My blood went cold when I saw Harley hit the ground. On some level, I had been going into this with the mindset that I was some kind of superhero. That no matter how grim things got, we’d come out of it okay. Seeing Harley take that hit reminded me of the reality of the situation: If we give them the chance, these monsters can – and will – kill us.
All thoughts of keeping up the attack vanished. I charged through the onslaught of swinging arms, picked Harley up, and ran. They cried out in pain when I picked them up. I recalled something about how you aren’t supposed to move someone after they get injured, but I was pretty sure that doesn’t apply when leaving them where they were would end with them getting smashed into paste.
I didn’t stop until I had put a house between us and the monster. It was slow-moving, so that would hopefully give us a breather. I saw Laura running to catch up as I gently laid Harley back down.
“Are you okay?” I asked, fully aware that they weren’t.
“I’m not dead,” they said, wincing as they tested their limbs. “I think my arm is broken. Geez, that probably would’ve snapped me in half if I wasn’t magic.”
“That’s great, but we have a serious problem here!” Laura yelled as she caught up. “How are we going to beat a monster that we can’t even hurt?!”
“We have a bigger problem than that,” Harley said. “We’re not gonna beat this thing if you two aren’t even trying to work together. What’s going on with you two?”
“What?” Laura asked, taken aback. “I barely know how to fight on my own! What do you want from me?”
“No, that’s not it,” Harley pressed. “Val, you’ve barely even looked at Laura since you got here. I’m not okay with you going back out there until you say why.”
“I don’t…” I thought Harley was just rambling nonsensically, but when I tried to protest, I couldn’t just say that. The truth, I realized, was that she was right. There was a reason I was avoiding thinking about Laura.
“Because I don’t understand you, okay?!” I blurted out. “This is the most messed-up situation I’ve ever been in! How can you look at all this and think about making a quick buck? Why are you so crazy about money?”
Laura dragged her hands down her face and sighed. “My family is poor, Val. If I could die at any moment, I’d at least like my parents to be able to stop living paycheck to paycheck in return. Is that so much to ask?”
I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I felt like an asshole. My parents are pretty well-off, so I’ve never really had to think about money outside of my own allowance. I just assumed it was the same for Laura, but she had been thinking further ahead than I had. Even if one of us dies, the world would keep on turning.
For the first time, I felt like I was seeing Laura as an actual person. A thought occurred to me.
“Hey, Harley. Do you think you can do that chain trick again?”
They grinned. “I’ve still got one good arm.”
After a quick exchange with Laura, the three of us charged back into the fight. We’d only get one chance at this, but it was the best shot we had. Once again, Laura and I slid past its attacks to strike at the legs. Harley threw their hook again, latched it onto the main body, and pulled at the monster with a grunt of pain. With the three of us working together, it fell to the ground a second time. I planted my spear against the monster’s armor, then called out.
“Now!”
Laura swung her hammer with all her might, striking the end of my spear. All that force was concentrated at the spear’s point, and it broke through. With warhammer and spear as hammer and nail, she struck it with such force that the monster’s heart shattered from the impact. Its various limbs all collapsed to the ground, inert.
As the monster’s corpse began to crumble, all three of us fell to the pavement, catching our breath. Two fights, two wins. Nobody died. What more could I ask for?
After a few seconds of staring at the sky, I spoke up. “Sorry for being a dick, Laura.”
“It’s cool,” she said. “That was a good plan. Friends?”
“Sure. Friends.”
Harley just laughed.
