Oxidation

[Gwbiii†]

((Sarah Xu continued from The Cavalry Arrives))

Angry, beaten and tear-stained, Sarah tromped through the sand, kicking it up as she went.

Was it too much to expect sympathy from the people who were supposedly there to save them? She wanted to scream at them more, to tell them what she thought of them, but she couldn't think of anything new to say, it was just the same arguments over and over in her head, and she knew if she turned around she'd just be going in circles. No matter how desperate she wanted to go home, she wasn't leaving without Reiko, and she definitely wasn't leaving with those incompetent, self-serving fuckers.

The thought of revenge caught her attention for a moment, it'd be so easy to just come back later and shoot at them, to make them feel as scared and useless as she fucking felt. But no, she knew better than that, or at least she told herself she did, they weren't her enemy, Danya was her enemy, Brook was her enemy, and that slimey bastard motherfucker Maxwell Lombardi was her enemy, and wanting to get revenge on a group of people who were at least doing some good was selfish and stupid. She was going to go back to their cache, pick up her rifle, and carry on with the plan she'd been following for days.

Reiko chased after Sarah, calling her name, but Sarah wasn't listening. The shifting sand under her feet didn't help her attempts to catch up, nor did her smaller stature. She called out again, to predictable results. For quite possibly the first time in their relationship, Reiko found herself getting angry at her girlfriend. She'd never done this to her before, ignore her at a time when she needed her, and now was definitely a time where she needed her.

Reiko stopped running after Sarah then. She would have a hard time catching up in the best of conditions, there was no way she was going to now. She kicked the sand in front of her, sending it up into the air in a small cloud. It also dislodged a couple rocks hidden underneath. Before she even knew what she was doing, she had one of them in her hand. The rock quickly left that hand, flung as hard as she could manage in the direction of her retreating lover, arcing through the air to thud against Sarah's back.

"WHAT?" came the angry, exasperated reply as Sarah spun around to finally look at Reiko.

"WILL YOU FUCKING STOP RUNNING AWAY FROM ME AND LISTEN?!" she screamed back, taking advantage of the momentarily stationary Sarah to catch up to her, blocking her path up the beach.

Reiko stood there, in front of Sarah, not knowing what to say. She'd been so caught up in the moment, trying to catch up to her girlfriend that she didn't even consider having to actually speak. So she resorted to the default, wrapping her arms around Sarah in a tight hug.

"You're getting on that boat." She said after a moment.

The statement took her by surprise. "I, I can't, I'm not, I'm not leaving you here."

"And I'm not going to let you waste your life on me!" Reiko stepped away again, giving her girlfriend the sternest look she could manage.

"And when i get home then what? What does it even fucking matter?" Sarah's throat hurt too much to shout in earnest, she'd done that enough already.

"Stop being stupid, you have your brothers, you still have friends who care about you, friends who are still alive."

"Shut up and stop trying to make this harder for me! I'm staying, we're going to survive this together and that's final."

There was silence for a moment, the first gap since they'd started arguing. "No, you're going to survive, and I'm going to stay here and get out of this the hard way."

"Fucking... Look, i've made my decision, i'm staying, we're going to survive until there's a real rescue-" Exasperation was written in Sarah's voice as she tried to make clear that for once in her life, she'd made a decision she wasn't thinking twice about. Reiko wasn't buying it.

"This is the real rescue. Face it, this is the fourth time this has happened, and no one else has ever come to anyone else's aid."

"They know where we are this time, it's different, and- and i've already been through this. We'll be okay." Sarah's voice was starting to hush as she ran out of what little steam she had left. She hated that she had to argue with Reiko, she'd always been the last person she thought she needed to argue with, and it was wearing her down.

"No, we'll be dead. Do you really think we could survive together? When people like Maxwell or Brook are running around? Wanna know something? These injuries I have? They're from Maxwell. The only reason I'm still alive is because Vera showed up and got her ass killed instead!"

"That's... that's why i need to stay, i can pr-protect you, we'll find s-somewhere to h-hide, somewhere we have an a-advant-advantage and we'll be okay" She was crying again, it seemed to be all she ever did. This time, she wasn't even sure why.

"Until when? Until someone finds us and kills us both? Until it's just the two of us and we have a day to live or kill eachother?"

"That's not going to happen! there'll be another rescue, or, or we'll get the collars off and hide, and no-one's going to kill us because they'll be outnumbered and we'll be better armed. E-everything will be fine."

"...You're really convinced this is going to happen."

Sarah nodded, sniffled and replied with a subdued "Yeah."

Reiko sighed. "If you insist."

Calm now, and utterly drained, Sarah took Reiko in her arms again, tenderly kissing her lips. She rested her head on the smaller girl's shoulder, sighing with relief.

"We'll be okay"

"I know. See you when this is over"

"Huh?"

Before her brain had time to work out what Reiko meant, she was being grabbed from behind, her assailant's arm wrapping around her neck, the other locking it in place, pushing against her head. The pressure was unbearable, and she reacted in the most effective way she knew how.

She panicked.

She tried to wriggle out of their grip, she failed. She tried to scream, all that came out from her already tender throat was a pathetic squeek, and all it did was empty her lungs. She flailed, it hit nothing, her loss of balance pushing her closer into the other's grasp.

Reiko said something, her apology sounding dull and muted, along with every other sound. The world was rapidly desaturating around her, becoming greyer, greyer, black. Then, for a few seconds, violet, as if everywhere not in shadow had coalesced into one, bright, diffuse colour.

She looked at where Reiko was standing, seeing only the harsh purple light reflecting off of her, highlighting her shape, marking her features, like it did everything else.

She wanted to say something, to apologise, or thank her, or something, she could barely think anymore, as the purple faded to black as well, and then suddenly she wasn't aware at all.

G003 - Hui "Sarah" Xu - Knocked the Fuck Out.

[Rocky†]

((Sudden Bridget Connolly from The Cavalry Arrives))

Bridget released the choke hold the second Sarah lost consciousness, supporting the limp body with her own. It had gone much easier than she'd expected, but then with the way those two were yelling at each other, she probably could have approached them wielding a chainsaw and she still wouldn't have heard her.

"You take care of her." Reiko said to Bridget, preparing to walk away, but a look in the redhead's eye caught her attention. She looked like she had something to say.

A moment passed before Bridget spoke. "Raina Morales. Does that name mean anything to you?"

"...Yes."

"What happened?"

Reiko shifted her weight from side to side. She knew eventually she would have to answer for her actions, she just didn't expect it to be so... direct.

"I....." she didn't know how to start. How did you start answering a question like that? Bridget was expecting her to answer, so she was going to answer.

"I kicked her. In the head. It was right after I'd been attacked by another one... Tobias I think his name was. I guess... I was just so caught up in the moment. She... I stabbed him in the neck. After he tackled me. I think she was trying to help him... Not that I cared at the time."

Bridget turned away from Reiko, taking a moment to adjust Sarah so her arms were draped over her shoulders. She felt... well, she didn't feel happy to say the least, but there was a certain peace of mind that came from knowing just how her best friend had died. Even right up to the end, she was just trying to help.

Bridget wanted to say more, but she knew that time was short. She didn't know how long Sarah was going to stay out for, and she wanted to make sure they were at least on the boats before that time. Not to mention the fact that the boats probably wouldn't be sticking around for much longer.

Grabbing Sarah's legs, she hoisted the taller girl onto her shoulders in a piggy back position. Reiko walked over, and planted one last kiss on the cheek of her slumbering girlfriend. And then, she began to walk away, back towards the interior of the island.

"Give 'em hell." Bridget said to the retreating girl's back, who responded with a quick wave of her hand.

Bridget watched Reiko until she couldn't see her anymore, then turned back towards the boats, walking steadily along. She didn't know what she was going to do when Sarah woke up, but at least she knew she would be safe.

((Reiko Ishida continued in Coming Home))
((Bridget Connolly continued in The Cavalry Arrives))