Not What It Seems | Octavia Blake [2]

Chapter 15

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      Addison

  The five kids that coloured —four boys, one girl— and the two older girls that chatted were in the school, as well as the teacher and three other kids; they didn't look to be any older than eight.

  The school itself was simple; desks that formed four columns down the room in fives, and across the room in rows of four. In front of the desks was a chalkboard, the teacher's name and math problems written in white.

  Under the chalk board, Addison was next to Emilia on the cold concrete floor. Once she and Emilia had arrived two hours ago, she helped the teacher —Mrs. Wright, Addison later discovered— check the kids then herself for radiation burns; after, she checked Emilia. Fortunately for them, they were unscathed.

  Emilia heavily sighed, "I hate this part. The wait is always the hardest."

  Addison rocked her head back into the wall, bored out of her mind, and stretched her legs. If she were on the surface, she would either be sharpening her knife or throwing it into the dirt between her boots, or disassembling and reassembling her 9mm. Or all of the above, each time in a different order. "How long do we have to be in here?"

  "As long as it takes. Back there," Emilia pointed to a closed door in the back left corner, and another opened-door beside it, lights off, "there's a bathroom and enough food to feed 30 people for six months."

  "How does anyone know the breach's not in here? It could be anywhere in this damned mountain.."

  "Some rooms are sealed better than the entire bunker, including our quarters. You can't be too careful when the lives of your people are at risk."

  Addison hummed, and though a breach is nothing to her, the information still seeped into her memory. "Smart. But why not better seal the whole place? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of Mount Weather?"

  "I don't know why. Time, maybe." Emilia had offend wondered the same. "You didn't have to come; you're safe from the radiation," she said, wishful she was too. "Why did you? Is your heart becoming all warm and fuzzy?" she joked, a chuckle in her throat.

  Addison smiled, "My heart's been 'warm and fuzzy' since I met Octavia. She made me want to be a better person, at least try to be anyways; maybe deep down I still want to be." She met the mountain girl's blue eyes, "Before her, I was content with my angry, impulsive ways."

  "Octavia sounds like a good person to have around."

  Addison's smile widened, "She is."

  "I hope to meet her one day," Emilia said, surprising Addison.

  The brunette's forehead creased, "You do?" Emilia replied with a simple "yeah". "What happened to 'no one leaves, no one enters' spill from before?" At this point, Addison was joking. "Is there a way out you haven't told me about?"

  Emilia smirked, to stop the chuckle that threatened to escape between her lips and shrugged, "Things happen, people change." Addison narrowed her eyes in disbelief. "What?! You are literally living proof that hearts can change! And not in a bad way."

  Addison chuckled. "I guess I am." She turned, to better face her friend, and crossed her legs beneath her bum. "But why do you want to meet Octavia?" It came out more defensive than curious, and Emilia smiled smally.