With his troops beside him, he surveyed the vast sea of survivors huddled around the eighth site where the crashed vessels and escape pods lay. His piercing steel-blue gaze scanned the masses, numbering in the hundreds, if not thousands. It appeared that their programmed destination had been this desolate location, situated midway between the two ice poles, in the midst of nowhere.
It was low temperatures compared to where they had come from of sun and warmth, while on the brink of the horizon before them was a storm rolling in that would reach them if not in a few hours.
"Any idea why it was programmed for this destination?" Matthew leaned into Jesse, that was tapping away at the tablet.
The messy bun-haired woman shook her head, "considering we have thirteen ships and twenty-five pods here, and you think that answer would be definite? Anyway, Rolando is working on it. He's been here for an hour. Tracking only picked up one pod; it's why it was last on the list."
"Keller from the Primitus Base said that sites nine and ten are huddled here. Expanding our numbers," Richie radioed in on their comms, listening to conversation as he searched along the vast number of survivors.
He was followed by an elite of eight searchings and questioning the princess's whereabouts.
"You know, there is a really good chance she could be here." Eko's chirpy voice popped into his senses. Jesse turned briefly with the smiling brunette as more soldiers around them had been disembarking from the ship.
"Saying that it would totally be a positive end to today if we do, and all."
"We're not that lucky." Jesse shook her head, always the one for a cynical approach in what they do, "anyway, I'm going to meet up with Rolando."
Matthew nodded, "I'll take this one and speak to whoever we can; see if she recognises anyone."
"She is here." Eko folded her arms.
Jesse raised an eyebrow at her before she turned her attention to Matthew, "if you can tolerate his behaviour, then by all means."
"You know, that's really offensive. I am a delight."
"You're not," green eyes turned to Eko, "he's really not. He's a pain in my ass."
"Go," he pointed towards one of the ships, "you're hungry and in a bad mood."
Jesse flipped him the bird before sweeping her head and taking off towards where Rolando would be. It left the soldiers passing by them as Eko looked to Matthew, smiling at the red-haired that was now in the distance before them.
"Anyway," Eko offered, "since the sites are here, are we heading back to base tonight? Figure out from here where our next steps are with Ezra?"
"Eventually, we have two more days. We'll likely send the crew to collect the survivors for processing and continue to a few of the bases that had reported an influx of survivors."
"Then why are you frowning?" she scrunched her nose at his facial expression. The dark blonde turned his head nodding.
"The militia back home, we're going to see them rebel, either way, Eko. It'll be out of fear, so while we have to worry about the survivors and how we deal and handle them, I need my soldiers focusing on the outbreak from the civilians that are going to try something fucken dumb."
"You really think that? Even if we find Seraphina?"
"You don't think that?" He scoffed, and this time he started walking.
Eko, on his heel, both bodies in unison as they made their way through the maze of the field of bodies before them.
"Think about it," he offered his thought process, "the people of Isadora will want to take justice into their own hands. You can't say they won't be keen to fight against something that hurts them, and I'm sure the academies would follow. We don't stand for this.
"So, the only way forward for some people inevitably might be war. We'll give Ezra exactly what she wants, and it will become out of my control."
"More people will die," she deadpanned his thought process.
"More people will suffer the longer she has power. Pick your demons, Eko."
Her gaze, with its striking sky blue hue, met his as she voiced her surprise. "You know," she said, her tone laced with a hint of disbelief, "this isn't what I expected you to agree to. Waging a war to end all wars with Ezra seems to go against your persona as an advocate for peace... or something."
"Peace," he ridiculed the term, "we might fight for peace, instil peace. But peace is a pipedream in our world. We're going to war one day, and then it'll be over. We will win. And then we can fix this. We can move on from this; that will be the only peace we know."
"What does moving on look like, though? Do we even know what we're looking for?"
"Peace would look like, I suppose, finding the princess, making her queen. Unite the lands back to what they should have been from the start. Hopefully, we will get Seraphina to rule with a firmer hand and a stricter rule. Then in this new world, we would build again."
"You've thought about this a lot, haven't you? For someone that snickered at the term peace."
Matthew raised his eyebrow, "tell me you haven't, and I will call you a liar."
"I have thought about it. We all want to wipe Ezra out, but I know her defences are formidable. On the other side of the coin, you spoke of not being savages, though?"
"You wanted to wipe out the entire eastern district, Eko. That's savage. I just want to do it with one person. That's the difference; that's not savage. That's saving lives," He smirked as though his explanation solved everything, he spoke like he could predict the future, and it was everything that Eko agreed with.
"Well, we could go with your idea. It holds the potential to obliterate the single enemy. It's all about the ones that lead us, isn't it?"
"What kind of guard exactly are you, hmm?" He laughed, "that mind ticks over like my own."
"Smart minds," she gestured between them. "What can I say? There's only so many brilliant ones like us."
"So, there she is, that cocky girl I knew was in there." Matthew's eyes kept tracking the world around him, never letting his guard down for one moment, but his tone and flirtatious nature spoke a thousand different words to Eko.
"She seems to be just bursting out these last two days around you."
"I bring that out in people. What can I say?" he shrugged with that coy nature.
Eko laughed before she slapped his arm, "you are dangerous."
"Good or bad dangerous?" he grinned, testing the waters.
"I'm still deciding that."
Matthew didn't have time to respond, as they were disarmed when a shrieking scream of happiness radiated through the air around them.
The woman was just a bit older than Eko, dark raven hair hurtled towards her, certain striking, sharp features, and with one exception, she held blood down her royal attire.
He quickly assessed that it was not her blood, thankfully, nor was she harmed in any manner of speaking.
The screaming figure had been like the brunette before him, petite and slender; she had been smaller than the athletic body shape of Eko.
"Madison!" Eko screamed hysterically as though her world had come back into view.
Without thought, she bolted forward, colliding together only moments later. There was such an intense squeal and laughter, and then rapid talking of both women that Matthew couldn't pick up on the conversation of the high-toned pitch between them.
Toni appeared next to him upon investigating the shrieking sound elicited by the women.
"Should we ask?"
"I don't know." Matthew observed, studying them, "could it be another servant from the palace?"
Moments passed when they broke apart, and the woman Eko had called out to be Madison had been staring back at Matthew and Toni, watching them momentarily before two hands cupped Eko's cheek, tears brimming with the knowledge that her cousin was indeed alive, safe, and well.
"You could have been killed."
"We all could have been."
Madison brushed back some of Eko's hair as they laughed together, and she wiped away her tears at the joy that they both made it out of this alive.
"Into the ladies?" Toni nudged his best friend with the overly friendly scene before them, "looks like you've struck out, mate."
ANDDD she's BACCCKKKKKKKK.......... Vote for your girl Madison and the chaos she brings!