A GIFT OF TIME

Episode 30

Meeting Nicholas gaze wasn't something I planned. It was instinctive. But meeting his eyes made me quite uncomfortable and I moved my hand to stop Danny but he wouldn't instead he used his free hand to hold back my obstructing hand. The position was awkward it looked like I was finding my way to his own waist with his hand restricting mine as he trapped it right in between us. I did try really because I tried to use my other hand to stop him but he swiftly pinned both my hands together as he held both by the wrist adjusting himself to face me. Now Nicholas groaned.

"are you both trying to have s*x right now?" Nicholas frowned at us both. 

"got a problem with that" Danny retorted coldly and my eyes widened at his harsh voice.

"Danny" I protested shooting him a glare for being so inconsiderate. It wasn't hard to tell now that Danny figured out Nick's feelings for me and was acting jealous and possessive. He sighed and moved away from me. 

"sorry man" he forced a smile acting casual but Nicholas was in no mood to act casual. He was frowning and it only deepens with Danny's apology. Oh God nature had created a big mess with all of us. 

"why do you have to sound like that?" Nicholas decided to challenge him and Danny scoffed though it doesn't last long for Nicholas to figure out but I did make it out. 

"I just apologized for that-

" Doesn't count for it" Nicholas sharply cut in as both locked gaze. 

"it's nothing, I was just a little upset you interrupted me and my girlfriend snuggle time. You know I totally had it building up" what the heck was that even supposed to mean? I wondered as I instantly scrunch up my face showing the irritation to his statement.

"you're a weird guy Danny. You had it building up in my presence. Are you showing off?-

" no, I just got too distracted to remember you were there. Forgive me for that" Danny smirked and I was really tempted to roll my eyes and criticize him. But I can't. The best I could do was ignore the both of them. 

"you're really funny do you know that, you were trying to snuggle while we are not even sure we might leave this place alive- dude you've forgotten we are heading to Egypt right now?" Nicholas asked as low as possible whilst snickering at Danny's childish act. It really was childish I mean the guy was 24 or is it 25, and that act was for teens really. 

"yeah I am. I mean if you have just some minute to live the best you could do is spend that time with someone you love. Just following the logic and just spending my what I don't know might be the last time with my special lady" he smirked winking at me. Now I definitely rolled my eyes. He's right though. My last life biggest regret was not acknowledging Nicholas love for me. This second chance I wanted to cherish that. Give him all the love I had to offer. But fate didn't quite complete the favor. The man I love had another face and the face I love wasn't really him. It was quite complicating and weird. I mean I kinda admit now that I loved them both. I loved both of them. That's it. If you love someone you've got to love them for all they've worth and both Nicholas are just Nicholas to me. I was half asleep when I felt movement of the driller and we all slid down to hit the end of the chamber as more movement is made. 

"are we there already?" Nicholas groaned and I winced realizing I had hit my hand as we slumped against the partition between the hoisting system and what looks like the rotatory table. My eyes caught on something it was a green emerald like stone which suddenly glowed sending green currents spiraling into the cables attached to the plate it was embedded into. Was it powering the goddamn machine I had no idea. 

"Claire be safe" Hero's voice came in a whisper and I wish I was gonna be safe in this mess really. The boys saw it too. The green current made the cable quite transparent and we could see it traveling in the cable. 

"Um, Nicholas. I hope to God the severed wires are not on the metal. If that thing looks is really is electricity and the severed cables are laying carelessly on the floor and if these driller share the same properties with metal. There's a big chance we might die from electrocution. "I slowly explained and the boys exchanged a horrid look. We tried to crawl back to the wires before the traveling current reached the end of it but we were suddenly bent so that we were standing on the partition directly on the glowing stone. 

" it's like we'll be falling soon" Danny announced the terrifying part. 

"have any of you ever been on a roller-coaster before?" I asked and they shook their heads in a nod. Remind me they are just one person. 

"well get ready for another experience" I grinned trying to calm my own nerves because I know I wasn't a big fan of roller-coaster myself. I looked up to realize the green current was sizzling at the end of the cable which had already being severed. Because of the position of the driller it was dangling instead of being on the metal. I guess we are not dying anytime soon. The boys nervously watched the dangling current as well. All I could make out was the sound of our racing heartbeats as the severed cable dangled on top of us. 

"it might fall" Nicholas pointed out but I knew that already. We watched as the severed cable dangled and sizzle with green current at the tip of it. But there was something more surprising about it. The more the green current made itself obvious at the top the closer the other end of the severed cable move. 

"is it moving?" Nicholas queried a bit horrified as we all watch the sight on top of us. All of a sudden, a spark of electricity ignited at one of the severed cables and the other cable which originally had the electricity traveling in it start to rise to meet the one which seem to have suddenly ignited the green electricity on it's own. 

"I guess severing that cable wasn't enough" Danny muttered eyes fixed on the cables as they performed miracles. We jolted as one of the severed cables suddenly shared electricity as the end slowly meet. 

"there are about eight of these severed cables and looking at it. Everything is gonna join back together to make the goddamn thing works. We need to stop it somehow" I declared looking around but suddenly got an idea. I removed my g*n and aimed for another joint of the cable. Another shocking thing happened. The bullet did severed the cable but it got roasted and the current hungrily attached the cables almost immediately it separated. 

"I think that's not much of a choice" Danny pointed out and I groaned. 

"there is another choice though but I'm f*****g terrified to want to try" I informed the boys and they stared at me with curious eyes. 

"the stone. I think it's the one powering it. Maybe we could find a way to remove it-

" are you serious right now?, we are standing on the goddamn thing and the only thing separating us is this metal partition" Nicholas tapped his feet on the metal before concluding his statement "We are falling straight into it if we try" Nicholas pointed out the obvious. 

"I know but have you guys got any better choice. This godforsaking thing is gonna work soon and with us in it. Only if I knew it was gonna be like this I would have walked up to the compartment and remove the f*****g stone before it powered up. But it's too late and it's not time to cry over spilled milk. The second cable have reattached itself. We need to figure out a way remove the stone-" I was cut off by the sudden feeling of falling. No we were falling and our legs hardly touched the metal anymore as the driller fell. It had been successfully pushed out of the ship. I didn't notice I was screaming on the top of my lungs until we slumped against each other but with Danny face flat on the metal. He groaned at the painful impact. It now seems the driller has tilted a little because we were resting on the left side of the cylindrical chamber we were confined in. Maybe we could stop the goddamn thing after all. About four cables had reattached after we fell and it kinda made us recover even faster. Since we were rested on the other side where the chamber lid was situated I crawl there. And open the lid. The desert air was harsh. I really wasn't preparing for the sudden harsh change in environment. Not my day really. But the funny thing is. We were in the afternoon. Now it wasn't surprising why we were all sleeping on the journey. It was quite a jump from the chambers down but wasn't far enough to cause any damage to me. I scanned the area trying to look for anything before the thing works. I found a dead stick with a slightly curved end. It was perfect so I hurried by passing by the boys who was now straightening as we they landed on the sandy floor. We can't have this crazy giant object destroy our cherished Sahara never. I climbed back in leaving the boys quite amazed. I checked the cables and I realize it was still four. Looks like the weather wasn't supporting the reattachment. I tried to remove the partition covering the stone but I was having quite a hard time because my lower half was rested out of the chambers while I struggle to use the stick to remove the partition since we would be standing on it if we I decided to move inside. I was groaning at the effort before the boys joined in with two other sticks in their hands. Our body was half way out and half way in. It was a futile attempt though. Danny was coughing. Now I remember he was asthmatic. I removed the handkerchief I hadn't noticed was in my back pocket and gave it to him to cover his nose. He gave me a grateful look but couldn't tie it with the way his body was rested. With my help he finally had it on.

"I have an idea" Danny yelled so that we could hear from the hissing sound of the dessert air and the muffling effect of the handkerchief around his nose. 

"what's that?" I yelled back my question. 

"I'm going in-

" what!? "I asked alarmed at his suggestion but he smiled which was quite obvious by the way his cheek rose up. With his stick and jumped in but suddenly grab few cables so that he was a little higher away form the partition. 

" oh that works" Nicholas muttered jumping in as well right before I could mutter. 

"what the f**k" the two boys dangled with the rope swinging a little as they tried to use the stick to remove the partition. They struggled for a while before the circular metal lifted up on the sticks. Danny sighed in relief and Nicholas smiled as they both raise the lid up. I adjusted so I could collect it from them. After I had collected the metal from them I threw it behind me into the sand. I watch them sticking the stick to the stone. I looked up to see the last cable reattaching itself. 

"Um.. Guys" I called as I was quite alarmed knowing the effect of the cable if it fixes itself. 

"guys" I called again before looking back at them to see them sweating and groaning as they attached the end of their sticks to each side of the stone trying to remove it. The driller roared to life as the last cable reattached while Danny's stick broke. Oh this is bad. I thought then suddenly passed him mine while the driller started with a loud and ridiculous whirling sound. But it didn't last quite long as Danny and Nicholas with one last energetic struggle popped out the stone ceasing the noise of the driller. They panted in relief but didn't quite had time to celebrate their victory as the whole ship covered up in shimmering green glow. I noticed that moment the stone was on the metal plate which the cables where attached to and it had covered the whole metal in current. I didn't noticed I was going to be affected too and with a freaking jolt I was thrown out of the entrance and I landed with a puff in the sand. Good landing really but my brain was too fuzzy to register anything and my eyes slowly closed. 

I sighed out of my sleep snuggling up to the warm pillow right next to me. Took me some second before I figured I was not cuddling up to a pillow. The surface was hard, warm and rough. No pillow was designed like that. I managed to open my eyes to realize I was resting on Danny's bare chest. His eyes was closed probably asleep and I smiled trying to sit up. Only to realize I was in my undies. Again. Why am I always half n***d every time I woke up beside him. I still don't feel comfortable exposing my body to Danny because Danny was inside there as well. I shook my head shoving the thoughts of being really touched by the real Danny. I still don't know why that part makes me inconvenient. I figured we were in a tent and a blanket rested on a our lower halves. How did they get all of this?. I wondered looking around for my top and jacket. It was folded at end of the tent. My sudden effort to grab them made me realize I was on a sleeping bag. No wonder I slept so comfortably on thought putting my top on top of my head only for Nicholas to make his way in. Oh shoot. I thought flushed as his eyes caught on my top rested on my exposed boobs which was full and threatening to leave the b*a I had it trapped in. Nicholas gulped and turned away from me allowing me to pull down my top. He seem uncomfortable looking at me. Was my body ugly? Why does he react like that. I was curious and I couldn't help but wonder. I pretended not to be affected and tried to get my jeans on. 

"are you done?" he asked briefly turning to me to realize I was drawing my jeans up and he cursed under his breath as his eyes fell on my lace panties. For f***s sake why is he like that? Was Hailey's body more beautiful than mine?. I couldn't help the frown that made it's way to my face. Nevertheless I masked my annoyance and zip on my jeans. 

"what happened?" I asked the only question anyone would have asked in my situation. He smiled and turned to look at me. He exhaled like he'd been holding in his breath. 

"well maybe you might wanna come outside. You wouldn't wanna wake Danny up. We are keeping watch rounds" he smiled and I nodded leaving the camper tent with him. I looked around to see fewer tents like ours with burning sticks in front of them. It was already late. Very late really. It should be around 8pm or something I thought scanning my environment. Just like ours and few people were seated trying to keep warm. I didn't really noticed we had a camp fire in front of our tents but it was great. 

"tea?" Nicholas asked sitting on the plank in front of the fire and offering me a cup of tea from the tea pot they had hanging on the camp fire. 

"how did you manage to get all of this?" I asked not making any effort to hide the amazement in my voice. 

"Um... Where do I start from?" he asked though it seems to me he was directing the question to himself but I could state my opinion. 

"from where I got jolted off the driller" I answered and he nodded giving me a pensive look for a minute. 

"well we called your name and we panicked thinking something had happened to you but we were careful not to touch anything except from the cable we were dangling from. We knew it won't be safe to go out without having to get rid of the electric stone so Danny lowered himself a little after I offered him the shirt on top of my t-shirt. He rolled it and used it to carry up the stone right before his wire snapped and abruptly landed on the plate twisting his ankle in the process. So I climbed up so he could use the rope. It hurt him a little to have to jump again though. Since we've wrapped the electric stone in a shirt. We threw it down into the sand before we made our jump. It was funny we couldn't find you for a while. You were half buried into the sand and with the sand all over your face made it hard to find you. And when we did we called you several times but you were completely unconscious. So, Danny kinda beg me to carry you while we tried to look for help " he paused to study my reaction and it was horrific. 

" you carried me? "I asked and he chuckled like it was his pleasure doing so. 

" yeah, Danny had the stone in his hand while I had you on my back. We hiked for hours stopping at intervals. Hungry and exhausted really but by luck we met these people moving after we passed by the pyramids. They are tourists who got stranded here after vehicles and everything stopped working so everyday they walk hoping one day they'll arrive back into the city. Thankfully Danny and I had few bucks on us and we made purchase for camping materials which an old man. A native. Was selling. He had them in this old cart which was attached to a donkey. At first he insisted on Egyptian pounds but after some persuasion he finally agreed to sell to us in dollars. So we find a spot set up the camp after placing you down. We figured you were cold shivering so we made fire but it wasn't enough. Danny took you in to keep you warm while I stay watch and get us something to eat. End of story " he grinned and I chuckled softly. 

" you're... Quite a narrator Nick. That was quite vivid" I remarked and he smiled again making my inside tingle. 

"here's some fries and some roasted marshmallows and some cans of fish. You need some food." my stomach grumbled at his mention of food and he chuckled softly while he threw the canned food at me before handing me the stick of marshmallows. I literally devoured all of it like an hungry predator scared his prey might ran. I knew Nicholas eyes was on me but I didn't mind. I sighed in relief after I had successfully filled my stomach. Nicholas passed me a bottle of of water which I gulped down in no seconds. 

"hey slow down will you?" Nicholas chortled as he watched me. 

"I'm so freaking hungry you know that?" I defended and he chuckled not breaking his intense gaze on me. 

"wanna go for a walk? Might help with the digestion" he Suggested and I nodded realizing it was really a good idea considering the rate at which I had ate the food. I was likely to get indigestion. We stood and decided to walk the area looking at stranded families and few other people. We stopped by a tree not far from the camp where we could make out the perfect view of the tents. So sad. These people might never get to see their home again if they apocalypse isn't stopped. The probability made me sullen. 

"you alright?" Nicholas asked concern evident in his voice at my sudden change of expression. 

"yeah, just feel sorry for these people. They might never get to see their homes again. More waves is gonna hit and most of them is gonna die trying to survive. I think dying in a foreign land is harder than falling off a cliff" I muttered the last part and Nicholas moved closer. 

"we are trying our best. We'll try harder so these people can get to see their homes again" Nicholas assured giving me an adoring smile. I nodded and he patted my cheeks softly. 

"I'm sorry about... What Danny did in the driller. I don't know why he did that-

" it's quite obvious really. Maybe he finally figured it like you. I don't mind though. As long as I know you love me. You're mine whether he likes it or not-

"Nick-" I was instantly cut of by Nick's index finger on my lips. 

"shhh. you don't have to say anything. I understand-

" no you don't" he cut me short locking his gaze with mine. 

"I do Claire. I understand why you decided to be with him. You following the tread of the past I quite understand that-

" you don't understand. You really don't " I protested but he moved me only closer his hands on my waist. 

" Nick I can't-" I whined trying to stop him from any further actions which might not end up hood for both of us. 

"yes, you can Claire. I love you" he muttered moving his lips to my neck nibbling them softly. 

"Nick stop, don't" I protested trying to push him away but he moved me to the desert tree to pin me against it. 

"Nick stop" my voice didn't sound as commanding as I wanted it and it was frustrating because he had this silly control on me that could get us both in a big trouble. I bit down on my lower lip as he slid an hand into my top cupping my breast against my b*a while he kissed me hungrily. He was quite domineering. He wanted submission which I couldn't help but give as his hold tightened on me. But... Something got energy surging through me and I couldn't help but push him away. It was Danny's voice as he limped close to us. He must have called my name to make sure it wasn't me. But it was me. 

"Claire" Danny called again as he stared at me. The hurt was quite evident on his face. A tear slipped out of my eyes not knowing what to do. He locked his gaze with mine giving me the most fiercest of his looks while my heart rise and fall against my chest!. 

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