Lillith glanced up from her book when she heard voices approaching the door. She leaned to one side to get a better view out the window. “Oh no,” she moaned, getting up from behind the desk.
Carla opened the door moments before the nurse’s hand could clutch the doorknob, and she burst into the room with her brown hair flying behind her. “Ms. Lillith!!”
Lillith’s nose was inches from where the door had swung open, her hands balled into fists against her blouse in defense. “I’m right here, Mrs. Hiller,” she said, though her eyes were diverted to the limping woman between William and Thomas.
“We can take it from here, Thomas,” William helped the hobbling Wildfire over the threshold.
“Yeh sure?” The mayor glanced at him. His face bore two fading scars that ran from his ear to his nose, and the beginnings of a moustache prickled across his lip.
Between them, The Wildfire was glaring down at the ground in guilt. Her pants were badly torn at the knee, exposing a deep wound that ran up her thigh.
“Yes; thank you,” William struggled to hold the woman upright, and as soon as Thomas stepped back, Lillith took his place.
“Come on, hon,” Thomas reached for Carla’s arm, and the young woman offered a frown in their direction before leaving the hospital with her husband.
Once The Wildfire was settled into a fresh bed, Lillith made quick work of removing her boot and tearing away her already scrapped pant leg. Her knee was revealed to be badly bruised and seeping with blood from a long gash leading halfway up her thigh—nothing out of the ordinary for the doctor-in-training. “Where’d they attack this time?” She asked while she worked.
“We were mere feet from stepping back into town,” the doctor grumbled in annoyance, running the sink to wet a rag while he grabbed bandages from the cabinet below it. “We were doing some work on the cabin, and they left us be all day until the exact moment we thought we were home free.”
The Wildfire threw her goggles aside and pressed her hands against her forehead. “It’s so stupid.”
“The beasts are just proving to be unpredictable,” William scowled at the towel.
“No,” The Wildfire balked, “I’m stupid.”
“Excuse me?” Lillith tilted her head, accepting the warm rags from the doctor. “You and that word absolutely do not belong together.”
The woman hissed from pain as the rags were placed on her wound. “This—ehh—wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t froze! I dropped my guard and left myself wide open!”
“It’s not abnormal to be afraid,” William tried.
“I wasn’t... ugh!” Her hands fell heavily onto the bed at her sides as she huffed loudly.
The doctor and nurse glanced at each other.
“I think she needs a Will moment.” She said under her breath.
He pressed his lips together. “If you don’t mind.”
Lillith nodded and patted William’s back before retreating to the office and pulling the door closed.
“Now, what were you saying?” William took over at the Wildfire’s side.
She opened her eyes and found him sitting, alone, on the stool beside her, gently propping up her leg with a pillow to begin wrapping it in the bandage. She glanced down the hall, finding all of the privacy curtains pulled back and the hall empty of all other patients. She laid her head against the pillow, keeping her gaze turned away from him. “I was scared,” she admitted in defeat.
“It’s not abnormal to be afraid,” he repeated, looking up at her.
“But for years I was taught that was my weakness—I was supposed to keep my emotions out of it, or I’d be overpowered. And look!” She thrust her hands down at her leg. “I get scared, I freeze, and this happens!”
“Why were you scared?” He tried to reel back her tangent.
She swallowed. Her eyes watched William work diligently. “They were... going after you.”
His lips parted as his actions slowed.
She glowered, embarrassed and humbled all at once. “I saw them go after you and I got scared thinking something would happen to you.”
The poignancy of her words caused an empathetic smile to grow on his lips. “You know, every time you run after the beasts, I get scared too. You’re putting yourself at risk every time you take up your blade against them.”
Her brows furrowed.
He straightened his back and tried to continue wrapping her leg. “Can I tell you something not many people know?”
Her face unclenched. “Of course,” she said, pushing herself up against her pillows.
“If you follow that bridge past the cabin, you’ll eventually hit what once was Eastland. They were the last town standing besides Westfall, and they were home to the last functioning power plant. Seven years ago, it blew and caught fire, ravaging Eastland in the process. Many of us here went to help rescue and treat the injured. Beth and I went, along with Joseph, Hudson, and a few others. While I was helping bind a broken arm, Beth and Susanna—Thomas’ mother—had entered a building to rescue someone.”
She watched his fingers finish the bandage, curl back, and retreat to the edge of the bed.
“It collapsed.”
She bit her lip, feeling the sum of his grief in those two words.
“Like a growing number of families here, we were unable to have children; so, after I lost Dad, Beth was all the family I had left. Losing her was devastating, and I fought against myself for months. If I had been there, if I could have done something... What would have changed, if at all?” He reached down to grab a folded blanket at the foot of the bed to cover her legs. “For months, I allowed fear to stop myself from loving and caring about others; like you, I was afraid to lose someone so dear to me again.”
“So... what happened?”
He turned to face her. “Well, as you know, I still get scared,” he offered a smirk. “But the best way for me to carry on Beth’s legacy is to keep loving others.” His smirk softened in compassion. “You are someone I care a great deal for. I don’t want anything to happen to you, either.”
She tried to swallow the lump in her throat to no avail. Instead, she shut her eyes in defense when she felt them welling with tears.
He stood and rested his hands on his hips. “And I, for one, am glad you’re not suppressing your emotions.”
She breathed out through her mouth, half as a sob. “Yeah, but I feel like every time we talk I end up crying,” she tried to smile.
He chuckled under his breath. “Quite possibly because you’ve had to hold it all back for so long.”
She let out a long sigh through her nose. “I wish I could hold back the guilt.”
He rubbed his chin and stepped over to the bedside table to retrieve his Bible. He flipped a few pages and returned to the stool.
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.” He looked up. “That’s from first letter of John, chapter two. God understands we are imperfect, he understands we may sin, even those who have lived and studied and followed his commands our whole lives,” he pointed at her, “but that’s where his Son comes in. Jesus was fully God and fully man, making him the perfect sacrifice. He was a man to take our place, and God to take it for all eternity.” He smiled at her. “God cares so much about us—so much about you—that he gave his only Son so he could redeem you.”
Her eyes locked onto his, sorrowful, yet hopeful.
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, and you are mine.”
She bit her lip, again holding back tears as she nodded.
“If we obey him and have faith in his mercy, he will wash away your iniquities.” He closed the book. “Now, if I may, Miss Wild—”
“Gemini.”
William perked up, glancing at her in surprise.
“That’s my name.” She was still, propped against the pillows as her eyes remained focused elsewhere.
The smile returned to his face. “Gemini is a beautiful name.”
“But I’m not Gemini right now,” she clarified, glancing at him.
“I have a feeling Gemini will return when The Wildfire is quenched.” He said knowingly.
“Quenched?” She looked at him curiously.
“I would like for you to read Acts on your own time. That will help you know what you must do to follow him, and learn how, and why, water is involved.” He offered a smile as her curiosity grew. “Also, pay close attention to Paul; he was guilty of killing many before coming to know God.”
She looked to her hands, still dirty from battle. “I see.”
“As always, ask me if you run into questions.” He closed his Bible and returned it to the table. “You’re welcome to use mine while you’re here. You have one at your home, right?”
“Hudson gave me one,” she folded her hands on the blanket.
“Ah,” he raised a hand as if the thought had been plucked from the air. “Speaking of home, now that the cabin’s tidied up and stocked, I wanted to offer it to you.”
She looked up at him incredulously. “What?”
“You’re the best equipped to use it—and travel to it,” he eyed her blade and goggles near the edge of the bed, “and I feel you’ve never been quite settled in the Rowletts’ place.”
“I’ve just... struggled to feel settled at all,” she shrugged. “It’s been over two years since the crash, and I still don’t feel like I’m supposed to be here. Not because of you, or the Rowletts, or anyone else,” her lips tugged to one side. “It’s hard to explain.”
“No, I understand. Perhaps that’s your hope that The Doctor will find you.”
The usual pang she felt at the mention of his name radiated through her. “He’s forgotten about me,” she said succinctly.
“Are you sure?”
Darkness fell upon her brow. “I’ve given up hoping for that.”
William nodded, allowing the topic to lapse. “Well, my offer stands, if you so choose.”
“I can’t just take your dad’s house.”
“Of course you can’t. I’m giving it to you.”
She shook her head, a grin cracking her expression. “I can’t accept it.”
The knowing smile returned as he removed the small, iron key from his pocket. “My offer will remain open.” He set it down on the end table beside her.
She raised an eyebrow and shot him a mild smirk as he rested his hands on his hips and looked at her.
“Once you feel you can walk, you’re free to go—which, knowing you, won’t be long.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She crossed her arms against her blouse.
“You heal fast, and you’re stubborn,” he chuckled, ignoring her rolling eyes as he turned and started to the office. “But I’m counting on it, since the harvest festival is this weekend, and I’d hate for the guest of honor to be absent.”
“Guest of honor?”
“Thanks to Westfall’s Wildfire, this is the first year in many we have a proper harvest!” He paused with a hand on the doorknob. “You’ve brought more to this town than you know.”
She pressed her lips together. “I couldn’t have done anything without your help.”
He could only offer his usual cheerful smile before joining Lillith in the office.
The Wildfire smiled to herself and then looked down at her propped-up leg. She uncomfortably tried to reposition herself, but gave up and sunk back into the pillows when it proved in vain. She reached over to the end table to grab William’s Bible, and she found the key to the cabin resting beside it. The smirk softened. It was a kind gesture, even if she knew she could never accept it.
She set the Bible in her lap. Despite struggling to find her place in a town she never expected to be a part of, she could feel grateful for the opportunity to know him. Even the others, like Lillith, Thomas, Carla, and Hudson, had been nothing but kind—at least beyond the initial strains when she first arrived. Perhaps keeping this thought in mind would help her find peace.
That, and reading her next assignment from William.
- - -
“Can y’all hear me? Gosh, this thing looks ridiculous,” Mayor Thomas scowled down the long barrel of the horn-shaped megaphone. His voice, while loud, sounded hollow the stillness of the air.
“Speak up!” Someone yelled from the crowd.
“I wa’n’t tryin’ to talk just then!” He dropped the megaphone in annoyance, only to lift it back and press it to his mouth. “How’s this??”
“What?” William quipped, cupping a hand over his ear.
Lillith and Carla glanced at each other, the latter attempting to stifle her laughter.
The autumn winds had rolled in with the clouds that morning, bringing much cooler temperatures to Westfall. Both women wore long dresses and white blouses, topped with woven shawls over their shoulders. The gentlemen around them had also donned scarves and jackets, which also served to dress up their usual work clothes for the occasion. Together, with the rest of the town, they had gathered at the edge of the cotton fields in honor of the first annual harvest festival.
Thomas gestured a hand to the woman in black that stood beside William. “How do I sound, really?”
The Wildfire’s arms were crossed against a black jacket wrapped over a blue blouse, bound at her waist with a black corset. A new pair of black pants were tucked into dusty black boots, and her silver goggles were pushed up on her forehead. “You sound fine,” she smirked.
The mayor shot a particularly sarcastic glance at William before clearing his throat and repositioning the megaphone. “All right; pretty sure you all know why we’re here today, but I guess I’m supposed to announce stuff.”
“He’s so honest,” Lillith cracked under her breath.
“Hush, he’s tryin’ so hard!” Carla ribbed her. “He hates doin’ stuff like this!”
“This is the first year in many that we’ve had such plentiful crops grow for harvest,” Thomas shifted the megaphone in his hands. “The wheat fields, cotton fields, orchards, vegetable patches; it’s all flourishin’ and prime for pickin’. So, to kick off the harvest season, we decided to hold a festival to celebrate this bounty.”
The mayor was interrupted when applause rippled through the group, complete with a few ‘whoops’ and other jovial calls.
“So, as we stand here among the fruits’f our labor, there’s a few folks I’ve gotta thank before we can start celebratin’.” Thomas straightened his posture, the shotgun strapped to his back shifting as he moved. “First, and foremost, I thank our God and Creator for bringin’ us here and always providin’ for our needs.”
“Amen,” Hudson nodded, his hands pocketed within his gray suit coat. The Wildfire almost didn’t recognize him outside of his overalls.
“I thank our farmers and gardeners for your dedication to the land, and this town, in all the hard work yeh put in over this year, and more once the harvest begins.”
Margaret patted her husband’s shoulder with pride.
“I thank Adrien and Randall for their work and support in formin’ our town patrol, and I thank William for his wisdom and his very important duty to Westfall,” he paused, his lips tugging beyond the mouthpiece, “and for keepin’ me in line.”
Despite Thomas’ humbled tone, the crowd took this as an opportunity to chuckle. Regardless, William’s grin beamed, and he offered a short wave to the mayor.
“And, I thank The Wildfire,” he watched her curl back sheepishly, “‘cause we all know that without her protection, we couldn’t have made it this far.”
She humbly bowed in an attempt to deflect the attention as those in her immediate area looked to her and applauded.
Thomas lowered the megaphone for a moment as he gave her a knowing nod, and then he returned to his speech. “With all that said, I do thank ev’ry one of you here, makin’ this town really feel like a community. I know I’ve struggled fillin’ in to this role, but I’m finding that worrying...”
The Wildfire’s attention was pulled from Thomas. She caught a glimpse of something dark on the far end of the field. Her sudden adjustment in breathing caught William’s attention at her side.
“...and I suppose I can’t conclude anything without a nod to my wife—” Thomas stopped talking when his attention fell upon them. He turned around to see what The Wildfire had noticed.
The megaphone fell from his hand.
It was then the gathered townspeople noticed the dark form grow into a group of beasts approaching the field. Gasps and cries rippled through the crowd as uncertainty of what to do next held them in place.
A hand gave her shoulder a squeeze.
She gave William a worried, yet determined look in reply.
His blue eyes held far more worry than hers did, but he nodded in acceptance.
The Wildfire slipped on her goggles and pulled the blade from her back as she ran to meet Thomas at the edge of the cotton rows.
“Can you make a fire line to stop ‘em from gettin’ close?” Thomas’ eyes were glued to the beasts’ approach. He swung his shotgun forward and grasped it firmly in his hands.
“On it.” She immediately took off across the field. She raced to the edge and held out her sonic blade. In one swoop, she sprayed fire in a wide semicircle across the ground as far ahead as she could throw it. She anticipated many would make it through, but her determination faded to panic as the beasts multiplied through the flames, seemingly ignoring the fire that licked at their coats.
“Go!” She yelled, only taking her eyes off of the creatures ensure those behind her could hear her call. “Get back to town!!”
“You heard ‘er—get back!” Thomas barked, waving them away with one hand. “Adrien—Randy—anyone else with guns: get out here!!”
The townsfolk scrambled to obey as a few men, toting everything from handguns to shotguns, rushed against the flood of residents racing into town. Lillith grabbed Carla’s arm and started to run back with her, but she stopped when she found William running into the fray. “Will!”
“Go; I’ll meet you at the hospital!” He called back, untucking his shirt to pull a pistol from the back of his waistband. He then disappeared into the group of men rushing the field.
The Wildfire held her ground and tried to pick off each creature with a well-timed blast. She couldn’t risk setting the field on fire; not after it had taken so long to cultivate it, but the space between the beasts and the field was quickly narrowing.
She rushed forward and met the fastest of the group head-on, slicing through its forelimbs. It gurgled loudly and collapsed to the ground, but two more passed her and rushed into the field. She retreated after them and quickly cut down one—only for two more to appear at her back.
She flinched when the loud pop of a shotgun echoed ahead of her, striking the beast beside her in the head. Without missing a beat, Thomas popped the barrel open, reloaded, and aimed another shot to take out the next with a second headshot. His years of battling beasts had made him dangerously lethal.
She refocused on the beast she was tracking and found it barreling towards the escaping residents.
Gritting her teeth as she ran, she threw out her blade and fired a shot.
She gaped in horror when it missed.
There were a few shouts as a section of the cotton caught fire beside one of the gunmen.
“Go—we got this!” Thomas shouted as he pegged another beast.
She winced and ran after the six-legged creature, rushing through the patch of fire burning down the row of cotton. She overtook it just as it reached the dirt road into town, and she jabbed it in the side to halt its movements. It screeched and rolled over, failing in pain. She finished the job by cutting its throat.
Another set of cries drew her attention back into the field as William had taken up defending a fallen woman from one of the beasts that had slipped past the gunmen. He clicked through an empty round, threw the pistol aside and grabbed a metal hoe from the ground. He swung it at its eyestalks, effectively blinding it as it darted backward erratically.
The Wildfire ran towards them, only for another beast to slip past Thomas’ shot and dive at her. She ducked and thrust her blade into its stomach as it rolled over her, covering her in yellow blood. She gagged and wiped her goggles with her sleeve. Her hand dropped and her eyes refocused.
Her breath caught in her throat as the blinded beast leapt at William.
Focusing only on him, she pushed herself to run at full speed. She couldn’t tell what Thomas was yelling, and she didn’t notice the second beast until it struck her in the side. She rolled three times before landing hard on her stomach.
As if in slow motion, she watched the creature arch its head over the struggling man with its mouth wide and its teeth gleaming. Her arm with her blade was outstretched in the dirt. She could fire a shot, strike the beast, and save William.
She froze. What if she missed? What if she struck William instead?
Her window of opportunity was closed when the beast at her side slammed its forelimb onto her head, smashing her face into the soil. It then sunk its teeth into her left shoulder and ripped her from the ground. She was tossed to her back like a torn-up ragdoll as the beast roared over her, as if victorious.
She wheezed for breath as she began to choke on her own blood, and she held up the blade in defense. The beast dove at her, consuming both the blade and her hand. Its knife-like teeth tore through her skin like paper. She shouted, shut her eyes and shot a blast into its mouth.
Fire burst from its mouth and out the back of its head. What was left of the beast’s body collapsed heavily across her, pinning her to the ground. She struggled to breathe, paralyzed from the excruciating pain coursing through her body from her torn shoulder. Her vision blurred behind her goggles.
Shouts and calls echoed around her. She tried to focus on the sound; tried to make sense of the shadows that passed before her eyes. Her left arm had fallen numb, and the warmth of her own blood had begun to seep across her back as it puddled in the dirt beneath her.
What if she died?
She sucked in a breath. She wouldn’t die; she would regenerate. She had one left.
What would happen then?
Soon, the heaviness on her chest was lifted and she was pulled from the dirt. Voices chattered around her as her wounds were bound for transport, and she was carried from the field.
She strained through one last breath before she passed out of consciousness.
- - -
“M—Ms. Lillith, I—”
“Gosh, I hope she doesn’t lose this arm. Hold this right here.”
“Lose... her arm?”
“Carla—hey, look: I need to make this as tight as I can. Her entire shoulder needs to be held firm.”
“Y... yes.”
“Okay, that’s done. Can you go check on Randall for me? This is all we need to do here.”
The Wildfire’s eyes cracked open as the words came to her ears. She pulled in a rattled breath and immediately began coughing.
“Easy!” A set of hands repositioned under her back to lean her one side.
She groaned as bloody spit ran down her lip, feeling sharp pains radiating from her left shoulder. She managed to focus on the stained wrappings strewn across the bed, half-obscuring her discolored arm below. She tried to move her fingers, but nothing happened.
Her breath caught again and she broke into another cough.
“Easy,” the concerned voice repeated.
She finally recognized it as Hudson’s, and she strained her eyes to look up at him. Why was he here?
Lillith returned a moment later with a fresh rag to wipe her chin. “You can lay her back now,” she said before darting off out of sight.
The Wildfire moaned as Hudson’s steady hands laid her against a pile of pillows. “Ah,” she hissed sharply as she pulled her right arm from the bed. An IV tube replenishing lost blood was inserted at her elbow and bandages bound her forearm tight.
“Careful, you’re hurt there too,” Hudson urged. “You got cut up real bad, and your other shoulder’s out of joint and... and also cut up real bad,” he trailed off, glancing down at his shirt and coat. Dried blood was smeared across his chest and arms from carrying her to the hospital. “But you’re gonna be all right. I know it.”
Her eyes scanned the room as her ears slowly picked up a variety of sounds and activity in the medical ward: Cries, moans, gentle words of concern, calls for aid, and scattered footsteps. Her breathing began to quicken.
The barrel-chested man at her side awkwardly set his hand on her right shoulder for comfort. “Hey, you’re gonna be all right. You’re in good hands with Ms. Lillith.”
“Mm,” she flopped her head back and forth. “Where’s...”
“And I’m here if you need anything at all while she—”
“Where’s William??” She blurted painfully.
Lillith had been walking past the foot of her bed carrying towels and a roll of bandages. At the utterance of his name, she stopped walking so abruptly that her entire body lurched forward before regaining its balance. Her lips puckered, eyes squinting tight, and she turned her head away to try to continue her previous task.
Hudson frowned and held her shoulder tighter, incrementally tilting his head to his right.
She followed the movement with her eyes until they fell upon the bed beside her. The privacy curtain hadn’t been pulled around yet, and the light from the window above it cast the shrouded figure in an eerie white light. The tall man was draped from head to toe in a sheet, cold and unmoving.
For all she knew, both of her hearts had stopped at once. The pain and immeasurable grief burst from her chest and convulsed her entire form in a wave of despair.
She was unable to stifle a mournful cry, sobbing through weakness and pain until her body gave out, carrying her grief into unconscious, unfeeling slumber.
<< Chapter 9 - Chapter 11 >>
Chapter Notes