Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 71852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Clover hesitated, unable to bring himself to let go of Drake, but Tank must have understood it wasn’t going to happen. He let go of the empty extinguisher and sprinted up the stairs, rolling Drake over his shoulder as if he trained to be a fireman. His face shone in the orange light when he glanced at Clover. “Now. Now. Now. Go!”
Clover took half a second to look back, to memorize Drake’s face, but then sprinted to the nearest exit, coughing and desperate for air. Even his eyes hurt from the heat, but when he rolled onto the grass outside, all his attention was on the open door that showed him fumes.
Clover barely managed a few breaths when Tank emerged from the smoky cloud with Drake slung over his shoulder, but no matter how much Clover wanted to hug him, his limbs were too heavy to move.
Tank didn’t stop running before he reached the very edge of the driveway, and it was only when Clover followed him on his hands and knees that he noticed Pyro in the dark. He sat with his back to the lamp post, knees pulled to his chest and his face buried in between as if he wanted to curl into a perfect ball. Violent sobs shook Pyro’s entire form, as if he couldn’t stop.
Tank ignored him, falling to his knees just a couple of steps away from the arsonist. Despite the tension in his face, he laid Drake on the asphalt with such gentleness Clover wanted to hug him even before Tank leaned down, listening to Drake’s breathing.
“I didn’t know he was there,” Pyro choked out, but didn’t up, as if he was unwilling to see the consequences of his actions.
Clover just sat there, watching the destruction of their safe harbor, of the place he’d grown to call home.
“How could you?” he whined, shaking his head.
Tank took in the blaze consuming the home he’d worked so hard for. His jaw muscles worked slowly, as if he were considering his options, but in the end he pulled out his phone, dragging his feet as he walked off.
Clover swallowed, left on his own with Drake still unconscious and Pyro howling while their life burned down.
Boar was lost, and now the one place where Clover had felt safe was too.
He wiped tears off his face, sniffing when he noticed that the only reason why Pyro wasn’t running amok was because Tank had cuffed him to the lamp post. Despite all the mayhem he’d caused, Pyro was the image of suffering. Wailing, trembling all over, he was a raw wound sprinkled with salt over and over again.
Clover couldn’t find it in him to hate Pyro when all they had now was each other. He approached on hands and knees, wary as if Pyro was a rabid racoon. He considered asking him what he needed, or comforting him with a promise of finding Boar, but Pyro was drunk and completely out of it.
So Clover just hugged him, ready to be pushed away. But that didn’t happen, and he dared put his cheek on Pyro’s shoulder. Clover would have never imagined that he’d even see Pyro crying, let alone that he would be the one having to give Pyro support. Yet here they were.
After all the horrors Clover had survived, he needed to be the rock and take at least some of the burden off Tank’s shoulders. No matter how unimaginable it had been before, he held Pyro in a hug and let him cry his heart out as the world around them burned.
To be continued...