Battle For Ceres

Chapter 21: Tom

596th sol - 4:30

Once I got into my room, I spun and grabbed the foam tube I keep at the foot of my bed. Seth barged in only a second later, the door hadn't even closed. I swung at his head but he's fast! He rolled under the swing and I smacked Matt! I didn't even know he was chasing me!! He looked shocked. Seth was still behind me after his impressive roll and he was laughing his head off. 

Matt just glared at me. "I came here to get Seth, you're after him...."  He sprinted past me faster than I knew he could run and tackled Seth onto my bed. He grabbed his arms and pulled them into the air. "Tom, I'll give you a head start if you tickle Seth while I hold his arms."It seemed like a reasonable offer and I saw an easy way to get him a little more so I did. 

"Tom!! Noooooo! You traitor!!!" I continued as Seth struggled more. Then the unthinkable happened............... Matt let go!

"Run." Was the last word he said before he and Seth both charged me!!! I sprinted out of that room and into the commons area. John and Rachel were both still there and I ran into the kitchen area. 

It was a bad choice... They cornered me behind the bar, one on each side and closed in. "Seth, buddy, c'mon! Don't be like this!!" I begged him. he grinned evilly and advanced.

"Hey Matt, you wanna grab his arms for me?" Seth asked. I shook my head vigorously.

"Deal." And that was my end. Next thing I know, My arms are up and I'm being attacked! It lasted for eternity and once it was over, I had somehow ended up on the ground....

"You guys suck!" I said as I was gasping for breath on the floor. 

I was still gasping for breath when Lily walked in. She looked pissed. "What's wrong with you people?! I said I was trying to sleep, you drove John and Rachel out of here, we were just contained to quarters by the commander, and we have half rations!!" 

"Geez crazy lady! We're having fun. I know the concept may be tough to grasp after the past like week or whatever but lighten up!" Seth shot back. 

"Lighten up? Lighten up! We just returned and reported the start of a war!!" She responded.

"Yeah, but we also returned." Seth responded, putting emphasis on "returned".

"Ugh, whatever. Just shut up." She said as she walked back to her room. 

596th sol - 18:00

*knock knock*

"Food's here!" I called. After Lily's rant, me and Seth went to play some games and Matt also went to bed. I don't get why everyone but me and Seth went to sleep. Hmmm, maybe it's just us. "Thank you." I told the person who brought the food. I must have been crazy but the rations didn't look like half. They were MRE's which we had been living off of on Pluto so I mean the food situation wasn't as bad as I thought. 

Seth was the first to walk in followed closely by Matt. Lily and Rachel were next. "Where's John?" Rachel asked. 

"I dunno, I yelled that there was food." I responded.

"I'll go get him." Rachel said and walked away. "And there better be food when we come back."  She said looking sternly at Seth, Matt, and me. 

Seth just stuck his tongue out at her and Matt mumbled "No promises..." She returned a few minutes later with John at her side. 

"Ahhhh, ladies and gentlemen, the great man himself, JOHN!!!!!! He's finally gotten out of bed!" Seth said as he entered. 

"Oh put a sock in it Seth." John responded. "What's for dinner?"

"You snooze you loose, sorry dude, food's gone!" Matt said.

"For your sake, that better be a joke." John said adding a withering glare. 

"Ok ok, here's your food, gosh, calm down!" Seth said in almost a panic. "And it was all Matt." He added as an after thought.

"So John, what's the plan?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Plan for what?" He asked. 

"Oh c'mon, we can keep a secret, what next?! You discovered a war!" Seth exclaimed. 

"Guys, there is no plan! We won the battle, we reported, we were lucky that we weren't court marshaled or worse, and now we wait!" He replied. "You said it Seth, we started a war. The way we're gonna win this war is if we follow orders, our orders are to stay here for now."

"I guess that makes sense." I told him. He just nodded and continued to eat. "But are you sure?" 

"Yes!" He exclaimed. We finished the meal and sat in the commons watching TV. 

599th sol - 12:00

Being stuck in the barracks was getting boring. It wasn't too bad at first but after so many days, we were all getting cabin fever. Just then my wristband blinked. I was honestly a bit surprised because we hadn't gotten any orders recently so they hadn't been going off. 

"Hey guys, did you just get the new order?" I called out to the others. A few were next to me in the commons and the others were in the kitchen. I got a number of different versions of yes. 

"Commander's quarters at 20:00 right?" Seth confirms.

"That's the one!" I told him. 

599th sol - 20:00

John went and knock on the Commander's door. "Enter" he replied. 

We walked in and all but Matt were shocked.

"Hey guys! Miss me?" It was a tall, dark haired girl. She had a mild tan and stormy gray eyes. John recovered first.

"Lexa, what are you doing here?" He asked her.

"Woah woah woah, hold up, WHO are you?" Matt asked. now a little confused since he noticed we all knew her. 

Rachel answered. "Remember the story I told John when we were rescuing him to prove it was us? Yeah, that's Lexa." She said and pointed. Then she turned to Lexa. "Lexa, meet your replacement!" She said cheerily. 

"LEXA!!!!!!" Lily yelled as she rushed forward to hug her. 

"Lily!!!!!! You haven't changed a bit!" She said as she hugged her back.

"Where have you been?!?! You never responded to any of my messages!" Lily said. 

"Well, I think I better let the Commander explain that." She said, turning the attention to the Commander. 

"Thank you Lexa, Dragons, we have some things to discuss." The Commander said.

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Hey Guys! What's it been? 3, 4 months? Well, ummm, hey! So how's it been? Sorry that this has been a shorter chapter but I hope you all enjoyed it! If you don't remember Lexa, go to chapter 14,that's where it was mentioned. Hope you liked it, comment with anything you want to say or send me a private message. Until next time, see ya guys!!!!