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( 56 一 MOONLIGHT. )
As Clara woke she felt as though she was being suffocated. Her head throbbed and her mouth was impossibly dry. Her entire body ached but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was the smell of lemon disinfectant and bleach.
She was in Thurmond. More specifically the Thurmond Infirmary. But she was alive. She wasn't sure how or why but she was alive.
Clara took laboured breaths, the plastic muzzle suffocating her. She tried to spot Ruby but the girl wasn't near her. Clara wasn't sure how she was alive but she knew it had something to do with Ruby and if she wasn't there anymore Clara wasn't sure how much longer she'd last.
She lay in the silent room for what felt like hours. She waited for something to happen. A PSF to walk in and shoot her. A camp controller to haul her off to another testing facility. Something.
In the end, it was a camp controller who came up to her, surrounded by other PSF's and doctors. Clara stared at his black uniform, terror permeating through her body. Her hands were cuffed to the bed, there was nothing she could do. She was entirely helpless.
"We always knew you would be back," the man said. The name tag on his uniform said O'Ryan. Clara felt her pulse quicken, her palms sweat. This was it. They were going to kill her.
"Get one of the Green uniforms and shoes out of the boxes. Her PID is three-two-eight-nine," O'Ryan snapped to one of the doctors.
Clara worked very hard to keep her expression controlled. She kept her gaze down, falling back in step with the rules of Thurmond.
"We will always find you. No matter how far you run, you will always be brought back," O'Ryan said, a malicious glint in his eyes as he stared at Clara. "I want the others to remember that."
A PSF stepped forward, unlocking the handcuffs and grabbing Clara by the collar, pushing her toward the doctor holding her uniform. She collected the uniform, turning towards the corner to undress and redress in the scratchy summer uniform. It was unnecessarily cruel to give her a summer uniform, especially considering it could snow for days on end at Thurmond.
She felt their gazes burning into her back as she stripped off her clothes. It was humiliating, but she supposed that was the point. As soon as she was dressed, the too large shoes on her feet, the PSF grabbed her again, pushing her forwards. She was directed to the end of the Infirmary where Ruby stood, a PSF behind her.
When Clara locked eyes with Ruby she subtly tilted her head to the side, silently asking if everything was sorted. That they weren't going to be shot the second they stepped outside the Infirmary doors. Ruby nodded slightly. It was almost unnoticeable but for people who had mastered the art of non-verbal communication, she could have been holding a sign. She'd handled it.
