"Are you sure you want to do this?" She squeezed her bag tightly.
"Yeah, I'm sure." She looked around the army camp. "It's obviously not safe for me here. Even with her gone." It was true that people had been especially cold or even hostile to Hamada since we got back. Sam tried to talk Hamada out of leaving, but at this point Hamada seemed to think she'd only cause more pain. Sam tried to convince her otherwise, but it wasn't very convincing considering she had lost an arm protecting her.
"Where are you gonna go?" I asked, looking back to her. She seemed a little out of it, lost in some sort of trance. It was like she couldn't decide whether to break down and cry or to smile.
"I don't know," she spoke finally. "Somewhere where people won't find me. Somewhere... Quiet and away." She looked up at me for the first time in a while. "Will you be okay? Squad 352, I mean." I sighed.
"Sam's still pretty mad at me for leaving her there," I mumbled. "I know I sure felt like shit after I heard she was alive. Good thing the body retrieval guys didn't chuck her out with the others." I coughed at my insensitivity. What the Hell was I doing? "... Sam's been handling recruiting new soldiers, now that Logan's not here to do that." Hamada nodded, then looked away. "But even so, we haven't managed to get anyone on the squad. The Connectors are transferring us to different teams." It grew quiet for a moment. I guess neither of us really knew what to say.
"Hamada?" I started carefully. She glanced at me again. I studied her eyes for a moment. Those beautiful blue eyes were so clear, yet so solemn. I had never seen them quite this blue. "What... What happened to you?"
She stared at me a second, and I waited for those eyes to turn black. But they never did, of course. They never did.
"Amelia told me she had to leave," she replied matter-of-factly. "So she did. It wasn't really the best time for her to do so, but I suppose there are never good times for these things." Maybe I was just imagining it, but I could've sworn I heard pain in her voice. "I should probably be going now, huh?"
"Wait, Clarissa..."
"What?" she asked, her eyes questioning.
"Who... What was Amelia to you? When you used to know her?" And then her eyes flickereed for the first time in a while. But it wasn't a color. It was sadness. And then all at once, she chose whether or not to cry or laugh.
She smiled.
"Amelia?" she smiled. "She was a good friend of mine."
YOU ARE READING
VIRUS
Fantasy«you don't deserve to be fighting. you're slaughtering us all, people who used to be our friends. how does it make you feel, knowing your a monster?» «is that what you think i am? a monster?» «no, clarissa. i am far from a monster. if anything, i'm...
