Jordan was dying.

It didn’t take Harriet long to realise this. The boy was completely hunched over, walking like a weak newborn deer as he wobbled over to her, before collapsing onto the floor. His eyes darted around, scared and embarrassed.

She ran over to him and crouched on the floor. She grabbed his hand and held it to her cheek, crying softly. Jordan was their leader, he couldn’t go. She wouldn’t allow it.

”We need to get you help.”

He finally made eye contact, smiling sadly. ”You and I both know that’s not happening girlie.”

She shook her head. ”Shut up! It will-

Her breath became faster and faster, realising this was the beginning of a panic attack.

- We’ll get you help. T-There has to be someone.”

She thumped an angry fist into the dirt beside him, listening to the sounds of war booming in the distance.

Jordan for once seemed tired. He brought her hand to his mouth and brushed bloody lips against the knuckles softly. Her body shook with tears as she kept imagining the diffrent ways in which she could of prevented this, the ways she could’ve protected him. The failure felt like a heavy blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders, suffocating her by every second.

”You okay, dear?”

”Stop.” She didn’t know what to do. But there was so many things she wished to say in this moment, but her mind fell blank.

”Don’t make this about me.”

Jordan frowned. ”What do you want me to do?”

Harriet though for a moment, before making a move to lie beside him. She didn’t care about the mud. She curled up against his form and held his hand.

”I want you to talk. Say the things that make you happy.”

He nodded, squeezing her hand gently.

”For starters, there’s you. The way you don’t care about anyones opinions, the way you snort when you laugh-

”Oh c’mon, that’s ugly and you know it.” She allowed herself to smile.

- No, no. I’ve grown quite fond of it really.” He paused, starting to feel himself go dizzy. ”I love you bravehart. I hope you find someone special.”

With that, she listened to his low breathing, feeling the slowed heart through his chest as it took it’s last beats.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, together, until the end.

1.... 2... 3.

Silence.

She hugged him tighter. She knew he was gone, but she still couldn’t bare to let him go. When she thought of Jordan, she thought of forever. Life after the war. Growing older. But everything she hasd was ripped from her with a single bullet.

Now, she needed to say Goodbye.