No Strings Attached

Chapter 14

No Strings Attached

XIV

It took Isaiah and Thomas a tick to catch up with the others. By the time they were side-by-side again, Pudge was starting to attempt to walk on his own, determined not to be a bother. Miranda tried to reprimand him, but Pudge argued that he could take care of himself. The jabbering went on for a good minute or so before Miranda decided to finally drop it. Isaiah agreed with Miranda that Pudge needed help and he was well aware they needed to rest, yet he never opened his mouth to make those feelings known. Instead, he watched the entire confrontation from the sidelines.

As Pudge began to walk away, Miranda crossed her arms over her chest and said, "At least we're trying to help. If we went by your logic, we would have left you behind. What was it you said, 'It's better one of us dies than all of us?' Sound about right?"

It was strangely biting coming from her. Not just the content but the tone, too. For the first time since he had met her, Isaiah felt frightened of her. Then his mind started to piece things together, and having not recalled Pudge saying that, he asked, "What? When did he say that?"

"When you were risked yourself to save us from that dog," Miranda explained. Her voice wasn't as harsh but the contempt was still evident. It should've been Isaiah's turn to be angry. It never came. He remained calm after hearing what Pudge had said. Perhaps it was because there was a part of him that agreed, even if another part of him took it offensively.

Isaiah watched as Pudge finally stopped his attempt at moving and leaned against the wall for support. Whatever was going on in his body was dangerous, that much was obvious. It was time for Isaiah to step in. Regardless of whatever Pudge had said previously, Isaiah wasn't going to be bitter about it and just leave him there to die on his own. Carefully he set Thomas down and then snuck up on Pudge.

Pudge felt his heart leap into his throat when a strong, cold hand suddenly snagged him under the arm and yanked on him. A glance over his shoulder revealed Isaiah not looking too pleased, his lips into a tight frown and his eyes forever in a harsh squint. Pudge tried to pull himself free, but there was no energy left in his body to do so. Instead, he ordered, "Let go. I don't need you."

"Obviously you do," Isaiah calmly retorted.

"Oh, because you're so great at being there for people, aren't you?! Let me go!" he screamed. The words stung and Isaiah relaxed his grip. Pudge was able to free himself and get a few steps away until someone else stopped him.

Miranda knew Pudge was going to try and tread forward so she maneuvered herself to corral him in. All she had intended on doing at first was just to reason with him once more, as the sight of Isaiah jumping in to help had rejuvenated her interest in keeping Pudge safe. Yet after hearing the harsh words Pudge had said and upon seeing the expression it caused Isaiah to show, she wasn't interested in being nice anymore.

Pudge had no chance to react when she reeled back and sent a strong hit against his face. It hadn't knocked him over and it didn't break anything, but it certainly shocked him to get punched by a girl. It also hurt like hell. Anger replaced shock and without a single thought in his head, Pudge went to hit her back. A left hook smacked Miranda on the cheek, leaving it bruised and sore. That was it. Rage blinded her and she went in for the attack.

Her first move was to grab his broken arm and apply pressure. As Pudge cried out in pain over the sharp throb that berated his arm she landed a few solid hits against his face again. He went to swipe her feet out from under her but she countered easily and sent both of them tumbling against wall. Truly pinned, Pudge was helpless as Miranda unleashed a fury of hits against him.

Isaiah and Carrie hurried to pull her off of the already well-beaten Pudge. It was Isaiah that physically stopped her, as he grabbed under her arms and lifted her off the ground. Despite her thrashing she really was no match against him. Accidentally she smacked his damaged arm, where the dog bite wound had yet to even begin to heal. All he did was grumble a low growl, the sound primal enough that it caused her to finally stop moving. Isaiah didn't let her go, just in case.

He tried to hide the fact that he was terrified that she might go nuts on him. Never in his life had he seen someone lose their cool that way, and he never ever thought he'd see a girl like Miranda do that. In order to not reveal his shaking, he squeeze probably a little too hard on her arms. He justified it in his head by giving himself a good look at the fresh bits of blood that peppered her bruised knuckles.

Pudge was motionless. Carrie was asking him repeatedly if he was alright but he could barely open his eyes. His nose was numb. A tooth had cut a perfect hole in his upper lip that he could stick his tongue through. Trickles of blood were running down his cheek and ear. She'd hit him hard enough to cut through his skin. Although she'd rattled his head enough that it felt like the world was spinning, Pudge still wasn't about to show any weakness. He managed to straighten himself out; well, the best he could, as Carrie was actually stabilizing him.

"What's your f*****g issue?" Pudge against, his voice garbled through his swollen lip.

Miranda ignored the curse word for the first time and said, "You are, jerk! How could you be such an ass?!"

"No, I mean… You're no amateur. You really know how to fight."

Miranda tensed and Isaiah could feel it. His harsh grip on her arms softened and eventually he was subconsciously massaging them in an attempt to keep her calm. It took a beat for her to speak, her explanation almost rehearsed. "I grew up with a lot of brothers. I'm just tough, that's all," she said quietly.

"Whatever," was all Pudge to could say. He didn't buy it but he wasn't interested in pressing the issue, just in case she lost her cool again. After Isaiah finally decided to let her go, he definitely wasn't going to risk it. Instead, he turned to continue walking down the never-ending hallway. He was stopped again, however, as something at the end of the hall grabbed his attention.

Another child, probably no more than ten, waited for them. Enshrined in shadows and covered in filth, it was difficult to assess the kid. Happy for a distraction, it was Miranda that dared to approach the stranger. As she walked toward it, she lovingly asked, "Hey, sweetie, are you alright?"

The child moved. It raised its hands and something reflected in its grasps. Isaiah panicked, shouted, "Miranda!" and yanked her back toward him. It was done just in time as a loud POP echoed down the hall. Something ripped through Miranda's ear and she whimpered in shock as she grabbed for the wound. "Are you alright?!" Isaiah screamed. All he could see was fresh blooding flow through her shaking fingers.

"Jesus, yes. I'm not deaf," Miranda answered. Even she wasn't sure whether it was said out of malice or jest.

"Kid, what the hell are you doing?!" Pudge demanded. The scare had him back in good form. A half step forward was done instinctively when he said, "We're not here to fight you! We want to help you! Let's kick this sicko's ass together!"

The child would have none of it. He fired another shot from the gun he held, the weapon much too large and powerful for his small hands. The bullet missed completely but still had Pudge jump back against the wall in fear. It took a moment for him to think straight, and when he finally did, he pulled the frozen Carrie behind him.

"I… I don't want to…" the soft voice of the youngster said. It was barely audible. "But… I have to… I have to protect them…"

"Protect who?! Protect what?! Come on, let's work together!" Pudge tried to reason.

"I'm sorry!"

The tail end of the child's apology was cut short when he fired the gun again. That was it. Isaiah made a choice. The gun that rested in his waistband was removed and gripped securely in both hands; he raised it at the silhouette of the child, and pulled the trigger three body rattling times. The sound startled everyone enough that they physically jumped, with Pudge even cursing at the first shot. Isaiah didn't notice any of that, though. His entire focus was on the end of the hall, where he watched the young child fall to ground.

"What the f**k, man?!" Pudge shouted after the ringing in their ears stopped.

"Oh my god," Miranda whispered.

As Thomas wailed and Carrie clenched Pudge's shoulder, Pudge turned to Isaiah and yelled, "Dude, you just shot a kid!"

"Shut the f**k up!" Isaiah yelled. Hearing him curse was enough to make the others jump as though he fired another round. "I didn't have a choice, alright?! God dammit!" He couldn't control his body. The clacking of the gun as it rattled in his quivering grip was loud enough it frustrated him, causing his joints to lock up. A whirlwind of emotions was making his mind go numb. Fear, guilt, disgust – it all was mashing inside of his head. It was too surreal. Everything started to feel as though he was viewing it through a TV screen rather than his own eyes. Nausea hit next and his stomach threatened to spew its contents.

Miranda's hand gently found his. He looked at her but she couldn't look at him. No surprise; he wouldn't want to look someone in the eye that just gunned down a young child. Pudge's voice brought him from his self-pity party when he said, "Maybe the kid's still alive."

Isaiah didn't verbally answer as he didn't trust his own voice. Instead, he offered a small nod. There was a silent order from the two boys for the others to stay put. As Isaiah and Pudge approached the motionless body, Isaiah made sure the gun was ready to fire again. Even if it was making him sick to his stomach, he wasn't about to get shot and he sure as hell wasn't going to let Pudge get shot, either.

Once they were within a few feet Pudge hastily closed the gap and knocked the pistol away from the outstretched hand of the boy. Then, the two boys just viewed the body without knowing exactly what to do. Hesitation and fear had kept them planted a safe distance. It was Pudge again that made the first move as he lightly kicked the child's foot. When nothing happened, he increased the strength of his nudges. Still, nothing. There was no desire to check the boy's face and view his lifeless expression or to bother looking for a pulse.

"s**t. He's dead, isn't he?"

"Yeah. And stop cussing, it sounds weird."

When Isaiah said nothing, Pudge turned to look at him. Pity welled up inside him at the sight of Isaiah's freaked out expression. He elbowed Isaiah to get his attention, and then motioned back toward the others. They had to get back to work, both of them realized this.

"Looks like you all need to relax!"

The voice of the strange puppet bounced off the walls of the hallway. Pudge and Isaiah were transported out of the hallway in a flash. All Miranda could say before she felt herself get transported was, "Again?!" Then, everything went to black.