Parallel Wars

Chapter 5

The ground trembled beneath me, roaring filling my ears, loud bangs echoing around me. Everything hurt. Stinging pain shooting through my body. I blearily opened my eyes, being met with near darkness, the only thing I could make out was a silhouette in front of me. Blocking what little light there was. 

The floor lurched, sending a wave of nausea through me. My head felt as though there was a lead balloon slowly expanding inside my skull. I groaned, reaching a hand toward my head, just to be flung backward and into a wall behind me. The darkness was spinning, suspended outside of gravity, nothing was as it should be. Something wet dripped from my mouth onto my hands, though they were already wet. 

I closed my eyes again, a knot in my throat and either panic or sickness threatening to overturn my stomach. Maybe both. The gunshots faded, the spinning sensation stopped, and I gathered the courage to open my eyes again. I glanced up at the silhouette, noticing the reddish hue. 

“What’s…” I murmured, only half a coherent thought processing at a time. 

“We’re escaping, you idiot.”

“Huh?” That didn’t make any sense. How could we escape in a dark room? 

“You, the oh-so-tough and weathered spy, passed out in the hallway. I, the weak plane-flyer and strictly behind-the-scenes lady, carried your heavy almost-corpse to the airport and stole a plane. We’re escaping.” 

“We escaped,” I confirmed, breathless. Pain seeming to lessen, though nausea going nowhere. 

“No. I escaped and broke you out. You were pretty darn useless.” 

“Thanks.” 

“Yeah, yeah. We’re not out of the woods yet. They’ll be following any moment now, and we don’t exactly have unlimited fuel. Maybe two hours worth.” 

“Oh.” 

Lilia messed with some buttons or something, then walked over to me. She shoved something into my hand, looking at me expectantly. 

I glanced down, a piece of plastic on my palm. And looked back up at Lilia. 

“It’s food, dingus. You eat it. How hard did they hit your head?” 

“Which time?” 

“Nevermind. Just stick the food in your face, there’s water in the bottle next to you. See if eating and drinking makes you any more valuable.” 

I opened the plastic, finding a granola bar inside. Nice. It tasted like heaven, even amidst the tang of blood coating my mouth. Then I drank water, warm, but so very satisfying. Better than any ice-cold water I’d ever had. 

Lilia was glancing back at me, brow furrowed. 

“What?” I asked, mind slightly clearer now. 

“You look like… Nothing. Just bad.” 

“Yeah, sorry. I know blood and torture isn’t really your thing.” 

“Especially yours.” 

I looked up from another sip of water, scrutinizing her. A pink blush lit up her cheeks and she looked away. 

“I meant like, disgusting. You’re disgusting. Especially your blood, like getting all over everything. It’s gross.” 

I nodded, taking another gulp of water. “I am the most disgusting. Yes. I like food, can I have more?”

“Chill. I don’t want you puking all over everything again, you’re disgusting and stinky enough.” 

“Okay, okay…” 

There were a few moments of silence, only the plane’s engine filling the empty air. Then Lilia spoke again, voice missing the usual composure and edge. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. A little banged up, missing a bit of body juice, but all good here.” 

“No really. Like… Inside.” 

“I think my organs are intact, but I don’t really wanna check.” 

There was another moment of silence. “You’re… Mentally?” 

It was my turn to be silent. Mentally. How was I up there? Permanent brain damage, light concussion, total traumatic wreck? I didn’t know. As of now, I was just confused and happy to be anywhere but in that room. 

“I dunno, I don’t think I have that bad brain damage, but I guess only time will tell.” 

Lilia sighed. “Smith, I think you know what I mean. Are you traumatized? Depressed? Anxiety? Are the things going on in your head, well, okay?” 

“I… Yeah. Past in the past, right?” 

“Okay. Do you by any chance have any secret bunkers that wouldn’t be checked?” 

“Um…” I wracked my brain, filing through any place that might work. The memories were slow to come, and none turned up anything of use. “No, I don’t think so.” 

“Okay. Then we’re going as far and as fast as we can, staging a crash, and getting out of here.” 

“Where could we go, though? There’s like… America’s no longer safe. Canada is French. Mexico is pretty hostile.” 

“It’s only an issue if they know who we are.” Lilia’s voice was taut, and she didn’t look back at me. “Anyway. Get some sleep, you could use it. Once we’re getting low on gas, I’ll prepare you for the plan.” 

I was tempted to argue, but I didn’t. I did need sleep, quite desperately, and whatever was coming up I’d doubtless be fairly unprepared for either way. I drifted off quickly to the sound of the plane and slight rocking in the sky. 

………………………………………………………………….

A hand on my shoulder shook me awake, a voice shouting at me registering seconds later. I was snapped back into my new reality, of being on the run, and Lilia’s face barking orders before I was conscious. 

“Here,” She shoved a package into my hands, “Put this on, we’re going to jump. The plane is going at least a few miles without us, probably more. All you need to do is stay conscious and avoid being a dead weight, you’ll be with me the whole time.” 

“Parachuting?” I muttered, sitting up. 

“Yes.” 

“You’ve never done this before? I have, why are you doing it?” 

“No. But I’d rather take my chances guessing at what I’ve seen been done a hundred times than try to figure it out once you pass out.”

I mumbled an agreement, then Lilia hauled me up and took the parachute. “You have a point though. Crash course, real quick, and strap it on.” 

I organized my thoughts as coherently as I could, explaining how and when to open it, then struggled as I put the parachute on and strapped myself to Lilia. I could hardly move, every inch of my body stung and ached whenever I so much as shifted my weight. But I had no choice but to move, right?

In what seemed a timeless blur, I was somehow standing with Lilia next to the door. She was breathing deeply, hands trembling. “Ready?” She said, almost too quietly for me to hear. She didn’t wait for a reply either. 

There was a roar of wind pummeling my face, and my stomach lurched. Hair whipped my face, chilly air rushing past me, and I closed my eyes. The sensation of falling was familiar, but far from pleasant. Another lurch and acid burned my throat. My face was plastered with a wet, stinking mess. My eyes stung, and I tried to wipe the puke away from them, but the wind made it difficult. 

The falling slowed abruptly, more of a gentle if still fast decline than a plummet. I kept my eyes squeezed closed, the sting continuing, retching again though nothing came up. I seemed to fade in and out, my fingers growing cold and numb. 

Pain flooded through a knee as I was jolted to the ground, rolling to a stop. I rubbed my eyes again, squinting, vision blurring. I only succeeded in making them hurt worse. 

“Stop moving!” Lilia snapped, almost the same moment as I was tugged backward. After a little painful tugging, the parachuting harness slid off, and a blurred face peered into mine. 

“Good god, you idiot.” Lilia shook her head, ripped a piece of her shirt off, and began scrubbing the puke from my eyes. They continued to smart even once she had moved on to the rest of my face. “Can you see?” She asked finally. 

“I, yeah, mostly.” 

“What kind of mostly?” 

“Like, everything’s all blurry. But I can tell you’re you, and that’s a tree. Maybe, I dunno, pine?” 

“Okay, good. Not blind, or I might’ve had to ditch you.” She stood, rolling up the parachute and trying to shove it back into the backpack. I lay down, shivering even though it wasn’t that cold today. My eyelids were heavy, and I just let them close. 

There was a loud booming sound, but I was too tired to care. I drifted off to the sounds of footsteps and more bangs.