Inevitable Flight - Daughter4254 Book 3

Chapter 4

It was a good thing we weren't expecting a warm welcome, because we didn't get one. Word had spread of my unsanctioned departure and that Thomas had followed me causing a chain reaction of mess. The loss of the bridge seemed to be a hot topic and the injuries as well, all of which they blamed on me. Murmurs and reports of the activities followed us as we passed deeper into the mountain. 

Thomas's mother, Maire, was the only one who smiled and embraced us when we made it into the main hall, but when she saw Thomas, all of her happiness for my return vanished. 

"What happened to him?" she asked as they lay him out on a dining table. She rushed to his side and immediately started examining him.

"The Leaders came through after us and bombed the Institute, then they shot up our camp. Thomas was near a blast when it hit. He's going to be ok, just a bit beat up. We need to get him to medic as soon as possible," the Captain said to her. Then to me, "And you need to report to the debriefing tonight. We'll decide what to do with both of you then." He pointed an accusing finger at me before he walked away.  

"That burn doesn't look alright." Maire was pulling at his singed clothes, wet from melted snow. "Land sakes alive. What were you thinking, Imani?" She turned to me, her face wrinkled with worry and frustration.

"I was trying to get my mother from Hamen. I didn't know he followed me. That wasn't part of the plan." I sounded weak and pathetic. I added, "I'm so sorry, Maire," but it didn't help at all. 

"I suppose this is your mother then?" She motioned to Mother while the rest of our party filed to their quarters and assignments. 

"Yes, ma'am," I said.

"Well, it's nice to meet you. Imani was pining for you awful bad and I'm glad you're out of that rat's nest. Not sure you're much better off down here in the pit with us if the Leader's have a mind to blowin' us up though."

The room was filled with relatives welcoming the search party, guards and lunch workers preparing for midday meal. A little girl wandered up and grabbed Maire around the leg as we spoke.

"I thought it was against their laws to kill people?" the girl asked.

My mother knelt down to her eye level and replied, "It is against their laws. We don't know why they did it, but we're going to find out and you will be safe."

The little girl ducked behind Maire's skirts and peeked at Mother. 

"Get back to your classworks then," Maire said, coaxing the child away from us. "Hey, there! You two lads, come help us get my boy down to medic, yah?"

"Can we come with you? Please?" I couldn't stand the thought of Thomas waking up and me not being there with him. 

"You've got wash up first and I suppose your mother here'll be needing some food. Take her to your old room and you can use our quarters to clean up and rest. I'll have them bring another bed down there for her," Maire said. Her tone was gruff, but I suspected she was trying to hide her concern for Thomas. We all were. 

I threw my arms around her and hugged her close. "Thank you so much, Maire. I was so afraid you'd hate me for all of this."

"Get off," she hugged me back quickly then pushed me aside. "I coulnd't hate ya anymore than I'd hate one of my own offspring doing something stupid as the day is long. Just don't do it again. Promise?"

"I promise," I said.

"And what do we call ya then?" Maire asked my mother. "Do you have a proper name yet? I hear my Thomas had to give your girl one."