Say Goodbye

"We need to go," Kelly announced. "Those jets could be here any minute."

We were all in agreement. I scooped up Wolf's gun, threw it in my backpack (which had definitely seen better days), and then rejoined Kelly in holding up my partner.

Though I kind of wanted to figure out how to use it, I wouldn't be able to until Devon was somewhere safe and I didn't need to carry him.

Molly scurried away from the wall and clung to her mom's clothes while we made our way back to the roof. Knowing Wolf was alive enough to be pissed was good enough for me. He would be more than capable of getting up to the roof by himself.

Though, I still felt a little twinge of guilt at leaving him behind.

But Devon needed me more.

It seemed that the only one of us who wasn't in a sour mood was Devon, even despite almost dying to some scared and angry teenager. I hadn't really cared why when I'd been in my rage-fueled state, but that teenage girl wasn't with them anymore.

If I had to hazard a guess, it was her who was hit by Wolf's weapon. Ricky must have had a thing for her. That should have been enough for me to sympathize with him, but I couldn't bring myself to feel even one iota of pity for him.

Not when he'd almost killed Wolf and Devon.

That didn't make my outburst any better than his, but at least I could understand his point a view a little more.

As we made our way up toward the roof, not one of us tried to talk with each other except for Devon. As far as I was concerned, we all just happened to be going in the same direction and nothing else. I was too irritated.

"Hey, where's . . . Eddie at?" Devon asked as we scaled a staircase.

Though it seemed for a second that no would answer him, Dallas said. "He decided to go to the center of town and wait for the extraction unit the military said would be there."

Devon cringed against me and I heaved him upright. "They, they actually said there was an extraction?" he wheezed.

Dallas nodded.

I glowered. "So that's why everything is empty as fuck. They issued a fake evacuation to get everyone in the same place."

"That'll draw . . . all the aliens . . . out into one spot," Devon groaned.

"And then they'll drop the bomb," said Kelly. "Here, I'll take point if you take your partner."

Not wanting to put up a fight, I took on the task of carrying Devon. He was at least well enough to kind of shuffle along and hold up some of his weight, but not a lot. At the very least, one of us was freed up—she could shoot the aliens with her rifle.

It would give me at least a couple of extra seconds to drop Devon and do my part, as well.

"Why didn't you guys buy into it?" I asked them.

"I served in the military," Kelly said. "I know how they think and could smell this trap a mile away."

"We tried to convince everyone to come with us, but Eddie and the others decided it was their best shot and went to meet the military," Dallas added.

"Since you guys are here, I'm assuming we were correct," Kelly said, glancing at us.

"Yes . . . they are bombing . . . Gunnison," Devon said, following it up with a small cough. He had to speak in fits and starts or else he wound up winding himself.

Dallas wiped the sweat off his forehead and heaved Ricky up higher. "How can they just do something like that? And what are they going to tell the world when they find out we've been wiped off the map?"

"They'll make something up," I muttered, thinking back to the terrorist attack cover-up from my own incident. "Blame it on something else."

"Like what?" Ricky asked. He'd finally come back around.

"They'll probably blame it on the power plant. Say it exploded or something. You'll just be an accident, a tragedy for the country to mourn," I said.

Ricky wheezed a bit. "That's awful."

Kelly said, "That's reality."

She and Molly shared a brief moment, whispering quietly to one another, and I could only assume it was because the little girl was freaking out about our conversation. If I was a six-year-old—or however old she was—then I probably would have been really worried, too.

"What made you guys come here?" Devon asked.

"Same as you, probably. We're hoping there's a helicopter on the roof we can use to escape. We're running out of time, though," Dallas said. "The lieutenant Eddie spoke to said that the extraction was going to be in half an hour, and I don't know how long ago that was."

"One of you can fly a helicopter?" I asked incredulously.

Kelly nodded and said, "Yes, I can."

"Were you . . . driving the tank?" Devon asked, sounding more impressed than he had any right to.

She nodded.

"What about you guys?" Dallas remarked. "Do they teach that in the FBI?"

"Not particularly," I muttered.

Devon smirked. "We had . . . an alternate plan."

Neither of us offered any further explanation and they didn't ask, knowing that we would only deflect. Perhaps they'd dealt with the FBI before.

I really did hope that there was a helicopter up there for them. If not, I would definitely ask Wolf to let them hitch a ride. That was all I could do though—ask. It was his ship, so his decision. I didn't know how well puppy-dog eyes would work on him the way they did when Devon used it on me.

"No, not more stairs," Devon groaned as we reached the final set to the roof. "It hurts . . . god damn this . . . fucking hurts."

"You've been shot, I can't imagine that sort of thing feels like daisies and rainbows," I huffed, propping him up when he began to slip. "Lose some weight, Jesus."

Devon muttered under his breath, but I couldn't understand what he said.

Kelly, the only one not encumbered by a half-dead person, took point with her weapon up and led us through the halls with her daughter behind her. Dallas and Ricky were behind them with Devon and I bringing up the rear.

The xenomorphs guarding the hospital nest had disappeared at the sound of Wolf's angry roar. We hadn't seen hide nor of hair of them since, but we were always on guard.

Rain was still pouring from the sky, drenching us in frigid water within a few seconds.

Kelly checked left and right and then held the line as Dallas helped his brother climb over some industrial tubes and electric lines. We'd been forced to go through the maintenance entrance rather than the main hospital entrance—where they brought patients.

"Devon, you gotta help a little bit here," I muttered, draping him over what I thought was a water line so I could crawl over first.

He did his best to heave himself over it, his face twisted in agony. I pulled him the rest of the way over, supporting him on the way down so he wouldn't collapse. He was a real champ, only whining about 50 times.

Our ragtag group of survivors followed the wall toward what we hoped was the main entrance. Construction from the new wing had spilled over onto the roof, littering it with gear and scrap that we had to navigate, searching for a clear path to the helipad.

If only we'd been able to find the proper entrance to the roof.

We couldn't just break out into a run for the chopper, though, with all of the clutter. We instead strafed along the wall and squeezed through the protective wire gate that encased the path to the landing pad, feeling a little bit safer.

It was just a chain-link cage protecting passersby from construction, but any barrier would help when it came to those aliens.

"Alright, just a little farther. We're almost there!" Kelly shouted over her shoulder.

Devon clutched my shirt and heaved himself up, almost pulling me down in the process. "You're coming with us," he said.

"No, you're going with them," I responded. "I have to find Wolf. He's out there somewhere and I'm not going to leave him here to die."

Though he was about to argue, Molly interrupted him with a terrified scream. Above us, a xenomorph was crawling along the top on the outside of the cage, hissing and growling.

Another angry cry sounded behind us and I whirled around, shoving Devon against the chain link and pulling my sword. The little girl continued to shriek, but it was soon drowned out when Kelly opened fire with her rifle.

I stepped out of the way and shouldered Devon again, who was now huffing and puffing, trying to keep his pain under control.

"Hold on, Devon," I cooed, keeping my weapon drawn just in case. The xenos were closing in, but that brought me a strange sense of elation.

That meant Wolf was around.

"Go, let's get moving!" I shouted over my shoulder.

"Let me go," Devon muttered, trying to wiggle out of my grasp. "I can walk, at least. You need—you need to be able to fight."

Shaking my head I said, "You can barely walk even while I'm holding you up."

"I can!"

"Just shut up and keep going."

However, he pulled out of my grip with force. I almost insisted, but he was hobbling along alright. Slowly, but on his own at least.

And I did need to be able to defend us. Kelly, at least, could defend the others.

The six of us were making slow progress toward the chopper. Ricky was somewhat moving on his own, and I wondered if that was what had prompted Devon to do the same. After all, he wouldn't want to let himself be out-done by a high school student.

A xenomorph shoved itself against the fence, clawing at us and trying to break through.

"Ignore the ones at the side," I commanded. "Just push through the front. Kelly, switch places with me and watch our six!"

She yelled back a confirmation and we shuffled past each other, keeping everyone between us.

I cut down the first xenomorph to show its ugly face and carved a line through the handful of aliens that threatened to overwhelm us. They tried to funnel in, but between my blade and Kelly's bullets, we were able to break out of the bottleneck we'd found ourselves in.

"Sprint for it," I demanded, indicating toward the helicopter now within our reach.

Kelly and I switched once more so I could stand by Devon's side. We were very close to being overwhelmed, but their attention seemed split between us and another threat somewhere else on the roof.

/Wolf,/ I thought.

There were a few close calls, but we sprinted—or limped, in most cases—across the tarmac and up the couple steps to the landing pad.

Dallas dumped his brother inside and brought his own firearm to bare, opening fire upon the xenomorphs trying to follow us. Devon did the same until we finally drove them off to regroup, allowing us a small reprieve.

"Get on," I huffed at Devon, pushing him past me.

He was in so much pain he didn't even argue and took a seat on the edge of the chopper, letting Kelly on first so she could get the thing started.

I grabbed Dallas as he passed by and pulled him up close, clutching his collar.

"Hey cowboy, I need you to keep Devon on that bird, you got me?" I hissed through clenched teeth.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Exactly what I said. I have to go, and he's gonna try to follow me. But you have to keep him on board and leave. Do not wait for me and just go," I demanded.

He searched my face for some answers before giving up and asking, "Where are you going?"

"I have to find the big guy," I said, turning to leave.

"The alien?" Dallas was flabbergasted.

"I don't care what you think about me," I said, "but please, I need you to get my partner somewhere safe."

Dallas looked over his shoulder. Devon was still sitting in the open door, catching his breath.

He nodded and said, "Okay, I will. Are you sure you don't want us to wait for you?"

It was a nice sentiment that even after what had almost happened back on the operating floor, he was still offering me a ride.

"No. Don't. I'll find another way to evacuate."

"With the alien?" Dallas asked, his eyebrows raising.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes and I didn't even dignify the comment with an answer, merely turning to leave.

However, Devon called after me. "Hey. Hey, don't let her go! Nichole, you get your ass back here."

I stopped long enough to see Dallas meet Devon on the landing pad and grab him. Devon struggled but wound up nearly collapsing from the pain.

I hesitated, torn between going with him and looking for Wolf, but Devon was fine. He was going to be fine. In a few minutes, he'd be on a helicopter and on his way out of the city. That wasn't something I could say for Wolf.

"Devon, go with them! I'll be fine," I assured him.

"Like hell you will," he growled, still fighting against Dallas.

Between his injury and Dallas' superior position, he was losing that battle. Kelly had already managed to fire up the helicopter. Its engines were warming up with a deep hum.

Even though it was more than obvious that Devon wouldn't be able to keep struggling, he continued. Even though it winded him and threw him into coughing fits, he shouted at me.

"Don't you dare leave without saying goodbye to me! Don't you fucking dare!"

A tight feeling in my chest wound its way inside me and I was unable to ignore his request.

Not after everything we had been through together.

Part of me wanted to believe that we'd be able to meet one last time before Wolf took me, but I knew better than that. An intense dread was weighing on me like something bad was going to happen there on the roof.

At the very least, I didn't want to risk cheating Devon out of the farewell he wanted. That we both needed.

I ran back to the helicopter, bounding up the steps. My knee buckled under the strain it was going through, but I caught myself and approached Devon, knowing better than to get within arm's length of him.

It wouldn't be too farfetched to think he'd try to grab me and pull me in.

"I have to go, Devon," I said, raising my voice as the turbines roared and the rotors above our head began to spin. They would have to take off soon and I needed to meet with Wolf.

"You don't have to."

Nodding, I spoke over him. "I know. I want to. And I'm sorry that it's hurting you like this. You have to go, though. You're hurt and they're ready to leave now."

"You can come. Wolf will find you if he really wants to."

It was true enough, but that wasn't the point. "I can't leave him, Devon. You know I can't just turn tail and flee because things are getting tight."

"We need to go!" Kelly shouted.

Both of us glanced at her, shutting her down with our expressions alone.

When we turned back to one another, I took his face in my hands and smiled at him. "I'm still trying so hard to get over my past, Devon. But, let me tell you . . . your friendship has meant so much to me."

"Nichole . . . " He grabbed my wrist with his good hand, squeezing with his fingers. I let him.

I continued. "It's made it so much easier to move on, and I'm grateful for what we've had, what you've done for me over the past few years."

He searched my face but didn't speak.

"Thank you, Devon. Thank you so much for everything. For the stake-outs, for all the Chinese food and pizza. Thank you for putting up with my bullshit and listening to me when I needed someone to talk to."

Pausing, I cleared my throat and tried not to choke up.

"For being there when I didn't even know I needed someone. Thank you, Devon, for bringing just a little bit of light into my life when I was alone in the dark."

I was glad for the rain. Glad that he wouldn't be able to tell where it ended and my tears began. I gave him one last, big smile, and then kissed his forehead once before letting go of him and leaving, freeing my arm from his grasp with a swift movement.

He reached for me, but I was too far away. Dallas took him back up and tried to heave him into the helicopter as Kelly made the last preparations for take-off.

"Nichole!" he shouted at me one last time.

"Good-bye, Devon," I said, turning to look at him.

Though he wouldn't be able to hear me, it was obvious from his reaction that he had read my lips.

His eyes widened and he renewed his vigorous, but fruitless, battle with Dallas.

"Nichole? Nichole! NICHOLE!"

He doubled over after that, and Dallas was able to shove him inside and close the door.

It felt like a small animal was burrowing into my stomach. I took a deep breath, muttered an apology, then turned away so no one would see my wipe my eyes.

I wanted to stand and watch, to make sure that they left with Devon in tow, but I couldn't wait. I had to leave and put my trust in these strangers to finish the job that I tried so hard to accomplish.

So, I bolted farther along the roof to see if I could find Wolf.

Behind me, the helicopter lifted off into the air and banked hard to escape the city.

Relief crashed over me like a refreshing wave of heat in this ice-cold rain threatening to wash me away. The citizens were out of my hair, Devon was going to be okay, and I was able to do as I pleased to find Wolf. I had no one else to worry about or to hold me back.

I'd finally done it. I'd finally made sure my friend made it to safety. I protected him. Not once in my life had I felt so free.