[Stories] Tina and Kraka, safe and sound

"We're nearly there. Don't you dare die on me or there'll be hell to pay" Tina told Kraka as they were limping through the snow.
The trip back should have taken less than five days, but the sudden and early arrival of winter had thrown their plans into disarray. Five days became six as a small layer of snow covered the road and made travel harder. Soon the snow came up to their shins and six days turned into seven.
They would have reached the bunker by now if it hadn't been for Kraka's leg. Tina winced every time she looked at her husbands right side. His leg was bright red and swollen, and a cloudy liquid was oozing out from under the bandage covering the infected wound. His arm was in equally bad shape.

She had started helping him walk on day five as the infection made him limp, causing them to slow down considerably. Now she was practically carrying Kraka, all the while talking to him to keep him conscious. Her latest attempt at communication made him smile weakly, which was more reaction than she usually got out of him. He even opened his mouth and tried to talk but instead let out a soft pained moan. Tina felt tears welling up, trying to reach the surface. She stamped down on them hard, reminding herself that Kraka was going to be fine. He had to survive.

Kraka drifted in and out of consciousness. When he woke up he felt Tina holding him up, talking to him. A distant part of him knew she was doing so he wouldn't slip away. He tried to stay awake for her, putting every last drop of willpower he had left into the effort. It wasn't enough and soon Kraka fell into a feverish dream.
In his dream he was standing next to Tina, firing at the onrushing horde. He recognized it as the battle they had fought several days ago.
Had it been several days?

He felt so alive as he squeezed the trigger, causing the death of yet another pirate. He called a number out to Tina, but he couldn't remember which number. Tina shouted one back and he could practically hear her smiling. A pirate wielding a rusty shiv jumped over a rock chunk, landing within striking distance of Kraka. He swung and the crude weapon managed to scratch his arm. Kraka broke his nose with a fast jab and stepped back. He knew what was about to happen and tried to move, desperate to not make the same mistake twice. The memory didn't care about his wishes and so he still stepped on the loose rock that caused him to fall to the ground. Pain flared up just above the knee as the pirate drove the shiv into his leg. The bastard didn't have time to do any more damage, his life abruptly ending as Tina blew his brains out with a carefully placed shot.
Kraka got to his feet and to his surprise the pain wasn't all that bad. He still grimaced when he pulled out the makeshift knife and examined his wounds. The man had been the last survivor of the camp they had raided. Apart from his two little wounds they had come out unscathed. Both Tina and Kraka could add several kills to their lists and he laughed when he saw Tina do a little victory dance. Even with the slight ache in his leg Kraka felt elated and he found himself dancing next to her. The cries of the slowly dying pirates lying all around them didn't bother them at all. Tina pulled Kraka towards her and planted a kiss on his lips.

With a jolt Kraka snapped back into consciousness and gasped at the pain in his limbs. He knew that if it hadn't been for Tina holding him up he would have fallen face first into the snow.
It was cold and he worried about his wife. They only had two meals left. If they didn't make it back in time she might starve.
"Put me down" He managed to croak, startling Tina.
"What?" she said, not sure if she had heard him correctly.
"Let me go. Don't die on my account, all because of some misguided sense of duty" he continued, surprised at how he managed to make coherent sentences. Tina growled at him, a low animalistic sound.
"If the only thing coming out of your mouth is bullshit I suggest you keep it shut" she replied angrily. "Of course I'm not leaving you. We promised we'd take care of each other when we married and I'm expecting you to hold up your end of the bargain."
He opened his mouth to speak but Tina cut him off.
"I know what you're about to say and reminding me of the "until death do us part" bit isn't going to make me leave you behind so you can shut the hell up"
Kraka closed his mouth and felt himself drifting away again. Just before the dream caught him he realized that he was a lucky man to have Tina.

--

Tina forced herself to move faster. Kraka hadn't woken up after their brief exchange and she could feel the heat radiating off him as the fever got more intense.
She almost dropped him when she saw smoke in the distance. Soon the familiar shape of the bunker came into view and even though she was now basically carrying Kraka she started to run.

Several hours later she was sitting next to their bed, waiting for Kraka to stir. They had made it, if only barely. According to Drang (who was their best doctor, with the possible exception of Kraka) if they had arrived a few hours later there would have been nothing she could have done. Even now they had to take some pretty drastic measures.
Tina bent forward and put her head in her hands. She was exhausted but didn't want to leave her husband.
A hand touched her head softly and when she looked up she saw Kraka had finally woken up, or at least partly, and was looking at her with a small and very weak smile. Tina took his hand and gently squeezed it. They sat there for a moment, not saying anything, just holding hands. Tina didn't move, and didn't let his hand go, not even when he fell back to sleep.

The next day he woke up again, but this time he was truly awake.
"What time is it?" he asked. His voice still had that undertone of sickness in it, but when he cleared his throat he sounded almost normal. Tina laughed and kissed him.
"Really? That's the first thing you ask after emerging from a coma?"
He grinned sheepishly. They talked for a bit, saying nothing that held any true significance. Or, to be more precise, nothing that held any significance to anyone but Tina and Kraka. They sat there, poking fun and mocking each other, and if anyone who didn't know them had been watching never would have guessed the two were happily married.
Tina and Kraka knew they were playing out a well established ritual, the snide remarks and sarcastic comments comforting and familiar.

After a while Kraka tried to sit up and froze, noticing for the first time that his right arm wasn't there. Slowly he turned his head towards where his arm had been. He closed his eyes and let his head hang when he saw the stump and he let out a soft curse. He swore loudly and at length when he tried to get up out of bed and saw his leg now ended well above his knee. Tina got up and sat down next to him on the bed, letting him rest his head against her shoulder while he ranted and cursed.

They made Drang attach a peg leg so he regained his mobility and over the next few days Kraka tried to adjust to his new body. He tried to downplay it but everyone knew it was an act to cover the grief he felt over his lost limbs.
Hurtle and Drang changed their current research from geothermal power to prosthetic's. They hadn't really been working hard on their previous project, but when they saw how Kraka was suffering they dropped all other tasks and researched around the clock.
Another week passed before they finished their research. Tina had been following their progress closely and when they finally gave her the blueprint she needed to build a bionic leg she went to work. She made not one but two bionic legs, just in case one of them was faulty, and after that two bionic arms.
Kraka had been unaware they had started working on this project so when he heard the news he was ecstatic. The very same day Kraka was put under anesthetic and they started operating.

When he awoke he knew the surgery had been a success even before he opened his eyes. He could feel his arm and leg again. It wasn't the same as it had been, it was a more distant feeling and difficult to explain. He opened his eyes and saw he was in bed with Tina lying next to him. She didn't say anything, instead looking at him expectantly. He moved his right arm, slightly afraid of what he might find. Instead of the metal monstrosity he had expected it was almost graceful. He moved his hand and marveled at how it felt when he opened and closed it. Carefully, Kraka used his new hand to pull away the sheets that were covering him and he looked at his leg. It too looked sleek and the light reflected off the dull, light grey metal.
He grinned at Tina and stood up, his new leg felt lighter than he thought and he realized he could probably run a whole lot faster now. His hand was more precise as well and when he made a fist it became clear that it was stronger as well.

Tina went to stand in front of him and slipped one of her hands in his bionic one. Kraka was so worried he would accidentally crush her hand that he didn't realize something was off at first.
"You never got me a ring you know. So I figured I'd do the next best thing."
Kraka looked down and realized why it felt so weird. Where Tina's hand had previously been tanned and a little rough it was now all plasteel and servos, just like his own. Their fingers intertwined and they both took a moment to take in how their new hands felt, the feeling both more intense and slightly distant.
Kraka bent over and kissed his wife. He had been worried that he would feel uncomfortable with his new hand, feel like it wasn't part of him. Tina probably had thought the same and had resolved the potential problem in the simplest way she could think off. She had cut off her arm just so he wouldn't feel like a freak.
Tina pulled Kraka out of their room towards one of the doors leading outside.
"Where are we going?" Kraka asked as he let himself be dragged behind her. Tina grabbed a sniper rifle that had been leaning against a wall and threw it at Kraka. Instinctively he moved his hand to grab the weapon and was pleasantly surprised at how fast and precise the movement was.

"Don't you want to find out how it feels to shoot something with the new arm?" Tina grinned as she picked up her own rifle. "There just happens to be a group of alphabeavers that needs killing."
Kraka grinned back and shook his head.
"You know just what to say and do when it comes to me, don't you? It's probably part of the reason I love you."
Tina winked at him and held open the door for Kraka.
"Stop being so bloody sentimental, sergeant. Let's go kill stuff"
He made a mock salute and the two soldiers stepped outside.