Chapter 7: EPONINE P.O.V.

When I wake up Enjolras has already left. It pains me to know that he would leave without saying goodbye, but that may have been more painful than this. I lay back down onto his bed and think. About nothing in particular, but everything at the same time.

CRACK

The sound of gunfire shakes me from my daze. They must be starting….In the distance I can her voices rushing towards the flat.

"To the barricades!" That's Enjolras! I rush to the window just in time to see a group of maybe 30 of the boys, from the abc café, running down the streets with red banners in their fists. I miss Enjolras but at least I know that he's there. Goodness I wish I were a man so that I may fight by his side.

The thought lingers for a bit and suddenly an idea comes to mind. I can fight beside him! I rush to his trunk of clothing in the corner and take a few shirts, a pair of pants, a vest, and a fisherman's hat. I take two out of the three shirts I grabbed and rip them into pieces. Then after removing my clothing, I wrap my body tightly with the ripped shirts to better aid my disguise. I wouldn't want them finding me out. I put on the shirt, vest, and pants, last tucking my hair into the hat. I'm about to leave when I notice Enjolras' large cot that he let me borrow before. I'll wear it for good luck, for both of us. And with that in mind I rush out of the flat and into the streets of the city.

When I arrive at the barricade I can see how it has been crudely constructed out of furniture from the local buildings. And there standing as gorgeous as ever atop the barricades is my Enjolras. I try my best to hide a smile but I don't know how well it worked out. There are several barricade boys outside of it so it is easy for me to slip in unnoticed and start on a job like I've been there the whole time.

"He's back!" I hear what sounds to be like Grantaire calling from the top of the barricade.

"Listen my friends, I have done as I would and gone to the enemy camp. They suspect nothing. But keep this in mind, their numbers are greater than ours." Is that? No it can't be…

"Do not let this discourage you my friends! We will overcome."

"It may not be so easy Enjolras." Grantaire is always such a pessimist.

"Come now Grantaire…let us hear the rest of what our friend has to say."

"Yes, well..I have over heard that they do not plan to attack tonight, but instead starve us out and attack from the righ-"

"Liar!"

All eyes turn to the little voice of Gavroche who has accused this man.

"Enjolras, this man isn't who he says he is. His names Inspector Javert, and he is spying for the enemy." I knew I recognized him! Several of the boys jump at him, one of which is Enjolras, who the inspector punches in the face. I have to hold back a gasp and plant my feet. They are able to grab Javert and force him into the tavern.

"Shoot me now or later! It won't matter when your all lying dead on the streets!"

I can hardly believe what I'm hearing but all too glad at what I'm seeing. The poor inspector defenseless and tied against a post in the tavern. Serves him right.

Another man comes later in the day and is repaid for saving Enjolras' with taking Javert and disposing of him. I hope he knows what he's dealing with. After that, there is not much excitement and now it is night.

"Well my friends here is to all the good times, bad times, and women I can remember from my life." Grantaire lifts a bottle of brandy to the sky then gulps it down. You would think that in the middle of a revolution he would have some sense to not drink.

"If you have any women to remember Grantaire." Marius chuckles but his expression quickly grows sad as if he's remembering something.

"And why the long face my friend?"

"It's Cosette, Grantaire," The old man who arrived not too long ago perks his head at this. "She's leaving and I will never see her again. I have nothing to live for…I hope I die in this battle." He whispers the last part and I can feel his pain in the words he speaks.

"Dont' think like that Marius. There are plenty of things to live for besides women."

"No Enjolras…ugh. You wouldn't understand. You have never loved anyo- Oh, I'm sorry Enjolras. I have over stepped a boundary."

"Damn right you have! You know nothing of my life. And for your knowledge, I have loved someone and they have loved me also." I've never seen him so defensive about anything. And I know almost certainly that he is talking about me.

"Your mother doesn't count Enjolras." Shut up Grantaire.

"Shut up Grantaire. I don't mean my mother. But that is a story for another time. Get some rest, all of you. We need to be prepared for tomorrow." Goodnight my 'Ras.

ENJOLRAS P.O.V.

I didn't want to have to leave 'Ponine before she woke, but saying goodbye would have been even harder. But now in this moment…I wish I had. It's morning and the sun has begun to rise. I'm almost certain that the national guard ail be doing for us today. This is when the bloodbath will happen.

"Enjolras! They're coming! Hurry everyone to your post!" Wasn't I right?

"Do not be afraid! We will fight for freedom!" I know most of us will die today but I can't let that get to me. As the leader I must have the strength to ignore this.

"You at the barricades! Listen to me. Put down your guns and go free or face certain death!" The national guard is as sure as I am of myself.

"Let us die then! Let die for what is right! Others will rise to take our place and fight until we are free!" There is a moment of silence before the national guard gives the final order to shoot.

"Fire!"

The next moments are a blur. I begin shooting, aiming for the best men on the enemy lines. I get several before a bullet flies towards me knocking me from my post on the barricade. I tumble to the ground and lose my gun in the process. From the ground I can see everyone around me falling with blood spattering everywhere. For a moment I forget that I have been shot but the pain quickly comes back. I clutch my leg in an attempt to stop the pain, not that it will do much. From the corner of my eye I see Marius get shot in the shoulder.

"Marius!"

The man who saved me last night runs to his rescue, lifting him up on his shoulder and carrying him off into the alleyway. If only someone were here to do that for me, perhaps I could see Epon-

"Enjolras! Enjolras!," Its one of the younger boys. I can tell by his voice. His hat is covering his eyes so I can't identify him, but he quickly rips it off.

"E-eponine? What are you doing here?" I try to speak to her, but the pain is beginning to be unbearable. I should have known she would do something like this.

"I couldn't bear to not see you Enjolras. Oh my goodness! Your leg! Here we must go. Can you walk?" All around us bullets are flying and people are still falling dead on the street.

"I-I…yes. I think I can." I begin to try to stand but am unable to support my weight. "Apparently not. Eponine just leave me. I would rather die here than know you were injured or worse, killed."

"No! I'm to leaving you Enjolras! Come, if you can get up and walk a little I went out and stole a horse from the enemy this morning. We can ride it to safety. But we must go now." Her eyes are desperate and she is pleading me to come with her. I must be strong for her. Using her shoulder I am just able to push myself off the ground onto my good leg.

"Alright. Lets go." She leads me to an alley opposite the one the man took Marius to. I wonder where they went. I see the horse she was talking about. A large brilliant white steed. Thank god its close, I don't know how much longer I can hold myself up. Thankfully there is a stoop I am able to use to hoist myself up and over the horse. I've ridden them enough time to know how to get on. Once up I extend my had to Eponine and pull her up behind me. She wraps her arms around my waist as we speed away from the barricade and into the city. I turn around just in time to see the barricade fall and the national guardsmen climb over it, ending our revolution.

We ride for a good amount of time, how long exactly I'm not sure. But long enough to know that we are far enough from the barricade.

"Enjolras…come with me. We must go inside and take care of your leg before it gets infected. I know this area and the flats have long been abandoned. There will be a bed and things for us to use though." We get off the horse and I struggle to make my way inside the building and into the room. She settles me in on the bed and rushes around ringing bandages and medicinal alcohol from cabinets. It's almost as if she had these things set out here already. I don't know how much longer I can handle the pain of my leg. I've never been shot before and I hope to never be shot again. It has to be one of the most painful things.

"Enjolras I'm going to have to take these off to remove the bullet. Is that alright?" She's pointing to my pants. This was certainly not how I imagined the first she did so would go, but it's not like I have much of a choice.

"Uhruhm" I try to speak, but all that comes out is nonsense. She seems to understand though. Taking knife and cutting off the section of my pants from the upper thigh to the end. She then takes a pair of what looks like tweezers and looks to me for permission. I just nod my head yes this time. She has obviously done this before, as she tries to find the lest painful way of doing it.

Words can not explain the amount of pain I feel in the moments she is removing the bullet. I grip the pillows and clench my teeth in an effort to make it not so bad, but I can't.

"I got it out. Try to stay awake, I'm sorry I don't have anything for you to numb the pain." She looks to me sincerely, her forehead glistening with sweat. She's so beautiful, how did I ever manage to snatch her?

I see her take a shirt from a trunk of clothes and rip it into shred of clothing. She then takes each piece and tightly wraps it around my wound to stop the bleeding. The pain is horrendous, but not nearly as bad as before. When she finishes the last bandage she climbs into the bed, next to me and wraps her arms around me.

"Epo-Eponine….Thank you. I-I wou-would surely have died had you not come."

"I couldn't leave you Enjolras. How could I. Not after everything you've done. But this is a conversion for another time. You must rest now. You have lost a lot of blood. Sleep." She kisses me on the forehead and gets up.

Her remark reminds me of a conversation I had at the barricade…the last one I shared with many of my friends. Whose faces I will never see again. WHose deaths are my fault. Well, aren't they? I was the one who filled their heads with thoughts of fighting for freedom and living to see a different world. …..But in a way they did I suppose. They died fighting for an incredible cause, fighting for freedom. And they died in a world where they were able to stand for themselves. And although it was not the way we had all hoped for, I suppose in a way what I told them wasn't lies at all.

I finish my thoughts and stare at the ceiling. I only hope they will forgive me for not dying.


Authors Note: AHHHHH I WAS FINALLY ABLE TO UPDATE! You have no idea ow painful it was to not be able to update this story, but its ok. Because now I did. But oh no! It's almost over! I wont think about that now though. Buuuuut I thought I would share a bit about what happened in my week. So today I found out that I was called back for Damn Yankees! Yay! Still waiting on Les Miserables and Shrek but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Also I found out that next month the youth company for my theatre is doing Into The Woods! Yaaaay! So many exciting things. Also this week I started writing a Next To Normal fanfic. Soooooo if you like Next To Normal come check it out. Its called the Invisible Children and its a Gabe/OC fic. Well that's all for today! Same as always please read and review! Thanks so much for all your love!