a mistake she realizes, almost as soon as she does it. The bullet hits her shoulder, turns her around and she’s face down in the mud. It feels like the bullet has shattered bone and she looks at Wash lying watching her with horror on his face a few feet away. Loud whoops sound out from all around them and damnit! this will not end with them watching as reavers eat their insides. She tries to push up, but her shoulder won’t let her. She uses her good arm and crawls the few feet through mud that is trying to hold her down and keep her away from her man, her husband, her everything.
She reaches him, grabs her gun and fires off two shots, hitting something that sounds like a wounded animal. Two bullets left and decision time is here. She can barely reach her knives but gets them out, the rain making it hard to hold one while she sticks the other, sharp side in the mud. Wash inches closer and she’s glad because she can’t prop him on her lap. Hair heavy and wet on her neck she shakes it off her face and smiles at him, like the first time they kissed. A smile full of promise and sweetness that she never showed to anyone else.
“I love you.” He nods and she knows he’s aware of what’s about to happen. Fast as she can she throws a knife at the gathering shadows and then throws the other one, at last feeling satisfaction at the gurgling scream the sharp knives produce. She picks up her gun and gets ready to end it for Wash and then herself.
She can’t breathe and can’t swallow but it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters except the hope that after this they will be together someplace else. She whispers and knows he can hear her or at least, read her lips.
“I’ll love you forever.”
She puts the gun to his head and feels his lips kiss her wrist. She briefly thanks whatever god above gave her Wash. A shot rings out and a few seconds later another one.
Pain that can’t be controlled pulls her awake and she looks around the white, clean infirmary and spots Wash lying on the bed across from her. She also spots her Captain, dozing in a chair next to her bed. As if sensing her, he wakes up and their eyes meet. They nod, no words needed, after all they’ve faced. He gets up and leaves while she watches her husband’s chest rise and fall.