Kendra hit the alpha gobdog one last time, a solid crack right to its already dented head. The thing gave a weird shudder and then just flopped onto the gym floor, its legs giving a few twitches before it went completely still.
"Fucking finally," she gasped out, the weird hardness of her skin fading back to normal. She could already feel bruises starting to ache underneath, but it felt like all her bones were still in one piece, so that was a win.
Vasa lowered her hands. The ice she'd used to trap the gobdog's lower body was now just puddles spreading across the floor. "That took longer than it should have." She sounded beat, but still had that usual Vasa composure.
Then they both spotted him. Nox. He was down, Yeda kneeling beside him, and there was a shocking amount of blood. Just… so much.
"Shit, Nox!" Kendra yelled, totally forgetting her own aches as she bolted across the gym. Vasa was right there with her, and for once, that super-calm front she always had seemed to have a few cracks.
They skidded to a stop next to Yeda. She was a mess, just crying, her hands soaked in red as she tried to press down on this huge, awful rip in his stomach.
"He's... he's not breathing right," Yeda choked out, looking up at them, her eyes wide and full of pure terror.
Kendra dropped to her knees, her gaze locked on the injury. It was bad. Seriously, catastrophically bad. She'd seen people get hurt in fights before, plenty of times, but this looked different. This had a horrible kind of finality to it.
"What the hell happened?" she asked, her voice coming out way rougher than she meant it to.
"He killed it," Yeda sobbed, pointing a shaky, bloody hand at the big dead monster a few feet away. "But it got him..."
Vasa was already crouched down, examining his with a grim set to her mouth. "The bleeding is too severe. We need to stop it." She glanced around, but it was clear to everyone there wasn't a medkit just conveniently waiting for them.
Kendra just stared at his face, how pale it was, and at the blood soaking into his ruined clothes, staining the floor beneath him. A strange, tight feeling twisted in her gut. Why was she getting so worked up about this? This was the guy who'd been a complete asshole to them ninety percent of the time, treated them like they were liabilities. He'd practically insulted them into getting stronger. So why did seeing him like this, so still and broken, make her feel like she was about to be sick?
'He's a jerk,' she thought, her mind racing. 'A cold, sarcastic jerk. But… he wasn't fake. He never pretended. He was just… him.'
Maybe that was it. In this messed-up world where everyone was either freaking out or trying too hard to be brave, Nox had just been brutally, surprisingly real. He hadn't babied them; he'd pushed them. And, crap, they were alive because of him. They were stronger because of him.
Vasa was probably thinking along similar lines, though her thoughts, as usual, were likely more organized. 'He's abrasive,' she might have been thinking. 'Inefficient in social interactions. But his assessment of situations is usually accurate, and his methods, however unorthodox, yield results.' She watched Yeda fruitlessly trying to press harder on the wound.
'He never asked for our loyalty. He never tried to be liked. That indifference… it was infuriating, but it also meant he wasn't playing games. When he told us to fight, it wasn't for his ego; it was for our survival.' Why did that knowledge make something in her chest ache now, seeing him so damn vulnerable?
"He's so cold," Yeda whispered, her hand lightly touching his forehead.
"He's losing too much blood," Vasa stated, her voice tight. She looked at the wound again. "If this was anyone else, they'd be dead already."
Kendra swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. "Yeah, well, he's not anyone else, is he?" She looked at Yeda. "What about that glowy thing you did before? Can you do it again? Heal him or something?"
Yeda shook her head, fresh tears starting up. "I don't know how I did it the first time. And... and I think it took everything out of me. I can't... I can't feel it anymore. Besides, I really don't think it can be used for healing."
Just then, Nox's body gave a small twitch. His eyes, though still mostly closed, fluttered. They all leaned in closer. He coughed, a wet, ragged sound that made Kendra's stomach clench, and a little more blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Then, he was still again.
"Nox?" Kendra said, shaking his shoulder, just a little. "Nox, you son of a bitch, don't you dare die on us." She shook his shoulder again, a bit harder this time. "Nox, come on, man. Wake up. Don't be a dick and die right after you saved us."
Vasa gently pushed Kendra's hand away. "Shaking him won't help. His injuries are too severe." She looked around the destroyed gym, her gaze lingering on the smashed-in doorways where walls used to be. "We can't stay here. More of those creatures could show up at any moment."
"So what are we supposed to do?" Kendra shot back, her voice tight with frustration and something that felt a lot like fear. "Drag him out of here? He's barely breathing. Moving him might kill him faster."
Yeda sniffled, wiping her eyes with the back of her bloody hand, smearing it further. "We should stay. Right here. Until he wakes up. We can't just... we can't leave him like this."
Kendra looked at Yeda, then at Nox, then back at Yeda. "Stay here? Are you nuts? Vasa's right, this place is a death trap. Those dog things, or worse, could wander in any second."
"But Nox needs time," Yeda insisted, her voice gaining a little strength. "He saved us. We owe him that much. We can barricade the doors or something."
Vasa considered it, her expression thoughtful. "The main doors are completely gone. Barricading them effectively would be difficult, and we don't know what other entrances there are. But Yeda has a point. Moving him in his current condition is extremely risky." She looked at the massive wound in his stomach. "He's lost a significant amount of blood. Any further jostling could restart severe bleeding, assuming it's even stopped."
Kendra ran a hand through her hair, looking stressed out of her mind. "So we're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Stay here and risk getting swarmed, or move him and risk him bleeding out on the way."
She kicked at a loose piece of debris on the floor. "Damn it all."
"We stay," Yeda said, her voice firm this time. All trace of her earlier panic was gone, replaced by a quiet determination that actually made Kendra pause. "We watch the entrances. We fight if anything comes. He'd do it for us... well, maybe not willingly, but he'd do it."
Vasa nodded slowly. "It's the less predictable risk, but potentially the only chance he has. If he doesn't wake up soon, or if his condition worsens, then we'll have to reassess."
Kendra let out a long breath. "Alright, fine. We stay. But if I get eaten because of this, I'm blaming you two." She didn't sound entirely serious. She looked down at Nox again, and the tight line of her jaw relaxed just a tiny bit. "He better wake up, the stubborn bastard."
Just as they seemed to settle on the decision, a hoarse, weak voice cut through the quiet.
"How sweet of you shitheads."
All three girls jumped, their heads snapping towards Nox. His eyes were cracked open, just slits, and they were focused, albeit hazily, on them. Something that might have been a smirk, faint and bloody, was trying to form on his lips.
"Aren't you going to leave me behind like everyone else?" he rasped, each word sounding like it was scraped out of his throat with something rough.