Refracted

- - 15 - -

This wasn't right. We had already destroyed Earth with man-made weaponry and the results were catastrophic. Oh for the love of Terra, we had to colonise a new planet!

It didn't matter who possessed the NukeFusions, the real price would be Terra's to pay. There was no escape. There was no other planet. There was no second chances.

It seemed as though others shared my opinions too but we were too afraid to say it. We were too afraid because of Lucas' aggression. Because of the hidden things not said; the Resistance had just as many secrets as the government. Every entity, every leadership was corrupt.

But did I say this?

No. I stayed meek and silent, listening intently to Lucas' plan to destroy with the very things that we were supposed to oppose. Coward.

"Are we all clear then?" He asked nonchalantly.

Silence.

"Let's get moving then. The cargo is expected to arrive in the Plains just after midnight tonight. Everyone will be in place by half thirteen at the latest.

Sometimes I envied the people on Earth: their days were shorter, their lives were longer, their futures were brighter. I know, I know, that all soon changed when the cataclysm started. But for the majority of the homo sapiens' existence, life was good. The Terrarians had never known true happiness and by the looks of it, we were about to make the same mistakes regardless. A second cataclysm, who thought, and it was the organisation that pushed for peace and justice who were also the ones that shouted for rebellion and bombs.

I shook my head. That was a dark road to go down, Verity, and an extremely slippery slope.

Somehow it had happened again, everyone had gone and I was left alone in the briefing room. And again, Rachel was beside me. She still looked frail, yet her disappearance was still unexplained. I hadn't forgot the whole act she put on earlier either.

"I don't have the energy for this, Rachel, just leave me alone," I begged.

"Verity, please!"

I ignored her and stood up but she grabbed me by the arm. Her fingers looked gnarled and as if they had aged thirty years overnight. I looked at her eyes and they showed pain but a much deeper face was written all across her face as she winced when I prised her fingers away.

Don't fall for it, Verity.

I went to barge her out of the way of the bench so that I could reach the aisle and go somewhere alone. But upon contact, she nearly screamed as and even deeper pain crossed her face. Tears welled in her eyes and I could tell that something more than just me was wrong.

"Rachel?" I inquired, my voice softer now.

"I had to apologise to you, for what I did, but it can't ever happen again," she said. Her voice sounded strained and cracked.

What on Terra had happened?! Whatever it was, it had to have had something to do with her sudden disappearance.

Tentatively, I took a step towards her.

"Rachel..."

She stumbled backward but her top slipped off her shoulder in the process. My breathing was suddenly ragged.

All over her shoulder, stretching down to her elbow and round to her chest were deep purple and blue bruises. The worst of all? She had long, red welts and cuts everywhere too... like she had been whipped.

"Rachel, what happened?" I demanded.

Hastily, she covered up her shoulder and stared at me, ashamed.

"Verity, I'm sorry, please forgive me. I know you may not want to see me right now but I just need us to be okay for the sake of the Resistance. Allow me to make it clear though, we are not an item. We will never happen so you are better off moving on. You just aren't worth it to me."

I saw tears in her eyes and in my gut I still knew I was missing something. I resented her for keeping secrets from me.

Rachel stepped towards me and extended her hand. Her eyes begged me to shake it despite it being very odd. I shook her hand and seamlessly, Rachel transferred a small balled up piece of paper into my hand.

Then she walked past me and left the briefing room without another word.

My gut told me not to open the paper now so I tucked it up my sleeve whilst pretending to cry. I didn't know who was watching or why but the compound no longer felt safe to me. Moments later, I too left the briefing room and headed for the toilets. It made sense for me as there was privacy but there was also a motive as I could just pretend that I needed some tissue for my eyes.

I kept the act up, rubbing my eyes and sniffling until I reached the bathroom and locked myself inside a cubicle. As I retrieved the paper from my sleeve, I noticed it had a message scrawled in tiny handwriting on it:

'Compound unsafe. For explanation, room A42G. Three mins.'

Room A42G. Where was that? How was I supposed to find it without raising suspicion. If it was a secure location then I couldn't let anyone know I was going there.

Think, Verity, think...

The evacuation plan!

I rushed over to my room and nearly smashed into Lucas on the way.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's the rush?" He asked.

My whole perspective of him changed. His smile was a little too forced and his lips curled at the edges. His eyes no longer looked like my father's warm ones. They were threatening, like a snake.

"I ummm, I..."

His eyes narrowed at me, getting suspicious.

Great, exactly what I wanted to do.

"I don't feel well," I finished.

My heart was pounding and I was on the verge of hyperventilating.

"Oh, well the toilets are that way," Lucas said, indicating to the way I just came.

"Thanks," I said, feigning nausea as I rushed off back the way I came.

"Get well soon!" He called after me.

I stopped once Lucas was out of sight and leant against a wall panting. As he turned off the tunnel I needed, I rushed back to where I was and sprinted into my room as fast as the iris scanner would let me. Amir was right; it was a piece of junk.

Quickly, my eyes studied the evacuation plan looking for the correct room. Room A42G.... Room A42G...

Aha! It was by the cells where I was held on my first day. In my experience it was also nearly deserted so hopefully we would be away from prying eyes. I didn't have much time though and needed to get there fast before Rachel thought I wasn't coming. Rachel, my heart ached out of sympathy for her. She was just another victim of this dangerous game we were all involved in.

I flew out of my room again at warp speed and headed off in the direction of the cells. The walls grew dirtier and the floor grimier so I knew I was in the right place.

Room A42E...
Room A42F...
Ah, Room A42G!

I opened the door and was immediately pulled into darkness.

"Did anyone see you?" Rachel whispered.

"Lucas did but not anywhere near here and I put him off the trail."

Rachel sighed but continued.

"We haven't got much time."

"Rachel, what's going on?"

"It isn't safe, they're watching us. They didn't want me to have a relationship with you and after the kiss they did this to me. That's why I stopped it, I couldn't have them doing the same to you."

"Rachel, who's they-"

"Shhhh!"

I paused, further down the hall there were definite footsteps.

"I have to go," Rachel hissed, "trust no one."

Before I could stop her, she left and I was all alone.