After Earth

Chapter 7: Ground Rules

        I shoved Nashi hard, and she fell backwards with her head hitting against the pavement. Everyone was beginning to come out of their houses, everyone was beginning to see, and I took the gun form Nashi in a flash and held it there in my hands like a curse. Ashlit looked like a wounded animal there. Bruises, a gunshot to the head. Nashi picked herself up again and looked to me for my reason, but the reality was that I had nothing inside but anger.
      "She was hurting," I spat, holding the gun by its barrel. "She was in pain, and you downed her like a wild animal."
     Nashi felt upset. "I-I thought-"
     "You were saving me?" I flailed my arms like a disagreeing child. "Death save no pain! Death is just a reminder that while being human, inside we are all beasts clawing through Hell every fucking day. You should know that. All of you, even Ashlit, should know that!"
     I took the gun into both of my hands, hearing the sound of sirens blaring from the distance. With one hand on the barrel and the other on the handle, I started making them come apart at the center with just an ample amount of strength. Everyone watched. They watched me tear a gun in half to make it unusable, and none of them said a word.
     "Something is wrong with all of us," I sighed, throwing the gun to the ground. "You and I and everyone has this medicine in us, this disgust we barely want to talk about with our families. But we're a team. Us. We're all going through something, and we need to talk."
     "How you do suggest that?" I heard someone call from the back. People began to clear a path for the one talking, and everyone held the same shocked impressions. Orgeti stood there with his arms wrapped around each other like he was cold. In the winter air, he was allowed to be, but it looked like it went straight to his core. Everyone was shocked that he broke his oath.
     "It's not hard. We see each other everyday," I told him. "Ashlit... Ashlit was suffering, and no one knew it."
     Nashi covered her face from embarrassment.
     Soon enough, the paramedics came and noticed the bodies lying limp. They asked us all questions, and we managed to tell them the truth about what we saw. Nashi wasn't charged with murder just because this has happened before with the "experiment types", and my curiosity seemed to get the best of me there. This was not the first time that this had happened, and from the nonchalant tone of them, this was going to happen again. They took away Ashlit and Marvormi's bodies in a careful way, and then we were all left there in the street. Shivering.   Afraid of ourselves.
     "Let's go to my house," I said. "We'll be less cold there."
     It seemed like an entourage behind me, all eleven of us filing into the house and sitting at the dining table Nashi and I never used. Despite everyone holding the same expression, they all looked to be different. Olman had this pure white skin, Basha had these small spike-like things erecting from her palm, and Orgeti's pupils were scattered into tiny dots across his iris. I didn't look different. Maybe that was the point.
     "I've been keeping tabs on all of you," I admitted. "Personally, they're just my observations, but we can track what's going on with you, too. If you'd like."
     Tores Valeppo, a man who was mostly silent in our time training, suddenly spoke up in a meek tone. "You're the one that talks to Agitit Nolam all of the time, right?"
     "I... am. That's because he was assigned to me." I looked down at the absorbed blood and black ooze in my palms. "He vents, but I have no idea what he's injecting into us."
     Kagre Ovteum, another shy soldier, lifted her head. "I agree to it. I... I keep thinking and dreaming about drowning." Kagre looked at her arms and shivered. They looked to have scales on their arms that reflected in the chandelier, and she seemed embarrassed of it.
     I excused myself from the table to go and grab my papers, which had been scattered across the office floor. I had gotten quite ambitious with this tracking of people's actions, and I lied it down on the dining room table for everyone to look at. Some were surprised, others were pleased, and Orgeti seemed real quiet as he noticed the marks under his name.
     "Oh Dios mio," Basha exclaimed. "Is this really what you do in your spare time?"
     I nodded. There was even small portraits I drew of them, and it was apparent they were a little freaked out over the accuracy.

     Agitit Nolam: Mad scientist? Kind of crazy and not my cup of tea. DON'T TELL HIM ANYTHING. He is just a victim himself.
     Nashi Mati: A warm soul with a distant past. I'd like to know more about her. She is quite soft with a definite trigger finger.
      Olman Bada: Angry old man. Hates me for some reason. I will admit his anger intrigues me.
     Orgeti Nettles: I like him :) He's here for a hidden agenda, and I can't put faith that it is just.
     Basha Atts: So loud. Recently tried teaching me Spanish curses despite my lack of interest.
     Backin Kaesseh: He has a cute, young face, but it's always wrinkled in anger.
     Nasekin Ashtell: No stranger, but he's not welcoming either. His family asks a lot of questions.
     Tores Valeppo: Quiet. I don't know much, but he relatively keeps to himself.
     Ashlit Vate: The angry one. She reminds me of myself before Rentie.
     Kagre Ovteum: She's shy, and she talks to Basha and Neltmat only.
     Neltmat Ott: She acts like a Mom to everyone. It can be annoying to get lectured.
     Nekip Otelis: She acts like a child.
     Tayas Votipae: I'll see you again soon.

     They all murmured about their own names, about my observations of their behaviors, and they all came to the conclusion that they did need to document what was going on with their bodies. They grabbed a blank sheet and took my pencil to begin writing down their symptoms. I waited until it was my turn, but before that, Nashi had pulled me aside to her bedroom. We stood there, looking at each other in silence for a few long seconds before Nashi finally broke her crossed arms.
     "Tayas, I didn't... want to hurt her. I was just afraid," she sighed.
     "It was a mistake. I understand," I nodded. "I made a similar one back home."
     "No, you don't get it." She sat on the end of her bed with her eyes closed. "When I shut my eyes, I can see things, feel things. I haven't slept well in two days, and I keep seeing Artomer. I keep seeing him go and leave me here." Her face darkened, and I saw the reflection of tears on her cheeks. "I heard the sounds outside, and when I saw you taking her had, I saw Artomer getting on that plane to Europe."
     Artomer was her husband, I realized. She never wanted to talk about him or what happened to him, but now it was her time to tell me. It didn't justify her actions or how she acted, but we all seemed to have reasons for the things we did. We went back out into the dining room, and Nashi took the paper to put her symptoms down while everyone else talked everything they didn't know. Orgeti was quiet still, though now he knew he was exposed to the others with what I wrote down. It was an uncomfortable silence.
     "Tomorrow is swimming trials," Olman mentioned. "We'll be there for three hours testing endurance."
     I nodded "My son is coming to visit tomorrow, as well. Let that not deter us from this. We are in the midst of change, and I refuse to let anymore of you die."
     "Well, what about Alaxier?" Basha mentioned. "Was he and his crew not in the same situation as us? What makes our situation any different than theirs?"
     "Good question." I took the paper and started to write down my symptoms. Which was nothing. Well, nothing I wanted to admit to. "The truth is, we can only hope, and you guys have me. That's the difference."