Told from Charon's pov today.

Chapter 15: Talon Tussle

I held her to my chest tightly. She was definitely concussed and had some internal bleeding. She whimpered in my arms. I shoved the door to the main area open and sprinted towards the exit. She was getting heavier with each passing second.

She clung to my shirt in pain and fear. Tears flowed freely. My feet stomped loudly along the metal stairs up to the bridge. Harkness stood at the end of the bridge. He held his rifle up.

"Put that the fuck down. I need the doctor." I covered her from his sight so she didn't have to see him.

"Take the stairwell. Is she alright?"

"You didn't care if she was okay last night. I'll deal with you later." I glared at him.

I pushed the door open and ran through the next door to my left. I ran through the halls loudly and turned every corner until I found a door to a clinic.

"I need the doctor."

A man with gray hair stared at me gruffly. "Just put her down on the bed. I'll get to her."

"She was hit with a super sledge. She needs help immediately."

Eleanor shifted in my arms. "Don't leave me, Charon. Please?"

I held her face in my hands. "I'm not going to leave you, smoothskin."

"There's only so much room in here, shuffler." The doctor barked.

I glared at him from the gurney. "I'm not leaving her."

He pulled out a bottle of whiskey. He pointed to the other side of the room. "Fine, bastard. But stay on that side."

I shifted my gaze to Eleanor. She looked up with tears streaming down her face and her lips parted slightly. "I'll just be over there. I'm not leaving you."

She nodded hesitantly. I rubbed my thumb over her cheek, wiping away a tear. I stood up with a grunt and moved to the chair on the other side of the room.

She didn't take her eyes off me for a second. I was too worried to look away. As if I looked away just once, she would disappear.

This was a new feeling for an employer. For anything. I was afraid for once in my life. Afraid I would lose her. Afraid the wasteland would lose its savior. Eleanor wouldn't find her dad.

I was slipping. My programming has deteriorated over the last two centuries to the point that I allowed her to get into this situation.

This was my fault.

Her breathing slowed as the doctor worked. She never took her eyes off me. Not even once. She blinked every so often and they were quick. My hands grew clammy as the guilt got the best of me.

"Elle, I'm so sorry. I should have seen that mutant coming."

She coughed once before speaking. "You aren't my baby sitter. I should have been paying attention."

"But I let you get hurt. Do you know how much that goes against the contract?"

"When have I ever cared about that damn contract, Charon?"

"I..." She never wanted to talk about the contract. I don't even know why she purchased it.

"You don't have to beat yourself up for my recklessness."

My heart beat faster as I run the question over in my head over and over. I would have to ask her later. The doctor grumbled as he finished wrapping her head in gauze.

"Are you finished, doctor?"

"Is she bleeding, zombie?"

Eleanor wrapped her thin fingers around his wrist and twisted. "Why are you so rude?"

He yelped and gripped her arm. I was behind him in less than a second. I wrenched his arms behind him.

"Don't. Touch. Her." I growled into his ear.

He let go of her and I pushed him to the side. I was at Eleanor's side immediately.

"I know you wanted to get out of here quickly. We can leave after you get better."

Her face twisted. "I can't stay here any longer. Please just pay this asshole and get me out of here."

"I don't think-"

"Charon, please?" Eleanor looked up with her big blue eyes. It was going to be impossible to resist her.

"It's not wise."

"Then protect me." She slipped her hand into mine.

I ran my thumb over her smooth fingers. They were so small. "I would be putting you in danger if we left."

"We can go back to Underworld. The metro was cleared out, remember?" Her eyes were hopeful.

"I... uh," I sighed, "I guess so. You need to do what I say though so I can keep you safe."

She smiled brightly and tugged on my hand to pull me closer. "Thank you. I need to get the fuck out of here. The caps are in my bag. Left pocket in the front."

"How much is it?" I sneered at the doctor.

"Fifty caps. And I think everyone would agree if I asked for you to not come back here."

Eleanor scoffed. "Good. Your clinic is shit anyway."

"I meant the city, you brat."

"Thank god. I was looking for an excuse not to come back to this rusting bucket of piss." Eleanor giggled.

I helped her up and fished out the caps. I counted them and dumped them on the floor by the doctor's feet one by one while keeping eye contact.

"Let's go, Eleanor. It smells like fish here."

I threw her bag over my shoulder and offered her my shoulder. She took it delightedly. The walk to the outside was quick. Eleanor kept glancing at me and giggling. Harkness was off duty. Lucky for him.

"What's so funny?"

"You're too good to me." She replied.

My cheeks warmed up at the statement. "What do you mean by that?"

"You stick up for me even when everyone else is shitting on you."

"They can say whatever they want about me, but I won't allow them to talk that way about you."

"Why? The contract only requires my safety. Nothing else." A small smile graced her lips.

I was quiet for a moment. "I don't know."

"You don't know? Or you don't want to tell me?"

"Both." I raised a brow at her.

Eleanor clung to my arm for dear life as we made our way down the stairs. The metal shook unsteadily with every step. Making our way to the metro, I could see a group of people coming out of the gates in black combat armor.

"Elle, stay behind me." I warned her.

"What? Why?"

"Talon. Get back to the stairs." I pulled my shotgun over my shoulder.

"Who are they?" She asked in a panicked tone.

"I said get to the stairs." I hissed.

The man in front of the group held up a hand for his men to stop and pointed.

Shit.

"Is this Eleanor Whick?" The front man asked.

"No, her name is Rose Lynd. Look elsewhere. We don't want any trouble."

"Stuff it, ghoul. She matches our description of her. So we'll just do this anyway." They drew their guns and fired wildly.

Two shots later, one man lay on the ground headless. I grabbed my shoulder where a bullet nicked me and quickly reloaded my gun. A man ran at me with a knife next. I like a challenge.

I ducked as the man rushed past me. I reached for his arm and shoved my elbow into his back with a yell. He fell to the ground and I dug my knee into his spine. I grabbed both wrists and shoved them forward behind his back. A sickening crack filled the air followed by a shrill scream.

I looked up to see the last man struggling to reload his rifle. He looked up in fear. His hands shook violently as he tried to rush himself. As I stepped off the man on the ground, I caught a glimpse of Eleanor sprinting towards the man with arms outstretched.

"Eleanor, get the fuck back!" I saw the pin hit the ground before the grenade dropped.

"Oh shit!" Eleanor yelled as she turned around.

She slipped in the dirt and fell on her stomach. She kicked at the dirt in an attempt to crawl away. The man reached for her ankle. I fired and his hand exploded. He screamed and fell onto the grenade. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward.

Everything went white as a loud boom and then ringing filled my ears. I looked around frantically for Eleanor. All I saw was smoke.

I coughed and shot my hand to the ground. I fumbled around in the smoke until it cleared. Eleanor was on the ground with her hands over her ears.

I crawled to her and shook her violently. She turned to look at me with wide eyes. She threw her arms around me tightly. She pulled back to say something but all I could hear was ringing.

I shook my head at her. "I can't hear anything."

Her brow furrowed as she pulled her hand back from behind my neck. It was covered in blood. She stood up and walked behind me. I turned my head and growled as a hot pain flowed through my body.

She walked back to face me with her hand over her mouth and shaking her head. She ran to the bag on the ground and yanked out a stimpak. She moved to inject it but I stopped her. She would seal the shrapnel in and waste a stimpak when there was irradiated water right by.

Her eyes widened with understanding. She pulled out tweezers and got to working on my neck. A stabbing sensation shot up my back with every poke, pull, and prod of the tweezers. She tapped me on the shoulder and gave a thumbs up. She picked up the stimpak and I grabbed her wrist before she stabbed me with it. She gave me a confused look.

I stood up unsteadily and limped to the river. She followed me and offered her arm. I shook it. "River."

Her mouth formed an "o". She helped me down the slope of the bank and into the shallow water. Warmth flowed through me as the radiation seeped into my skin.

After several minutes of standing knee-deep in the water, I waded out of the water with heavy legs. Hopefully, the radiation helped my hearing.

"Are you okay now?" Eleanor's voice filled my ears.

"Much better."