Review Replies:
mozzi-girl:
Thanks, I loved that part in 'Love and Bullets' so much…the plot line had so many twists in so little time. It also doesn't hurt that my favorite animal is an owl :P thanks for the review!
SVUProductions:
Maybe that's Sarin you smell…lol jk Sarin is colorless and odorless *nerd joke*.
nat157s:
Thanks so much! That really means the world to me! (I know I say that about almost every review, but really it's true!). Thanks so much for that, long reviews make my day :).
I just wanted to say, I may be discontinuing 'How Far?'. Looking at my plot line and the few reviews for my last update, I might just stop. I'm starting to dislike it myself (more than usual, but I don't think anyone ever likes anything they ever write. Or maybe I just tell myself that so I don't seem so odd) Also, I had a dream about CoD death last night, but a dream that I was playing CoD. (is that bad?). So, I'm going to write what I dreamed, because when I woke up in the morning for about two hours I ACTUALLY thought it had really happened and I was freaking out. So I'll probably post that after this is done. That is all.
Fifteen minutes. Natara kept track of the time since Mal had breathed in that mystery gas, watching for anything more. At first she had had a little hope, it seemed that Mal only had a cough. It was just then that something else had shown up. As they were walking, Mal had briefly half-closed his eyes, rubbing them with his thumb and pointer finger.
"You okay?" Natara asked.
Once again he rolled his eyes, but took a deep sigh "I'm fine, just a little headache".
This made her heart sink. She didn't say anything more, but knew if her suspicions were true Mal could literally drop dead at any time. The thought of leaving him on the forest floor, twitching and fighting to breathe, to go get help was unbearable. That after all the life-threatening situations they had survived, he would lose to something he couldn't see, couldn't fight. They only walked a few more yards when Mal stopped very suddenly, startling Natara.
"Mal, are you-" she started, seeing he was beginning to breathe heavily as if hyperventilating. "Mal!". After a few terror-filled moments he stopped, recovering but still taking in air as if he had just ran a mile.
He turned around, and she could see it in his eyes. The pupils were reduced to tiny dots, and they were watering terribly as if he had bad allergies.
"I've got it, don't I?" he said.
Very slowly, as if Mal were a rabid animal that might attach at sudden movements, Natara nodded. "How long?" he asked.
Natara suddenly became fidgety and nervous. How could she put an expiration date on her best friend? "Well, it depends" she started, stalling until she could think of a way to tell Mal without alarming him. "It depends on the amount of time, concentration if the toxin, where-".
"How long?" Mal said suddenly again, not angry, but forceful.
"A few hours" she said breathlessly "Three at the most". She expected Mal to swear, to kick a tree in anger. Or possibly run, getting to help sooner but also spreading the poison quicker with his accelerated heart rate. You could see a small change in his eyes, one that made his already small pupils grow smaller, and he gave another deep breath. At first Natara thought he was gasping for air again, then realized. Mal was accepting his fate.
"Alright then" he said. And with that he turned around once again, resuming the pace he had before as if nothing had happened. Maybe he was trying to be calm, for he knew stressing out about it would only make it worse. Or maybe was trying to stay calm for Natara. Either way, there was one thing he didn't know. Natara could do nothing for now, he had at least fifteen minutes until he was safe to be near. And a lot could happen in fifteen minutes. Because another thing Mal didn't know, was that he could die a quick yet painful death at any time. That even though it only took two and a half hour to get here, he could easily become paralyzed or lose control of the muscles in his limbs. For now though, Natara knew it would be unwise to enlighten him of any of these facts. If he knew he was carrying poison he would force Natara to separate from him, she knew that. And if he knew he could die at any second…well no one really knows how someone could react to that. But she knew, however he took it, it wouldn't be good. She followed be behind him calmly, checking her phone as she did so, just in case. No bars. "Damn trees"she muttered under her breath, replacing the phone in her pocket. But as she did she saw Mal glance her his shoulder, smiling at her comment.
Also, sorry this is formatted so weird this time, stupid technology-impaired me attempted to double space, and lets just say my computer is older than I am and doesn't like double spacing...
