Chapter Nine: Trapped
"Fuck!"
Tessa skidded to a stop against the elevator doors. The humming sound of the elevator
gliding up the shaft drifted threw to them. No way to stop it now. John slammed his
fist on the door and dented it. She looked to him, understanding his aggravation to the
unfortunate circumstances they now found themselves in. he started pounding his fists
into the door, denting it deeper and deeper, his knuckles splitting open and healing
closed almost instantly after, leaving blood all over the door and his hands. The
vibrations from his punching bounced her off from leaning on the door.
"I'm not gonna let it get to the surface!"
"John…JOHN!"
He stopped on a final punch to the door, fists leaning, head down, panting from his
outburst.
"It's too late. We just gotta make sure we get up there pretty damn fast and kill the
motherfucker before he can find civilisation."
There was a long moment, tension hanging in the air like cobwebs. Both of them stood
motionless, the only thing that would have reminded an onlooker that it wasn't a
picture were the flickering lights.
"Damn it!"
Hitting the door one last time, John turned his back on the door and slumped down
against it, leaning his head back. Shoulda blown the place when I had the chance.
Tessa pressed the elevator button then looked down each side of the stretched corridor,
then holstered her shotgun when she felt it was all clear. He sighed before standing up
and looking round himself, stopping when his eyes fell on her. There are a hell of a lot
worse people to be stuck down here with. She walked towards him, watching him as
he watched her. Reaching out, she wiped some blood spots off his cheek. Can't spoil
the view. Their eyes were locked together in an invisible embrace. Hours could have
passed in seconds as they stood, in that dark stinking hell hole deep underground.
Their breathing slowly started to match each other, the rest of the bloodied world
blotched out of sight, only their eyes shining hope in the gloom. After what seemed a
lifetime, John reached his hand up, grabbed a loose strand of hair dangling in front of
her face between two fingers, and lifted it gently, tucking it behind her ear. Who
woulda thought a hardcore marine could be so gentle?
"So… what's your name?"
Tessa blinked, snapping out of the entranced eye lock.
"Huh?.. Oh! Err… Tessa, yeah, Tessa Rains."
She put her hand out to shake, since they hadn't really had a proper introduction, he'd
just turned up and tagged along, Thank God.
"Are you sure?"
They both smiled. She stuck her tongue out at him in response, and received the same
gesture back. Tessa narrowed her eyes but kept her cheeky smile, before poking him
on the nose. John crossed his eyes to look at where he'd been poked, then in a split
second had poked her right back on the nose. Right, like this is what toughened
marines do.
"Right. This means war."
Before he could respond, he'd been tackled to the floor, and now had Tessa sitting on
his chest with her arms folded in triumph.
"Ha!"
Taking a deep breath, he snorted sharply, jolting her off his chest. He sat up and
started assaulting her sides with tickling fingers. Wriggling like a worm in the clutches
of a bird, Tessa ran out of breath from all the laughter. Eventually, she managed to
grab his hands and pulled them round her, and lay down, leaning her head on his
chest. He merely glanced at her once, not minding the circumstances at all. Closing
her eyes, she took a deep breath, feeling happy in being able to stop and relax a little,
if only for a moment. I don't need to be on guard round him, he's one of the few men
in this world that actually make me feel protected.
"Do I look like a bed to you?"
She opened her eyes sleepily, lifting her head to look at him.
"You're as comfy as one though."
He smiled before tickling her side one last time. She squeaked slightly, and
instinctively moved away from the source of irritation, and ended up rolling up to on
top of him. Leaning her head on his chest once again, she closed her eyes and got
comfy.
"I'm not a pillow either."
Tessa lifted her head up, opening her eyes, and looked at him. Her face mere
centimetres from his, noses almost touching. Their eyes locked again, but this time
they were both very aware of the circumstances, and the position they'd gotten into.
Her cheeks flushed red and she rolled off him and up to her feet quickly. I am such a
fucking idiot, snap outta it woman!
Stop being so bloody fucking stupid man!
John got to his feet slowly, trying to avoid making a noise, trying not to break the
awkward silence that had fallen on them like a wet towel. She stood with her back to
him, pretending to be on look out down the corridor.
"Wasn't expecting that."
Defiantly wasn't expecting to meet a damn hot woman who could kick butt and survive
this place.
"Well, yeah, most people don't expect to get chased and eaten by monsters."
Tell me about unexpected! I didn't imagine acting all girly and cutesy over some guy…
but what a guy! And not a jerk off either.
Happy Valentine's Day! Thank you to everyone who has R&R! And thank you to everyone who has been reading it! I'm sorry it's taken so long but I've got two major theatre productions coming up soon so I've been working on them. Chapter ten may take a little while, but don't worry, it will be coming soon! Don't forget to R&R because I love getting your opinions! Love you all, tar tar for now darlings! (Sorry, but stereo-typical actors are just the funniest!)