Gemini

Chapter 12* The Resistance

Chapter 12*The Resistance

I wake up in a cave.

Brackets hang, studded to the walls, filled with flaming torches. These cast a dim glow over the whole room of a flickering quality. Wiggling my fingers experimentally, I find that they are as good as new.

Cautiously, I sit up. I fully expect some part of me to give, to crack under the pressure, but nothing happens. Not even the slightest sore.

There are people around me. The blonde guy from earlier, his blue eyes full of worry and concern. The surly one next to him, his grumpy face arranged in a scowl like he’d rather be anywhere but here. And a man with close cropped brown hair, who had creases in his face and laugh lines at the corner of his eyes. He looks so fatherly that it brings a lump to my throat.

“Where am I?” My voice comes out as a hoarse croak.

The fatherly one studies me. “The resistance,” he finally says.

“Why am I not… injured?”

“Apollo healed you.”

Apollo’s name ignites something in me. My eyes widen and I start babbling. “Where’s Sam? Is he okay? Did Apollo heal him too? Is there-”

“Woah, woah, slow down, girl,” says the blonde haired guy. “Sam’s totally fine. Apollo healed him too.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Who are you?”

“Jeremy,” he replies amiably. “And that’s Ferrell,” he pointed to the surly guy, “and that’s Charles, leader of the resistance. “ He pointed to the fatherly guy.

I study all of them. Finally, I deem that they are alright. The shock of seeing so many humans still hasn’t faded. Of course, I would hardly consider three a group, but circumstances are different.

“Kayla?”

A voice sounds in the doorway and all heads whip there. Sam is standing there, backlit by one of the flaming torches in the corridor outside. He is clean, dressed in fresh clothes, and his face breaks into a smile when he sees me.

“Hey,” he says softly, coming over to stand by the bedside. “How are you feeling?”

“Good,” I breathe, and he draws me into a tight hug.

“We made it,” he whispers in my ear. “We really made it.” I am so choked up with emotion that I can only nod in reply.

When he finally releases me, a woman- a doctor, presumably- comes forward and checks my eyes, my heartbeat, and finally gives me the all clear to leave. I jump out of bed. Someone has already dressed me in fresh clothes, and besides from a few crinkles, they’re good to go.

“Where are we going?” I ask Jeremy.

“To eat,” he says with a grin. “I’m starving.”

“Where’d you get the food from?” I ask with a frown.

His grin gets wider. “We hunt.”

Turns out the people of the resistance had made good use of the natural tunnels and caves in the mountain. The breakfast rooms are actually large caves filled with long rows of tables and benches, and a crowd of about thirty or forty people, men and women alike, are seated eating from crudely made bowls. Chatter is loud, the atmosphere vibrant. Definitely not what I expect from the last survivors of the human race.

“We have to be happy,” Jeremy says in my ear. “Got to keep morale high. Or we’re all going to crumble and eventually die.”

Sam and I take a seat with a few people at one of the corner tables. Everyone is giving us smiles and waves, and they welcome us exuberantly. No whispers, nothing. Just pure, warm acceptance.