Grace didn't know how long it had been since she had passed out, but she figured it couldn't have been long, because when she opened her eyes again, stiffly shifting in a sitting position, she was still in the plane wreckage and Commander Ramos was kneeling in front of her, deep brown eyes scanning her face. Grace could see the black soot of the debris spotted about her Commander's rich complexion.
Grace shivered an exhale, and she didn't think it was from been weakened by her wound.
"Grace?" Commander Ramos asked, worry laced in her voice.
Grace blinked, recognizing the heavy effect of drugs as her eyelids fluttered with weight.
"How are you feeling?"
"Sleepy, Commander," Grace answered, working hard not to slur.
"Too sleepy? What about pain? Can you feel anything?"
"No pain," Grace shook her head slowly.
"I may have given you too much of the painkiller," Ramos frowned. "There was a little manual," she reached into a pocket on her chest, pulling out a tiny red booklet, "that gave basic instructions on what to do for the most common types of battle injuries, so I just followed that… I have stopped the bleeding and closed the wound."
"Thank you," Grace smiled, grateful and a little blissfully high.
The Commander nodded, looking away now, but her body still knelt close beside Grace. "We need to get out of here…" she then said, "I suspect there will be terminators coming to inspect the crash site, looking for survivors. It's just… gonna be a little bit of a challenge getting out."
Grace tried to shift, wanting to move her legs so she could stand up, but Ramos reached a stiff palm out to stop her.
"Are you sure you can get up? You have lost a lot of blood."
"I will tough it out, Commander. We gotta get out, like you said." Grace grunted as she slowly rose to her feet, staying slightly hunched. Instinctually, she placed a hand over the wound. Through the unprotected portion of her kevlar, she could feel the gauze patch her leader had taped over the wound.
Those brown eyes watched her stand, tentatively, and an eyebrow raised slightly as if preparing to argue.
"Move slowly," she ordered.
"Yes, ma'am…"
Grace knew Commander Ramos had to be thinking it, but why hadn't she said something about it? She looked down at her soulmate, who spoke no word of their newly discovered bond, who now slowly pushed herself up on her own feet. Grace's eyes dropped to the ground, and noticed that Ramos's right foot had the sturdy splints of an aircast poking out of her combat boot.
"That kit must have been a gold mine!" Grace laughed weakly, trying to fill the air with small talk.
"Yes, it has everything in the event of a disaster, from a thermal blanket, rope, flares, water purifying tablets, flint, and 5 days worth of rations for a single person… we will have to split meals on our journey back to base."
And the blanket, Grace thought. There was no way they were going to make it back to base by the end of the night in their state. Five hours via flight did not equal the same time by foot. Especially on injured foot.
"Do you know which way we need to go, Commander?"
"Yes," Ramos nodded. "I always keep a paper map on my person when I go on missions. While you were resting after receiving my treatment I looked over it. We need to head west."
"Got it," Grace leaned down for the tin first aid kit, and winced.
"Put it down," the Commander warned.
Fear shivered through Grace, a habitual response from receiving a stern order from any officer. "Yes ma'am," she said, and dropped it instantly, the metal box clanking as it hit the rubble of the plane.
Ramos limped over and reached down to pick it up herself.
"Let me help with something," Grace almost pleaded. She didn't like being useless.
"You need to heal. Take a weapon, but sling it behind you. I will take point."
"With a box in one hand?" Grace didn't mean to sound that annoyed, but now that it was said, there really was no better way to get the point across.
The Commander turned cautiously, careful not to put too much weight on her bad foot.
"Fine," was all she said, and handed the kit out for Grace to take. The woman then pulled two rifles off of their fallen comrades, and while she did so, Grace took the opportunity to peek at the new colors around her.
It was interesting. The plane was still black and grey, the damaged seats were black as well. The combat boots- black. Their uniform- black. It was interesting that everything that was dreadful remained just like it had been her whole life: drained, lifeless. Funny how it seemed, as she looked around, that only what was most important was in color: the first aid kit and her soulmate. She knew it was just a coincidence though, and was childishly eager to see the outside world. To see trees and grass and all the kinds of birds and bodies of water and the rare fruit that was born on the last living plant life.
Ramos handed a rifle over, which Grace took delicately, draping the strap around herself and slinging the weapon to rest behind her.
"Let's go," the Commander said sternly. She turned to lead the way, walking cautiously, putting good force on her capable foot, but a light graze with her injured one.
"Yes ma'am," Grace replied.
"Grace?"
Grace's attention perked. "Yes, Commander?"
"Just… call me Dani, okay?"
There we go, Grace smiled to herself. But now was not the time to press about who they now were to each other. Grace could tell Dani would need to feel safe and evacuated first before they would get to talk.
"Okay, Dani."
Dani reached out for the emergency hatch and yanked the door open, fresh air and sharp beams of sunset rushed inside the belly of the fallen craft. Both Dani and Grace stood paralyzed.
They had seen nature before, in it's multitude of grayscale, and they had heard all about the beauty of fall from others, but they weren't ready for the fact that fall leaves were indescribable, and with this cascading lighting, how could they not be stopped by their beauty?
"Do you…?" Dani asked, not turning to ask the question. Grace could feel the tension radiating of the short woman.
"I do," Grace assured, "I do see them. The colors. They're beautiful."
And we can see them because you had the heart to hold my hand.
When Dani reached out to grip Grace's hand, even Grace herself believed she was going to die. Her eyes fluttered from the weakness of bloodloss and the spasms in her muscles were to painful she felt she was going to pass out- but her war-addled mind told her that was just her mind trying to make things easier: tell her she's just gonna blackout, but really, she was just going to close her eyes for the last time. But after one last spasm, making her eyes shut tight with tension, she decided to take one last gaze upon the world before she passed. There was no world to look at though, just Dani, kneeling and gripping their hands together fiercely, as if in passionate prayer. Her face began to blend into a smooth tan and her lips became painted with a natural deep hue of pink. Her cheeks, underneath the soot, were bright from exertion and adrenaline. Grace heard herself mutter "Oh my God," scorned at the realization that the person she was meant for had been in her life for years, but never got to find her due to damn military protocol on keeping enlisted and officers separated. Now, as she lay dying, she got one big last fuck you from this cruel machine of a world.
"I kind of don't mind having to walk through this now," Grace said, trying to lighten the mood.
Dani made no comment, just began to move forward.
"So do you think scouts will be sent out for the black box?" Grace decided to ask. Maybe Dani still wasn't ready to talk about this just yet. Stick to familiarities...
"I hope not," Dani answered, walking with a hiss each time her right foot dragged with just a little bit of pressure. "I know it will help them get a radius of where we may be, but if they show up, they may arrive during a terminator's search, and that will be more blood on my hands."
Oh. Grace understood now. She couldn't blame her for not taking any further interest in her immediately upon her waking.
"It's not your fault, Dani, no one knew there would be any anti-air defenses. They weren't there bef-"
"It is my fault," Dani cut with a seethe, and Grace wasn't sure if it was from the pain in her foot this time. "If I had sent survivors first, it would just be… there would have been less deaths."
"But Dani-"
"I got an entire squad killed!" Dani turned around quick, forgetting about her injury in just that moment, but then toppled onto her knees when the pain struck her. Grace dropped down on one knee, wanting to have caught her, but her own injury held her back as well, so she just settled to speaking on an even level with Dani.
"It's okay," Grace soothed. She gripped Dani's shoulder, gently rubbing it. Dani probably couldn't feel much, thanks to her light kevlar armor, but it was the thought that counted. "No one is going to blame you, no one is going to say you failed in planning or giving orders or protecting us. The blood is always on the terminators' hands. Always. And we're gonna get those fuckers, okay?"
Dani was refusing to look in Grace's eyes, but the soldier could see the shimmer in her leader's eyes. It's okay to cry, too, she wanted to say, but knew that wasn't always a winner in motivating people.
"Come on, Dani," Grace urged softly. "Let me help you up, we need to set up shelter before the sun is fully set."
Dani nodded vigorously, holding a hand out for Grace to take, both of them getting up cautiously and in pain.
"Is it broken?" Grace asked out of curiosity, eyeing Dani's limp as she followed behind her.
"I hope not," Dani replied. "I'm praying for just a sprain."
"Do it throb?"
Dani nodded firmly. "Really bad."
"Are there any pain meds left?"
"The kit only had an intravenous supply, which I gave the majority of to you. There's only one needle left. I'm saving it for something even worse than what you've got."
"I think the only thing worse than what happened to me is what we both thought was gonna happen to me: death. Please, Dani, when we get a camp going, relieve your pain."
"I'm saving it," she repeated.
Grace frowned. Selfishly, she just wanted Dani to relax. The universe wanted them together, and Dani didn't necessarily seem eager to bond, not even with small talk.
They trekked through the woods silently for a good half hour, keeping stoic, but internally enjoying the sound of crunching leaves beneath their boots, and looking at the sky evolve from orange to pink to purple. Night was coming, and they hadn't found anything with suitable coverage yet.
"We might," Dani took a breath before continuing. "We might have to just sleep next to a tree. They both were shining in sweat, as a normal hike because arduous on their injured forms, taking energy away from their bodies that were desperately trying to heal. Dani grimaced at her plan. "There's… there's nowhere to really go."
Grace nodded. The odds were not favorable, but they had no choice but to make due.
"We'll use the leaves to not only help insolate our heat as we sleep, but to also hopefully camouflage us." Dani put her hands on her hips, looking down at her foot, pain strewn across her face."I just… I can't walk anymore."
"Lay down, Dani," Grace said, gripping her own wound, which also wasn't happy with the nature hike it endured. For a moment Grace was anxious Dani would find comfort in her military persona once more and becoming offended that she had the audacity to give her instructions. However, the officer's wrath never crashed down, and Grace saw Dani picking a sturdy and wide tree trunk to sit down against, pulling the thermal blanket out of the first aid kit before practically squirming to lay down.
She looked ready for bed. It was endearing.
Hunching her way over, Grace dragged the first aid kit to Dani's feet. She could feel the Commander watch her curiously.
"Foot up," she instructed warmly. "You need to keep it elevated, and it seems the only treatment that foot's gonna get is when we're sleeping."
Dani obeyed, cautiously raising her leg to place her ankle on the kit. Then, with a ridiculously slow decline, Grace joined Dani's side, getting as close as she could for practical warmth, but not too invasive. Being soulmates didn't mean she had the right to Dani's body or personal space whenever she wanted it. Dani was already working on unfolding the thermal blanket, so Grace worked on scooping leaves close to them without disturbing the illusion of naturally fallen leaves. it was a good thing there were piles upon piles within arms reach. After Dani had covered Grace with her share of the blanket, the soldier began dispersing the leaves on top of them, covering their bodies heartily, but leaving their heads exposed, just pillowed with the leaves.
She sensed Dani stiffen for a moment, and looked over to her.
"The pain?" she asked.
Dani whispered a "yes", biting her lip. "It comes and goes."
"Well you let me know if you want the meds, it's okay," Grace offered.
Dani shook her head, moving on from the topic: "Tomorrow, we continue north, but we must find water. There is a river halfway between the nest we destroyed and our forward station. We're bound to hit it."
"Yes we will," Grace affirmed for the both of them. "Everything is going to be okay."
Dani nodded, looking up through the canopy of the woods, gazing at the now deep indigo sky peppered with bright white stars.
"It's so similar but so much… more than the black night sky," the Commander commented.
"Yes," Grace agreed. "I noticed some similar things earlier too. But they don't bother me. It's beautiful, this world…" Grace felt a burning blush spread on her cheeks. "With you in it…"
Dani said nothing, and Grace figured she would have to get used to this. After all, perhaps silence was better than outright rejection.
Who would have known? Terminator-slaying, war hero Commander Ramos, the shyest person left on the planet.
