Hey guys! I don't really have much to tell you today other than to (of course) enjoy!! (Idk why this photo of Grayson is one of my favorites, tbh all of them are my favorite)
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Ray's POV
"Why am I not surprised to find you here?" I turn around, seeing Grayson shutting the door behind him and walking forward.
I internally give a groan. How many more times do I have to encounter this guy? I turn back around, not wanting to see or talk to him.
My breath fogs up the glass wall, blocking my view of the frozen landscape. I guess this place has become my go to for when I'm stressed out. Although stressed out is an understatement.
Grayson stands beside me, thankfully keeping a fair amount of distance. He too stares outside, with the always present frown. Maybe I should go. I don't like being so near him. I let out a shaky breath, remembering that one hideous morning. I'm so fed up with even hearing his voice, how am I going to manage staying here? And don't get me started on the fact that he wants to ta-
"We need to talk. About..some things." Great. Amazing. How fucking wonderful.
I turn, keeping my eyes trained on my shoes. He turns as well, leaning against the cold glass.
The moon from outside is the only source of light, casting a dim glow inside of the room.
"We have nothing to talk about." I keep my voice barely audible, and I slowly try to inch away from him and to the door. Unfortunately, he blocks my way by standing up and getting in my path.
"Yes we do. And I'm not asking to talk. I'm demanding." His voice grows even more stern than it is, and I try, I try not to snap.
Woops. I snapped.
"And I'm demanding that there is nothing to talk about. Because there isn't. I'm not sure about what you didn't get from when I told you to never come near me or talk to me. I don't want to talk about anything with you. I'm just simply training, right? Just like everyone else. But I don't see you having to "talk" with everyone else. So why me?" I wave my hands around, giving him an exasperated look.
I can tell that he's also trying not to get angry, the way he's crossing his arms over his chest and gritting his teeth. He huffs, giving me a hard glare.
"I didn't get to apologize to you for my actions." He says lowly, almost ashamed? Good. He should be. Little shit.
"Why don't I make it easier for you? Apology not accepted." I mirror him, crossing my own arms.
He tilts his head back, gazing at the ceiling before sighing and looking back down at me. I raise my eyebrows in a questioning way.
"Thank you. By the way. For taking in Rose." He says after moments of silence pass.
I give a minute shrug, and stare at the doors. Oh how I wish I could just run away right now. I could, actually. But he'll probably come after me.
"Won't you say anything? At all? Even if you're mad at me?" He says, lifting a brow. I scoff, and then give him a big fake smile.
"You're welcome! It's a pleasure serving you!" I widen my eyes sarcastically.
This time it's his turn to scoff and shake his head. He gives me a disapproving look, almost as if I was a child in trouble.
"You're so difficult, Ray." He stares at me, tilting his head.
I ignore the uneasy feeling of his eyes on me, and roll my eyes instead.
"I heard you were going to lead a group back when you were with Trent." He changes the subject and I look away. I was going to. Was. Now I'm not so sure.
When I didn't reply, he continued to talk.
"I don't think you'll be doing anything like that here. But maybe you could help out. I don't know. I was told that you wanted to be a leader so I thought maybe you could be some sort of..assistant."
Although what he said was a bit thoughtful, I wasn't going to take any roles of "assistant." If a soldier is all I'm going to be, then so be it.
"Thanks, but no thanks." I say. Anything else this guy wants to say?
"You may leave." He says, turning away from me and staring through the glass wall again. He doesn't say anything else, so I head for the doors. Thank God.
I race through the doors, slamming them shut behind me as I give a sigh of relief. If that wasn't awkward, I don't know what is. I keep my eyes on the ground, walking towards my pod when I bump into someone.
"Oh, I'm sorry." I say, looking up to see Andrea. She gives me a slight glare, crouching down to pick up fallen papers. Damn. I said I was sorry. But if she wants to be like that, then she can help pick up her shit herself.
"Ray." She gives a curt nod before walking away. I glance back at her, and then turn around. But on the ground, I find a paper that she must have forgotten.
I pick it up, squinting my eyes at the messy handwriting. Reading the paper, my eyes widen, and I suck in a breath before looking around. No one is near here, so I hastily stuff the paper into my pocket. I make my way to my pod quickly, occasionally checking behind me. The doors open, and I rush inside to find Rose and Viper on the floor, panting.
"What happened?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows. Viper laughs, getting up with Rose.
"I was teaching her how to fight. She's not so good at it." Viper says, and Rose gives a small "Hey!"
I roll my eyes, giving a smile.
"She's six. What do you expect?" I say, taking the paper out of my pocket.
She zeroes in on the paper, looking back at me with a questioning look.
"Bumped into Andrea on the way back. I guess she forgot to pick this one up, but when I read it, I decided to keep it." I say, sitting down and unfolding the paper. Viper sits to my right, and Rose on my left.
"What does it say?" Rose asks, peering at the words.
I clear my throat, holding the paper close to my face to be able to decipher the sloppy handwriting.
"Xeng, your offer of money was very generous, but I think you know what we need. If you want our soldiers, you're going to have to give us the supplies. And supplies are what you have, considering you've been taking so much. No supplies and we won't help you fight enemy countries. Andrea and Trent."
Just as I finished, silence filled the room.
"Trent is a little shit." Viper finally says, and I gasp, smacking her arm.
"There is a child in the room!" I glare at her, indicating Rose.
Rose giggles, covering her mouth with her hand. I shake my head, turning back to the paper. Andrea and Trent? Basically the two most suspicious people I know right now. And Xeng..the leader of China? What does he have to do with us? Could Andrea possibly be trading us for supplies? God, I shouldn't have picked this paper up.
Wait a second.
"You guys, I think I have something else.." I murmur, and they give me confused looks. I stand up, rummaging through my stuff until I produce the note.
Sitting back down, I open the note. They lean closer, peering over my shoulders. The person who wrote this was Calhoun. But who's that?
"Well, I think we all know who the A is. Andrea, of course." Viper states, and we nod.
"What about this Calhoun guy?" I ask, and Rose sits up, her eyes widening.
"Grandma!" She exclaims. Me and Viper exchange a glance and then look at her.
"What do you mean by grandma?" I say, looking back at the note.
"My dad's mom. Grandma. That's her last name. He uses it instead of writing his own name." Well shit. It's Trent.
"Okay..so this is Trent and he's asking Andrea for supplies. Is he referring to us when he says army?" Viper suggests, and I give a shrug.
Maybe we're the army, all those one hundred people chosen to come to The Compound. But, who is Jack? Is he supposed to give the supplies Trent wants?
"I think that's enough playing Detective today. It's getting late. God, I'm starving. When's the last time I've eaten?" Rose stifles a yawn, already climbing into my bed. I guess I'll have to share with her.
Viper stretches, and then stands.
"I can come with you, maybe we can get some food." Viper offers, and I nod.
I turn around, about to say something to Rose but I see her knocked out and asleep. I guess it'll just be me and Viper.
"Stay quiet. We can just grab something and eat it on the way back." I say, and she nods. We head out and into the hallway, making our way to the dining room.
"So where were you earlier? You were gone maybe an hour or so." Viper asks. I momentarily close my eyes, remembering Grayson and the talk we had. His hair was up and ruffled, and he seemed so tired. Of course, he looked good. Well..I'll admit he looked handsome. He had some scruff and wore the usual black attire. Why am I even talking about this?
"I just went somewhere to get my mind off things." I say, and she nods.
"...so what's up with you and Grayson? You know, have you talked to him yet?" She asks. I make a face and shake my head. It'd be better not to have more people included in the little problems I have with him.
"What about you and Ethan?" I ask, and a fierce blush starts to make its way on her face. Hah, caught.
She shrugs, smiling to herself.
"I mean..we've hung out and stuff. He makes me laugh. Not many people can make me laugh as hard as he can. He's a good guy." She says, and looks at my face.
"I mean, so far. He's a good guy so far. I've only known him for what? Two weeks? I wouldn't really know." She rushes, and I double over in silent laughter, covering my mouth.
"Shut up. We're here." She grumbles but smiles at me.
We enter the dining room, walking to the far side and slipping into what I think would be the kitchen. The room was humid, metal pots, stoves, and ovens all around. Silently walking, we make our way over to a humongous fridge. After using both of our strength the pull the door open, we step back.
"Well shit. That's a lot of food." Viper comments, and I gaze at the contents.
"Um, let's just take these sandwiches. Doesn't matter if it's cold." I say, and she agrees. I take two, and use all of my weight to close the door.
"Watch out for the-shit." Viper slumps as the door quickly slams shut, emitting a loud bang.
"Sorry!" I flash a guilty smile, and we quickly hurry back into the dining room.
But I guess the universe hates us both, because we run right into none other than the mighty leaders, Grayson and Ethan Dolan.