Her eyes fluttered open slowly, and she squinted, trying to comprehend where she was. At first, all she saw were blobs of white and blurry lights above her. Machines beeped and whirred around her, the noises creating a cold, sterile ambience. As she slowly came to her senses, she felt herself lying on some sort of bed, although not the most comfortable one, and her eyes soon fell on various tubes attached to her arm and body. She immediately snapped to attention, her heart racing, the heartbeat monitor seemingly getting louder and beeping more frequently. No no no, this couldn't be happening. Her stomach turned, her toes curled, and her hands clenched into fists, a wave of discomfort washing over her, soaking in to the bone, as thoughts of previous punishments shot through her mind. No, not another medical experiment. No, not again. Those hurt the worst, in the worst ways, in the worst places, and lasted longest. It had only happened to her once, but she swore that she would do anything to avoid having to go through it again. But this was something she couldn't prevent, something completely out of her control. The Insurgents could do whatever they wanted and she could do nothing to stop it. Would it kill her? If it would, why did they wait this long to do it? Though odd, it was certainly not off the table.
Almost immediately after she'd awakened, an unfamiliar man dressed in white with black horn rimmed glasses perched on an aquiline nose, appeared at her side. He looked older than both Kairo and her, though not by much, and he had neatly combed blond hair and dark hazel eyes.
"Hey, easy there," he spoke, trying to calm her down, his voice low with a gruff edge. She made a move to pull the IV from her arm, but he grabbed onto her hand firmly and set it back down on the bed. "Kairo told me not to tie you down, but I will if I see fit."
She looked at him wide-eyed, her legs slowly sliding up the bed as she felt the need to curl up into a ball and hide away. "What...what are you doing to me?" she asked, her voice unsteady. "What did I do wrong? Did I anger you somehow? Whatever I did...I didn't mean to...I'm sorry. Tell me what you want from me. I—"
His gaze softened slightly. "Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you. You've just been pretty sick so Kairo brought you to our infirmary ward. I've been looking after you for the past few days, and you seem to be slowly getting better."
She didn't react for a few long seconds, taking in his words. Memories from when she was last conscious began slowly seeping back in. She remembered the pain she was in, lying on the floor of her cell, trying to get some rest, but being unable to. She remembered different people coming in and out, talking about things she couldn't understand. She remembered being kicked roughly by some girl...what was her name...Caris, was it? She remembered Kairo coming in and picking her up as if she weighed nothing. Things got hazy from there, but they were beginning to make sense. "Help her," Kairo had said. That was the last thing she remembered.
She exhaled slowly, relaxing a little in her bed. "Thank you. But why...why are you doing this?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Me? I'm doing it because it's my job."
"Oh... I meant, why are you helping me?"
"I just said it's because it's my job."
She bit her lip, wondering for a moment if she should continue. "No, why are you taking care of me? I'm just...a prisoner."
"What, would you rather have been left there to die?"
Her eyes widened. "No, I didn't mean...no, I'm sorry. Never mind, I just...never mind, I'm sorry..."
He smirked, chuckling to himself, as she continued to stare at him wide eyed. "Just accept the help for what it is and don't question it."
She nodded quickly. "Of course."
He typed away at a computer next to her for the next few moments, the clacking sounds seeming loud in the quiet room. She fidgeted with the bedsheet, rubbing the material between her two fingers, not knowing what to do and fearing what would happen if she opened her mouth again.
He paused from his work, taking his glasses off and looking at her. "How are you feeling?"
She hesitated for a moment, so he spoke again.
"You're allowed to speak, you know. And please don't mumble."
"I know. I just do not want to say something wrong."
"What could you possibly say that's wrong?"
She subconsciously clenched the sheet tighter, trying to ignore his rough tone. "My apologies. I just thought—"
"Cut it with the apologies. I couldn't care less."
"I'm s—" she cut herself off. "Alright, I will."
"Good. Now, tell me how you're feeling."
"I feel better for the most part. The pain in my stomach has subsided, though it is still lingering, and my head does not ache as bad. I am still feeling rather weak though, and I do not have much energy."
He jotted some things down. "So, some improvements, but you're still in pain?"
"Yes, sir, though it is minute compared to what it was before."
He nodded, writing a few more notes down before standing up abruptly. "Well, you'll probably be here for at least two more days, so enjoy it while you can."
"Thank you, sir."
"You can call me Doc if you want."
She paused, tilting her head slightly in confusion. "That's your name?"
"No, but that's just what people call me."
"You have a name, but you don't use it?" she asked, surprising herself with her boldness. Her grip subconsciously tightened on the sheet again when his gaze fell on her. Would he be annoyed at all the questions?
"Well, yeah, because I don't like it. It's not illegal or anything to do that."
"I know," she returned, not catching his sarcasm. "What is it, if I may ask?"
He let out a puff of air. "Beauregard."
"Oh, that's nice."
He laughed, the deep sound starting in his chest and rolling out his mouth. "You're the first person I've ever met who's ever said that. Practically everyone thinks it's stupid, including me, so I just prefer to be called Doc."
"Alright then. At least you have a name."
He stared at her curiously for a moment, his hazel eyes fixed straight on hers. "I never thought of that as a privilege," he spoke slowly, "but I guess it must seem like that to you. Still don't call me Beauregard though."
"Of course."
He nodded. "Aight, I better get going. Just holler if you need something, but only if it's important. I'm not a maid, you hear?"
"I understand."
"Good. I'll let Kairo know you're up if he passes by," he said before turning and leaving her alone.
Once he was out of view, she had to take a moment to process everything that had just occurred in the past few minutes. Her mind was still a little foggy, having just woken up after being unconscious for a while, but she struggled to put all the pieces together. They were actually helping her? But why? Were they keeping her alive because she would be useful to them, and if so, how? She fiddled with her fingers uncomfortably. She didn't like the prospect of the unknown, much less in a situation such as this. Glancing about herself, she noticed that the room was not much more than a wide hallway with beds along one side and black counters along the other. It was by far the cleanest part of the base she had seen so far, as if every speck of dust was hunted down and eliminated meticulously. Looking to her right, she spied two other figures in beds somewhat close to her. The first was a skinny young boy with messy black hair and strikingly pale skin. He had a bandage wrapped around his right bicep and appeared to be in a deep sleep, his lips slightly parted and his chest rising and falling steadily. Farther off, the figure was facing away, but she assumed from the curvature of the hip and the long, chestnut brown hair splayed on the pillow that it was a female. Feeling an irritation in her throat, she heaved out a few loud coughs, leaning over slightly and covering her mouth with her hand. A groan coming from the girl on her right caused her to freeze in place, watching as the figure shifted in bed before sitting up slowly in an almost zombie like fashion. Her brown hair fell in messy wisps around her face as she looked around the room sleepily. Finally, her eyes focused on the girl frozen in place across the room.
"Hey, you, you're up?" she whisper-yelled across the room. She made a move to get out of bed and move toward her, but she immediately held up a hand.
"Miss, please don't come closer. I'm sick."
Taking in her words, other girl stopped, her pale legs hanging off the edge of her bed. She was dressed in a plain black tank top with short grey shorts and appeared to have strange dark marks all over her left arm, leg, and the area of her chest that was visible, but it was unclear as to what it was.
"Ohh, you're that Blank girl," she realized, her eyebrows raising in surprise.
"Yes, miss," she replied slowly, still getting used to the strange nickname the Insurgents seemed to have for her.
"Oh, you can just call me Yves if that's easier," she introduced with a giggle, slightly scrunching her little button nose.
"I'm..." her voice trailing off as she suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.
Understanding right away, Yves was quick to interject. "It's okay, we can just make up a name for you."
"Oh...you don't have to miss...Yves. I don't need one."
"Hm," Yves wondered, her eyes glancing around them as if she were trying to find ideas floating in the air. "How about Jenna? Vin? Alia?"
"It's alright, you don't have to—"
"No, that's not right," Yves continued, tittering on without noticing the other girl's words. "Hm, you have nice brown eyes. Which reminds me of...coffee...caffeine... Ah, Feina! How about that for a name?"
"I...if that's what you want."
Yves exhaled loudly. "You gotta speak up, Feina. I'm coming over there."
"No, wait—"
"It's alright," she assured, pulling up an office chair and stopping it at the foot of the sleeping boy's bed. "I'll still keep my distance."
Now that she was closer, she could see that the dark spots tattooing Yves's skin were nasty burn scars, some areas still with bandage patches on them. The burns were primarily on her left side with a few visible stray marks across her chest, but she could guess that there were more that were hidden from view. Noticing the other girl staring, Yves untucked her hair from behind her ear, allowing the brown strands to cover the side of her neck.
"Explosion accident," she explained simply, shrugging as if it was as insignificant as a paper cut. "It's not too bad."
"Not too bad?"
She chuckled slightly, seeing the other girl's concerned expression. "Really, it's fine. See, my face wasn't even hit too bad."
"Oh...uh...alright...may I ask what happened?"
Yves cast her a sideways glance before replying. "My squad got into a little skirmish with some Sentinels. I rigged an explosion in their van to cause a diversion, but the blast went off earlier than I anticipated and I guess I got caught."
"What we're you doing there?"
"Just scavenging."
"And they attacked you?"
Yves shrugged. "The initial contact occurred with the other half of my team—with Kairo, you know him—but I assume so. They're obviously hostile towards us."
She was silent for a moment, not knowing what to say. This was her first time hearing about a Sentinel-Insurgent encounter from the side of one of the rebels, and she was not sure what to think of it. She knew the Sentinels were told to capture or kill (depending on the circumstances) any rebels they encountered, and they usually did. But these Insurgents escaped. Had they somehow managed to kill them all?
"Are...they all dead?"
"Oh, gosh, no. Actually none of them are as far as I know. Maybe they sustained some injuries like me, but they have better equipment, so I'm sure they'll be fine, if that's what you're worried about."
"And are you and your team all alright?"
Yves looked at her strangely for a second. "Yes, for the most part." She motioned to the sleeping boy. "Slade and I got a little banged up, but we'll live. The rest are fine, though Kairo is in a little hot water with the boss."
"Oh...at least you are alright for the most part."
Yves looked at her curiously. "Huh..."
"What is it?"
"You're concerned about us?"
"Should I not be? It's just basic respect, or am I wrong?"
"Even if I'm an Insurgent?"
She hesitated. "Regardless of that."
Yves hummed. "So where do you stand?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're obviously not with us, but you're not entirely against us either. At least from what I can tell."
"I...why does it matter? Must I choose a side to decide who's life has value?"
Yves paused. "I thought all of you believed we were worthless tarnishes on society and that it would be better for everyone if we were all exterminated."
She looked appalled. "I...I guess I don't believe that..." she spoke slowly, shocking herself with her own words.
Yves's gaze softened. "Huh..." she murmured again, tilting her head curiously.
The sound of the door opening turned both their attention to Kairo entering. The boy's blue eyes settled on the two girls sitting together and an amused smirk formed on his face.
"I see you two are...bonding."
"Yup. And now I know more about her than you ever have."
Kairo scoffed. "Sure, Yves."
"And, get this," Yves announced, crossing her legs and raising her chin. "I was kind enough to give her an actual name."
"Do tell."
"Feina."
"Mmkay...do I even wanna know how that happened?"
"Because her eyes remind me of coffee and caffeine. Therefore, Feina."
Kairo snorted. "We're not calling her that." He glanced over at her. "Do you even want to be called that, or are you just going along with her stupidity?"
"Excuse me, stupidity?"
She bit the inside of her lip. "If she likes it, then I have no issue."
"Stop lying."
"She isn't lying! It's a great name!"
"It doesn't matter," she insisted.
"You know you won't get in trouble for stating an opinion."
"Uhh, might wanna think about that statement again, mister."
"Right. Well, I won't get mad at you for stating an opinion."
She glanced back and forth between the two of them, her hand subconsciously clutching the bedsheet again. "I...I'd prefer not to be named after a psychoactive drug."
"You see, she doesn't wanna be called a psycho drug."
"Hey, that's not what she said!"
"Whatever. But she still hates it."
"I don't think 'hate' is the correct term," she interjected softly.
"See? You're overreacting."
Kairo exhaled loudly. "Mmkay, sure. You can call her Feina if you like, but I ain't doing it."
"What, you're just gonna settle on calling her 'hey you' all the time?"
"It's worked so far," he mumbled quietly.
"I think she deserves a name."
"Yves..."
"What, you don't think so?"
"Yves, listen—"
"Come on, Kairo—"
He sighed loudly and threw a glance over at the quiet girl on the bed as she was currently staring wide eyed at the two of them arguing. "Give us a minute outside. I need to have a talk with her."