August 2013
Following the plan was a piece of cake. Leaving Clarice behind was harder.
"You'll be fine," she whispered as I stepped into the elevator. I faced her just as the doors started to close.
"So will you," I said with conviction.
She smiled like she believed me. I should have known she was lying.
The bus driver was a man named Davis. He was single and a civilian. He was also kind of an ass. I'd been working with him for years, but unlike me, he had a home outside of the compound. He had a place in the real world. He had no secrets to keep. Davis was 48-years old when I snapped his neck. He'd lived long enough. I tried not to feel guilty as I dumped his body in some brush on the side of the interstate. I had more important things to worry about.
I didn't even bother going to the airport to warn off the new recruits. Instead, I cut across the interstate to stock up on fuel. It was nothing short of miraculous that my government credit card actually registered in the system. I spent hours at that gas station, biding my time until the clock struck noon.
Back on base, it took a bit of cleverness to get that Airman to move the trucks where I needed them. However, my unfamiliar uniform and promise of rank were eventually enough to get his ass moving.
The guilt was hard to avoid later when I dragged his dead body between two hangars. Killing shouldn't be so easy, but I wouldn't let Clare spend another sunrise in Pluto. I had promises to keep. Besides, someone had to pay for turning us all into monsters.
My sweet Clare had already taken down a dozen men, when I stepped off of the elevator. I was just in time to see the bullet penetrate her skull, right between the eyes, as she spun to call out to me. My world ran red between one second and the next, before her body hit the floor. I didn't even get the chance to say farewell to her warm corpse – not with Hazel's voice searing through my head, through all our heads, egging us on no matter what. In one moment, she focused on me, begging me to keep going, to help.
You are my family now, she screamed into my head. You must live!
Fury and pain really do feel the same, I quickly understood. So I tore everything apart that got in my way and never, ever stopped. I'd stick to the plan and die later. Clare's death would not be in vain. I'd live long enough to save her loved ones and hoped that it would be enough to appease her spirit, for mine would never rest again.