Chapter 7

  Hours later, Ray opened his eyes in the dark. It was the middle of the night, he had fallen asleep in the alleyway, and Shinji was kneeling in front of him, whining like a puppy and was on the verge of tears.

  "Shinji...?" he groaned, trying to sit up and instantly regretted it. "Holy mother of--!"

  "Don't move! You're severely injured!" Shinji exclaimed, moving too quickly. His hoodie, covering his ears, fell off and it revealed them down on his head, worried.

  "Please, I'll be fine," Ray said despite quivering in pain. "Just give me some time, though I don't think I'm going to be able to walk on my own."

  "I know, I know," Shinji said, pulling his hoodie back over his ears. "Just rest a moment, I'll try to figure out a way to get you out of here. We have almost everyone with us out at the hospital right now as it is."

  Ray nearly stopped breathing, eyes wide and scared. "What do you mean by 'almost everyone'?"

  Shinji twiddled his thumbs, stopping himself from biting his sharp nails, and looked to the side with depressed eyes.

  "What do you mean Shinji?" Ray demanded, voice rising and breathing increasing as he imagined the horror. "Was someone left behind or captured or what?!"

  Shinji winced at the sudden rise of his voice, ears still sensitive as he was still stressed. Ray then felt bad, lifted his hand to dog boy's knee, and set it there. Shinji covered his face, trying and failing to stop the tears that rolled down his cheeks in frustration and confusion.

  "Naru didn't make it," Shinji sobbed out quietly, trying to keep his composure and still failing. "She protected Yuki and Yumi so that I could gain more ground as I got us out of there..." he trailed off, covering his eyes and mouth to keep himself from losing everything.

  That hurt Ray, knowing Naru was either dead or in the hands of the boss, if not both. His heart sank at an unbelievable rate, and he patted Shinji's knee, trying to comfort him if not himself in his own pitiful condition. That's when Ray realized why Shinji was criyng.

  "Please tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking," Ray said, cocking an eyebrow. "You're not useless."

  "But I AM!!" Shinji sobbed, bent over Ray in absolute and utter sadness. "All I could ever do was help people run because all I can do is run! I was so scared of everything, I couldn't be of any real help."

  Ray sighed, annoyed, and looked straight at Shinji. "Kid, look at me." Shinji looked at him. "Where are you?"

  Shinji sniffled, looked around, and looked back at Ray confused. "Isn't this yours and Naru's home town?"

  "Why, yes, it is," Ray said, "Do you know what that menas?"

  Shinji was confused, and Ray used his other hand to cover his eyes in humored frustration.

  "Think about it Shinji, how did you get here?" Ray asked.

  "I got us here," Shinji replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "When you were discharged from the program a few years ago you had left me directions on how to get here from the lab in case we finally managed to get out."

  "Yeah, do you know what that means though?" Ray asked again, and Shinji looked at him like he was being asked to solve the problem of world peace. "Geez, Shinji, it means that the others are safe because of you! You were the one with the mode of transportation as a means of escape, you were the one that traveled this far on your own power, and you were the one that helped protect all of those people as you got out. Am I right or am I right?"

  Shinji closed his eyes and wiped away the tears with the oversized sleeves of his hoodie and sniffled again. "Yeah I get it." He tried to smile which only resulted in more sobbing. "Thank you, Ray."