Chapter 45

Lilly's POV -The Destruction Pt. Two-

I had just put my foot on the first step into the old wooden house when I heard the sound of a collision. The hard thwack and then the unmistakable sound a person falling to the ground.

Since the only person behind me was Cross, I knew it had to be him.

I turned around and saw Cross laying on his back, and a long piece of thick wood laying beside him, which I'm assuming was the culprit for knocking him down.

"Lilly c'mon!" Sutter yells, I look back to see him standing next to Fuller in the open doorway, both of them waving to me frantically.

"Cross has been hurt!" I yell back at them. I look down at Cross on the ground, and from the lightning that is illuminating the sky, I can see that he's not moving.

      "There's no time Lil, you have to come now!" Fuller says, inching the door closer to the latch.

     I know I'm probably going to die, or get seriously hurt, but leaving Cross out there by himself isn't an option for me. Even with the gray funnel taking over everything.

     I look back at Sutter one last time, and he must see the decision on my face. He lurches forward, yelling at me not to go back. Fuller grabs him though and yanks him into the house, slamming the door behind them.

     Pushing off the stair into Cross's direction, relief floods through me when I realize he's moving his hand across his face, so he must be awake. Maybe I can help him up and we can make it into the house somehow.

     Dropping to the ground, I lean over Cross and look into his eyes, noticing how glazed over he looks, even in the dark.  

      "Cross, cmon, we have to get out of here!" I yell at him loudly, hoping to break through his trance.

     He just smiles a sleepy grin, and reaches up and touches my cheek tenderly with his fingers. Then his hand drops back down to the ground, and his eyelids close.

       "Cross, no! Wake up!" I shake his head, not feeling the injury that's been inflicted on my hand, or caring that his face is slick with thick red blood.

      I hear a loud crack, and look up just in time to see the tornado obliterate an oak tree that was probably close to thirty feet tall.

     Heading practically straight towards us.

     I use whatever strength I have in me and wrap my hands under Cross's armpits and start tanking him to the right, across the grass and to a wheat field, not knowing what else to fucking do with him.

      He must still be somewhat coherent because he uses his feet to help me move us along with ground.

     The twister is relentless though, and I can feel rock and sticks taking chunks out of my skin, catching me on my face and causing me to turn my head away.

      I manage to get us into the wheat fields and use my body as a shield to cover Cross. We have nowhere else to go, and I have no other idea on how to protect us from the wrath that is Mother Nature right now.

      My hand is throbbing, and I know if I look ill just see that I've made the injury even worse than before. Exhaustion takes over my body, all the adrenaline leaving my system.

      I can feel the constant sting of particles slashing across my back, ripping my top to shreds.

     I lift my head up to look at Cross wondering if his face is going to be the last one I see before I leave this earth.

      He opens his eyes, and takes in the surroundings of us, realizing what kind of situation we're in.

     "You were a really good friend to me." I whisper to him, wanting my last words to be something positive, something worth saying.

    "Lilly why are we out here?" He asks me.

    "You got hit in the head, knocked you out. I couldn't leave you out here alone."

     "You shouldn't have come back for me Lilly, you should have went in the house. I don't want anything to happen to you."

      I touch his cheek the way he touched mine earlier, and can't help but feel the rush of sensations he's always brought out of me. "You wouldn't leave me there."

      "That's not the point."

      "You already saved me once, it was my turn to return the favor." The fact that we're having such an intense conversation in the middle of an all out catastrophe should seem a lot weirder. But for some reason, the deep raps of his voice and the reminder of a happier time is the only thing keeping me calm right now. The only thing distracting my mind that we might not have much time left.

     The tornado seems to be not moving, but just tearing up all the things that are near it, sucking them out and then ejecting them out again at an alarming speed.

      Cross rolls his body so I'm more tucked under him now. "Get up, let's make a run for it to the house. They said there's a cellar in there."

      The tornado is directly in the path we'd have to run to the house, and it's already ripping off slabs of wood that line the siding of them old home. "We can't make it there, and it looks like it may miss us."

     "You know as well as I do that that thing could turn at any moment and come right to us. We're not safe out here in the open like this."

      "How are you going to run with blood running down your face and you just woke up from being knocked out?"

       He looks around our surroundings before answering me. "I'd rather take my chances with running than with sitting here and having no protection at all." He grabs my arms and pulls us to our feet.

Looking at the house, the view is blocked by the tornado which still looks like it is not moving much, but stirring up so much dirt and sand that the whole view is grainy.

"Hold on to me, don't let go no matter how strong the wind gets. And keep your eyes closed, just hold onto my shirt and I'll lead us."

"Cross I can help, you don't need to do all of this when you were just hurt."

"Lilly, I don't want you to look, but your hand is really fucked up. You made it worse by dragging me over here, and I think the only reason you're not feeling anything is because of the shock and adrenaline." He holds my wrist and keeps my hand out of my line of sight, but I don't want to look either.

Every time I move this arm I can feel one of my fingers moving in a way thats not normal, and I know looking will only make the pain real, unavoidable.

"Okay, lets go." I say, finally decided. My heart racing at the hope of not actually dying out here.

"Don't let go." Cross says one last time, then stands up and turns in the direction of the house.

We start running together, me behind him and holding on to the back of his pants, fingers gripping so tight it's almost painful. I have my other arm tucked into my side.

Running is difficult the closer we get to the house, with the wind picking up. I'm keeping my head down and just following Cross's lead, trying to keep keep him up when I feel him start to sway against the wind, and all the shit that I'm sure is flying into his eyes.

"Help me push!" He yells, and I can feel his body stop. I glance up and see we're right at the stairs to the house but the wind is too strong pulling us back and I start to stumble, losing my footing.

Cross turns around catches me right before I smack the ground. He groans in frustration as he fights against the pulls and tries to get us closer to the house. I dig my legs into the ground and try to shove us backwards, using all the muscles my legs have recently started using again in the pool.

Cross makes it up the first step and practically throws me onto the porch. I reach out and grab his hand, pulling him with me, ignoring the fact that only my one hand has full usage.

Finally he lands on the porch with a hard thud, and we go toppling over. He stands up quickly and grabs the door handle, but when he goes to turn it, it won't move.

"They fucking locked us out?" He asks me in horror and disbelief.

"They didn't think we were going to make it back up here Cross."

"But Sutter left you out there and then let them lock this fucking door, so we have no chance at all?" His voice is so loud and angry, I've never heard him like this and it's honestly scaring me, even with everything that's going on.

I don't answer him, and he turns around and starts punching the door. Kicking it with everything he's got left in him. He takes a couple steps back and rams his shoulder into the door, but the old wood doesn't budge.

      I wordlessly stand up, and stand in the same spot as him, and when he rushes forward and slams his body into the door, I do the same with mine.

     We back up and do it again, and again. My shoulder feels like it's just one giant aching spot, because we don't slow down, and the wind around us doesn't stop. Finally Cross slams his foot into the door so hard that the wood splinters, and when I shove it with my shoulder, half of it caves in just enough for us to fit our bodies into.

      We rush into the house, and start looking around for where the cellar is. I see a small wooden square door that's cut out from the floor, but it has a metal lock on the outside, and I know it's probably latched from the inside with all of our friends on the other side.

     No amount of pulling or slamming is going to get us into that door.

     I look over at Cross to say something, but the look of defeat is so heavy on his face that I don't have it in me.

    He takes my hands and leads us around all the rooms of the house in a run, finally stopping at a closet with no windows. He goes inside, sits and pulls me between his legs before he closes the door and encases us into darkness.

     Leaning my head back onto his shoulder, I can feel the wet spot from the blood that is still pouring from the gash in his head. How he's still standing, I don't know.

     My whole body is nothing but an ache right now, and I could probably fall asleep sitting up right here with Cross if I let myself. The closet gives us a sense of quiet that I haven't had the luxury of having in a while.

     The sound of the wind and siren are both barely heard the thick door.

      "Thank you for coming back for me." Cross whispers.

      "Of course."

      "I should have listened to you. We should have stayed in the field. It doesn't look good for us." He says, and I know he's saying that because of the sound of wood stilts that can now be heard snapping around us.

     I hear the old wooden house groan around us, and I close my eyes and start talking to anyone who's listening. Please don't let us die today, please don't let us die.

    "It's okay." I whisper back, not wanting for one second him to feel like he's never done enough for me. Because with all the pain I've put him through of not loving him back, he's never stopped trying to heal me. Never stopped believing I was a good person after all the terrible things I've done.

     Unconditional devotion is something hard to find, something I don't even have with Sutter anymore.

      Cross drops his head down onto my shoulder and tightens his arms around me. "I love you so much."

     I don't react, because this isn't the first time he's told me something like this. This time when he says it though, I can't run away out of fear. I can't leave him and go destroy my body and mind with drugs and sex that do nothing but hinder me further. This time I have to sit here and listen to how sincere his voice is, and how even with his body I can feel how much he truly means those words.

      "I love you too." I whisper back, and I do. But it's just not enough, no matter how much sometimes I wish it were.

     He picks his head up, and I hear his mouth open to say something else, but he closed off by the sound of so much wood snapping and falling, it can't be ignored.

     I look up in the pitch black, and it doesn't take long for us to realize that fucking house is falling in on us.