BEYOND THE DEAD ZONE | COMPLETE

NINE | MIRA

NINE | MIRA

(The morning after Ophelia and Eero' leave)

I tapped my foot against the floor aggressively, my anger pulsing through my veins so rapidly I could feel the temperature of my body rise. Sebastian was late, and it was pissing me off—much like the many other things that had gone wrong today. I clenched my fingers into claws, digging them into my arms as I looked around the room. It was terrible timing—all of it.

Each of the six settlement leaders were here, and it wasn't just one leader from each, it was all of them. From the Town of Roses both Jax and Erinna sat at the long table, speaking in hushed tones, from Wolf Cove Luna and the twins were here, speaking loudly with Tom from the Tunnels, Spenser from the Sky City spoke with Reia from the Mountain Men and I was stuck waiting for Sebastian to arrive. This was a crucial time for all of us, and I realized now it was a mistake to have the towns unattended by their leaders.

"Let's just start," I hissed, gritting my teeth.

Luna looked at me with sympathy, "Mira, we should really wait for Sebastian. He can provide us more on the details from--"

"—fuck the details!" I roared, slamming my hands onto the table, "My daughter is missing! This is supposed to be Hope Island and not only did we get betrayed, dangerous weapons stolen but also my daughter. You think I'm going to waste more time on Sebastian because he can't get his shit together? You think my daughter has that kind of time?"

The room went silent.

"Maybe we should do this later on in the day," Tom said slowly, "You need some time to grieve what has happened. We shouldn't act irrational."

A bitter laugh flew from my lips.

"You speak like she's already dead. Why is that?" I demanded, my voice cold, "Clearly Ophelia had outside help, maybe it was you. She's the closest to the Tunnels."

"She was close to Sam," he corrected, his voice sharp, "And Sam is dead. Has been for many years. You've gone insane if you think I'd help her, after all she's done."

"I wouldn't put it past you to steal another child."

"Your daughter is not a child," he snarled, "And judging by the reports from your own security and the two boys, she went willingly. Why is that? Maybe we should pull into question as to why your children continue to—"

"Enough," Jax yelled, "This isn't going to get us anywhere."

I tsked, turning away from the table to glare at the wall. My teeth dug into my bottom lip so hard I could taste the copper of my blood. My eyes glossed with tears and I willed myself to hold it back. Where had I gone wrong? All I wanted was to protect Eero, I had already failed Rose and I just didn't want to lose my daughter. Not again. I had continued to fail over and over again as a mother and I didn't know how the hell I was supposed to make it better.

Yes, I did.

I would stop being stubborn, I would tell Eero everything, and I would save our relationship before it was too late. I swallowed the lump in my throat, and slowly dragged my gaze back to Tom. He looked guilty too—we didn't fight. That's not what we did at these meetings, not any of us. We had to be calm and good for the sake of our people—especially now.

I sighed softly, "In any case, retrieving her should be top priority."

"We can't waste resources on a rebellious child," Reia told me quietly, "Especially now. It is clear Bio Gen has begun to make their move, and we must act accordingly."