Fireworks

With a great push, the front door flew open. Greeted by the cool night air, we struggled to catch our breath as we ran; especially Dan. That isn't to say he's out of shape or any of the sort, but you can just see in his face how much he despises any sort of physical activity.

"Up ahead!" Chris called out. "It's Peej! The grand ole Peejster!"

And he was right. Up ahead stood Peej with about thirty prisoners. Most of them were familiar faces from Gaia. He was rummaging through his rucksack as we approached, our sprint slowing to a jog. Had he waited for us at the gate?

Chris jogged a bit faster than us and was the first to approach him. Slowly, Peej looked up. A smile spread across his face as he saw Dan and I, and then, a wave of confusion seemed to wash over him. His stare was on something, someone, behind me.

"Oh, Peej. I'm so glad to see you again. Sorry for everything, honest I am! It's just that-" Chris had just approached Peej, only for Peej to start walking towards me. His eyes so bewildered, I became concerned. "Peej?"

Swiftly, Peej started in our direction. He sped past Dan and I to stand face to face with Oliver. They stood about two feet apart, eyes completely locked as if trying to take in every second of the moment.

"So," Oliver began, smiling a bit, "you know, I take it?"

Peej nodded, eyes and hands trembling. "Phil pointed your file out to me. When I heard your name, it all came flooding back. And then going over your file...I just knew it had to be you. After all of this time, all these years of wondering about you, you're okay..."

"I am," Oliver moved a bit closer. "It's so nice to see you again, old friend."

The two embraced and held onto each other as if afraid to be torn apart again. It was then that I remember first meeting Peej. He had fled his small town at the age of five after the HHR men ransacked the place entirely and took his best friend right before his eyes. Oliver must have been who he was talking about.

I couldn't help but notice Chris standing off, lonesome, focused on the cobblestone beneath us. Lost in his own world, I suppose.

"After all of this time...you're alive. I was so afraid of what they might have done to you. Seeing you again, what are the odds? Oh, Oliver, nothing felt right after they took you. I even kept the bow and arrow that was supposed to be yours when you became old enough. A bit lame, but I swore that i'd avenge you with it somehow; I just wanted to become strong enough to protect my friends from there on out. You can have it back now, if you want-"

"Pj," Oliver chuckled. "I promise we'll catch up, but let's focus on getting out of here, yeah? Not too long until this whole place goes down."

"Right," Pj agreed. "Dan, Phil, can you start leading the villagers to the front gate and get them out of here? I'll follow close behind."

Dan and I nodded. "Gather up, peeps," Dan waved and moved his way to the front of the crowd. I recognized so many faces from Gaia and relief began to wash over me; we were all going to be okay.

The cool wind elicited pink from our cheeks as the dried, dead leaves crunched beneath us, our eyes set on our future ahead; there was only one more large, dull gate to push past.

But then, a voice as sweet as roses pierced the cool, winter air. "Peej," the voice said. "Please, don't forget me."

We all turned around to see Flora standing a few feet away. Peej's eyes grew large as he stood there frozen in shock. "F-Flora!" he exclaimed, "Oh, Flora! I thought they had done terrible things to you...I couldn't find your file anywhere, so I wondered if they had rid of you before even getting you here."

"Oh, Peej," she smiled and clung to him, crying into his chest.

"That horrid day back in Gaia, your ridiculous idea of hide-and-go-seek...do you have any idea how worried I was when you couldn't find us? And then we couldn't find you. And...and then we found Gaia like that. Everyone was gone, Flora, everyone. We all just assume you had gone with them."

She was quiet a moment. The air hung heavy, all eyes on the two. Finally, she stepped back slowly and cradled Peej's face in her right hand. Tears had welled up in the corners of her eyes, but they did not fall.

"I had chosen to go with them." Her voice, once sweet, had soured to something incredibly unsettling. Peej's eyes looked over her; the panic and confusion evident.

"What...what did you just say?"

Dan had moved to act, but I held him back. Chris could only stare at her, his expression blank.

"I always loved you, Pj. You brought such excitement and joy to my little flower shop; you had brought it to the whole town. The kids always loved you, too..." she paused, looking away briefly, only to return her stare at Peej, "But it became obvious to me that you are weak. Do you remember when we had gone to Handley's for the first time?"

Peej nodded uneasily. "Yes, but that was your idea. I was only along for the ride; I was curious about Oliver, Flora. You wanted to go inside and I...well, I didn't want to see more than we already did."

"You were being defiant. Weak. You still are," Her gaze landed on Dan. "But I am not."

And in an instant, she pulled a small handgun from her bag. Her aim was pointed at Dan, fingers teasing the trigger.

"Flora!" Peej exclaimed. "What the fuck are you doing!?"

She only grinned. "I had joined HHR long ago, don't you see? God, you really are an idiot sometimes. How else would they find Gaia? But now, that's besides the point. I want what is inside of Dan more than anyone...and I'm going to get it!"

The first shot was fired and the crowd of people began to scream and cry in terror. Residents of Gaia began calling her a traitor, but I could see no empathy in Flora. Luckily enough, Flora's petite body and horrible hand-eye coordination resulted in her missing her target.

Oliver darted forward and pulled Peej back. "Don't you dare try to play hero, Pj. I won't let you; I lost you once, and I won't lose you again."

"Dan is my friend! You're being insane-!"

Another shot was fired, yet another miss. Dan fell back onto the cobblestone and stared at Flora in terror. I knew I had to act.

"H-Hey!" I tossed a nearby pebble at her. "Leave him alone!" My acts weren't very, well, effective-but hey, at least I tried. Dan could only bury his face in his hands.

She looked at me and a chuckle escaped. "Oh, how sad. These little friends of yours, Pj, are quite the entertainment."

Peej broke away from Oliver's hold. "What did you say about my friends?"

"You heard me, sweetheart. Just relax; this will all be over soon."

As she neared Dan, Peej acted. His rucksack was dropped and he rushed towards her. He grabbed her from behind and held her in a tight grip-she still held onto the gun. Despite her petite frame, she managed to elbow Peej in the gut and spin around; the gun now pointed at him.

"I-I don't want to hurt you, but, god dammit, I will! It's not like you're really anything special anyways! You always spoke of adventure and art as if was really part of your life, ha! It's just some phony, pathetic act to cover up how pathetic you really are. Spending time with those kids back in the school house to fill some void in your heart; you're empty on the inside. Face it, Pj. You are, and always will be-"

And as if all at once, an arrow pierced its way through the air and straight through Flora's back. She stood there as if a frail leaf, hesitantly falling away from its branch. Blood began to soak through her white sweater and her hand found her way to grip the arrow that still pierced her. Breaths were held as her body fell to the floor with a thud and then a crack; her head had made harsh impact with the cobblestone path. The pathway began to pool with the blood flowing from her wound and head. Eyes lifeless, body still-we all knew she was gone.

All eyes turned to the direction in which the arrow came from. Oliver stood there with the bow in hand and somewhat of a guilty expression on his face. Besides him was Peej's opened rucksack; he had taken the bow and arrow from there. "I...I'm so sorry. I just couldn't let her hurt him. Pj is all I have left and-"

"Are you seriously apologizing?" Dan interrupted, standing up then. "Let's talk about this later. We ought to get out of her unless we want to join her."

We all agreed and ran straight for the gate. A quick glance behind me showed Pj kneeling besides Flora, but then he got up and immediately started after us.

The moon above and faint lights from HHR served as our only guide. I ran alongside Dan and he reached for my hand; I wondered if it was because he wanted me to keep up or if it was because he was terrified and needing some reassurance.

The gate was rather large and intimidating. "Allow me," Dan pushed our way past the crowd of patients. We set both of our hands on the cool, metal gate. "Ready, Philly?"

"At least we didn't need a shovel to escape this time."

We both chuckled and heaved past the gate. The patients and everyone else began to cheer as they all raced around us and out into the forest, Pj, Chris, and Oliver guiding them to safety. Dan and I followed closely behind.

My mind wandered back to the night of our first escape. How young and naive we were; but, we had grown so much in the time we had been together. This time, we could truly make it our own. We no longer had my father to fear, or the HHR men, or anything else, really. It was just Dan and just Phil. It always would be.

As we were only a few steps into the forrest, we all heard a loud explosion from behind us and for a few seconds, the sky turned violent red and oranges. Embers lit the night sky and floated down to coat the earth in all that Handley's had been. I had seen many fireworks in my time of living, but I have to say, that was by far my favorite.

.x.x.x

"Next chapter will most likely be the last!" Haha. Ha.

Okay, honest though. Next chapter is for sure the last. Aw, it makes me kind of sad. Hope you guys are enjoying though!

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Love Always,

ThatOneSmoshyPhanGirl