Book 3: Flesh And Bone
"You said you had my back."
Cristine felt her scalp tingle, neck and facial muscles pulled tight. This conflicting feelings of helplessness and being cornered annoying her greatly. Everything Troy said made her angry and if i...
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As it had so many times over the past hour, Troy found his focused stare drifting towards Cristine. She moved around the infirmary, tending to several wounded members. The presence of the injured did nothing to dwindle his curiosity with her- none drew him as she did. Her usual ruthless and plotting side replaced by a caring and nurturing individual. Troy witness her more frequently like this. Such a stark difference in personality it sometimes left him at a loss for words. Before he could second-guess his intentions, Troy cruised towards Cristine and saw her twist halfway around, having probably seen him coming from her peripheral. He felt his shoulders tense in anticipation to talk to her and was a bit confused by it. But then again, it wasn't as odd anymore given the different mood and feelings involved. "What is it?" Her voice was as cool as her eyes. The hairs on Troy's arms raised, born of a visceral response he defined as simple curiosity. It wasn't so much about the adrenaline coursing through his vein from the recent bloodshed. This time, Troy genuinely wanted to see how Cristine was faring. What she said to him before he left... caring whether he lived, wanting to fix things and Cristine laying bare her feelings. Feelings that ran much deeper than a friendship and pressuring to come back alive. Troy didn't understand what that meant in retrospective, but it was very similar to him wanting to protect their friendship and it eased those unconscious burdens and his hope they would finally go back to normal again.
"Fine," Cristine answered before quickly looking at the beds, not that many were occupied and that in itself was reason enough to celebrate. It meant more able bodied to fight. "It gives us a bit of time to breathe before we end all of this." The two exited the infirmary and the air felt a lot fresher. As they walked, Cristine wondered what else Troy wanted.
Troy curled his fingers around his tactical vest and flexed them repeatedly. His eyes watched the way Cristine's returning frown betrayed her worry and he complimented, "James came up with a solid follow-up plan... I feel that it'll be our last battle before we can finally end this. It will be either us or them." Cristine looked in the distance at Jake and Alicia, he was visibly upset and Alicia seemed to be doing her best to comfort him. Troy followed her gaze and sighed, "Jake's always been that way. Hopeful. He can't help but believe in people... Believe in our humanity. He thinks we can still start a civilization in a civilized manner."
"His way of thinking almost got him killed. It got us in a lot of shit too. Jake can't just the good guy and expect to live like before. We're long past that." Looking away from the couple and stopping near the gates, Cristine crossed her arms under her chest and peered at the shimmering horizon. She hadn't talked to Jake in a while and it felt as if they were drifting apart as friends. When she first arrived Jake was the only one who made her feel welcome and cared. She didn't like this awkward distance between them and hoped they could at least converse after this ordeal. Jake's ideals and determination to hold onto the ways where there were laws and reason ruling over them was perhaps equally dangerous as Troy's irate hunger for chaos and violence.
