"Hallowed, Those Who Mourn", Jin/Kame [part five]
anonymous
March 25 2010, 11:26:33 UTC
"How far?" Jin asked.
"Five miles yet," was Junno's shaky answer, and it seemed to be enough for the moment.
Kame waited until the silence descended on the group again, and then sped his pace up to catch Jin. The other man was treading carefully through weeds and brush, eyes darting between the ground and the trees stretched out in front of them. "Commander," Kame said.
"Kame," Jin replied.
"I know this is not the time," Kame said, and swallowed, "but if we don't get out of here, I just wanted to say-"
"Don't."
Kame's jaw snapped shut. Jin just shook his head, over and over again, and wouldn't meet his eye. "Just- don't. We're going to get out of here."
Kame didn't know how to respond. There were a hundred things he could say and none of them seemed appropriate. He accepted the order, biting back everything. It tasted bitter on his tongue, but maybe it was for the best.
He stayed where he was, though, and kept beside Jin until he ordered another ten minute break.
--
The sun was going to set, and Kame knew, knew without a shadow of a doubt, that if they didn't get to where they were headed by nightfall, not one of them was going to get off the planet alive. The others seemed to feel it, too; or at least they felt something, something that pushed them onwards even when exhaustion was making their limbs heavy.
Kame just pressed on after Jin, each step harder than the one before it.
Until there was a soft clicking noise behind him, in time with Maru's boot coming down against the dirt. Kame turned, mostly out of reflex, but the truth was, it was the first sound he'd heard since arriving that he knew by heart. It was the sound he'd been trained to listen for and categorize since he'd signed his contract papers.
Land mine.
There was a split second- and only that, perhaps only a fraction of that- when Kame met Maru's eyes. He could see everything in them, and nothing. And then the explosion rocked the ground, enough that the vibrations threw Kame against the trunk of the nearest tree while the raining bits of dirt and mud and flesh still clinging to remnants of bone rained down around him in a grotesque shower.
"God," was all he managed to choke out, and then he was moving again. He knew running was the worst idea when in the presence of mines, but his body didn't care. His legs were moving because he had to get away or he'd never be able to, had to move before he was stuck forever. If Kame was honest with himself, he'd admit that he was running from what was happening, hoping he could keep the reality from catching up with him- even though he knew it was impossible.
There was only so long one could run before the past found them.
He nearly tripped over a root and barely avoided barreling straight into a tree, and he could Jin in front of him and Junno to his left, back a few steps. He could see little else but red dancing at the sides of his vision.
He wanted to scream. He needed to conserve his energy.
Junno disappeared with little more than a yelp, the beep of the tracking device falling with him. Kame stumbled and moved to where Junno had last been, peach against the sea of green, and there was sand beneath his soles as he skidded to a stop. Sinkhole. Could stretch for yards, and blended in with the vines creeping along the outside of it.
He found himself on his knees before he registered it, anguished cry lodging itself in his throat. "Dammit! Dammit! Fuck you, fuck all of you, you can't-"
Jin was hauling him back to his feet without any gentleness. "Move, Kazuya! Now!"
Kame slumped against him, corners of his eyes pricking with stinging heat. "No, dammit, it's over, it's over-"
The side of his face roared with pain when Jin's palm made smacking contact with it. Kame faltered, hand rising unbidden to the spot that immediately began to throb, and Jin's fingers closed tight around his wrist. "Move, Private! That's a fucking order!"
Kame did. He did because Jin was pulling him, because everything had gone black, and because Jin's fingers were the only thing anchoring him to reality.
"Five miles yet," was Junno's shaky answer, and it seemed to be enough for the moment.
Kame waited until the silence descended on the group again, and then sped his pace up to catch Jin. The other man was treading carefully through weeds and brush, eyes darting between the ground and the trees stretched out in front of them. "Commander," Kame said.
"Kame," Jin replied.
"I know this is not the time," Kame said, and swallowed, "but if we don't get out of here, I just wanted to say-"
"Don't."
Kame's jaw snapped shut. Jin just shook his head, over and over again, and wouldn't meet his eye. "Just- don't. We're going to get out of here."
Kame didn't know how to respond. There were a hundred things he could say and none of them seemed appropriate. He accepted the order, biting back everything. It tasted bitter on his tongue, but maybe it was for the best.
He stayed where he was, though, and kept beside Jin until he ordered another ten minute break.
--
The sun was going to set, and Kame knew, knew without a shadow of a doubt, that if they didn't get to where they were headed by nightfall, not one of them was going to get off the planet alive. The others seemed to feel it, too; or at least they felt something, something that pushed them onwards even when exhaustion was making their limbs heavy.
Kame just pressed on after Jin, each step harder than the one before it.
Until there was a soft clicking noise behind him, in time with Maru's boot coming down against the dirt. Kame turned, mostly out of reflex, but the truth was, it was the first sound he'd heard since arriving that he knew by heart. It was the sound he'd been trained to listen for and categorize since he'd signed his contract papers.
Land mine.
There was a split second- and only that, perhaps only a fraction of that- when Kame met Maru's eyes. He could see everything in them, and nothing. And then the explosion rocked the ground, enough that the vibrations threw Kame against the trunk of the nearest tree while the raining bits of dirt and mud and flesh still clinging to remnants of bone rained down around him in a grotesque shower.
"God," was all he managed to choke out, and then he was moving again. He knew running was the worst idea when in the presence of mines, but his body didn't care. His legs were moving because he had to get away or he'd never be able to, had to move before he was stuck forever. If Kame was honest with himself, he'd admit that he was running from what was happening, hoping he could keep the reality from catching up with him- even though he knew it was impossible.
There was only so long one could run before the past found them.
He nearly tripped over a root and barely avoided barreling straight into a tree, and he could Jin in front of him and Junno to his left, back a few steps. He could see little else but red dancing at the sides of his vision.
He wanted to scream. He needed to conserve his energy.
Junno disappeared with little more than a yelp, the beep of the tracking device falling with him. Kame stumbled and moved to where Junno had last been, peach against the sea of green, and there was sand beneath his soles as he skidded to a stop. Sinkhole. Could stretch for yards, and blended in with the vines creeping along the outside of it.
He found himself on his knees before he registered it, anguished cry lodging itself in his throat. "Dammit! Dammit! Fuck you, fuck all of you, you can't-"
Jin was hauling him back to his feet without any gentleness. "Move, Kazuya! Now!"
Kame slumped against him, corners of his eyes pricking with stinging heat. "No, dammit, it's over, it's over-"
The side of his face roared with pain when Jin's palm made smacking contact with it. Kame faltered, hand rising unbidden to the spot that immediately began to throb, and Jin's fingers closed tight around his wrist. "Move, Private! That's a fucking order!"
Kame did. He did because Jin was pulling him, because everything had gone black, and because Jin's fingers were the only thing anchoring him to reality.
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