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As I hopped into the shower, I was paranoid.
Knowing that Hudson's figure could pop up anytime in my head was very unsettling, especially in moments like these that were supposed to be peaceful.
I began by scrubbing all of the sweat from earlier with a citrus body wash. The aroma of lemons always seemed to calm my anxiety for some reason. Alcohol could never relieved my stress, as I preferred smelling naturalistic scents over booze.
Priscilla had offered me a bed in her room tonight after the minor anxiety attack on the training platform. I graciously accepted, knowing that I would be safe with somebody else.
Loneliness was biggest enemy right now. I had discovered Hudson's biggest weakness when it came to his brain games—he didn't want anyone else around. He wanted to be confined in a room with me, and only me. My goal for the next few days... or even forever, was to always be with someone even if it meant sharing rooms with Priscilla.
I could only pray that my theory worked.
I scrubbed the shampoo through my hair, rinsing it out as the warm water cascaded off my body. But in my moment of peace, a shrill alarm pierced the air, making me jump. It wasn't the sound of a fire alarm. This alarm was different, like there was an emergency outside the base.
Quickly, I wrap a towel around my body and run to the dressing rooms nearby to get dressed and to see what all of the commotion was around me. I noticed other female soldiers were also scrambling out of the showers, putting on their uniforms and throwing their wet hair into buns.
I look over to another girl next to me who looked about my age, who seemed to be the most chill out of everyone scrambling around.
"Do you know what's happening?" I question to her, and glancing over to me she smiles. Tying my hair in a ponytail, I wondered how she was so neutral. She was like a Floridian in a hurricane—absolutely unfazed by the restlessness around her.
"Yeah. That alarm means either another battle is coming, or there's been Plague activity that we need to know about." She shrugs. "It's pretty boring if you ask me."
I raise an eyebrow. "Boring? What about fighting an enemy could be boring?"
From what I've learned, fighting bad guys was a blast. I got high off of the adrenaline that came with overcoming your fears, and conquering your enemies.
The stranger sighs. "Girl, if only you knew how much I hate my job. Don't get me wrong, fighting for what you believe in is great. But not when the leaders are completely sexist and give the girls positions like cooking and cleaning the leftover scum on ships," she mutters, playing with her fingers.
"Well, what's your name? I'm sure I could give Wes a piece of my mind for you," I say to her reassuringly. For each moment I had spent in this base, my respect for Wes was lowering quicker by the minute.
She smiles. "My name is Elaine. I once was one of the top female fighters in the Rebels. I beat even some of the burliest men that have set foot in this base, yet never once have I been on the battlefield. I got assigned to ship fueling instead. When I joined four years ago, I wanted to be a combat soldier. I had worked my ass off for it after my parents abandoned me when I was younger. They left me for the sole reason of serving under King Red and the Plague, and abandoned any idea of love that they had for me." Her voice trails off at the end, leaving nothing but the sound of blaring alarms echoing behind us.
I put my hand on top of hers reassuringly. "I'm going to make this right for you Elaine, no matter how long it takes. Although it might take me a while to learn how to navigate this place..." I chuckle sheepishly and smile.
"Say, aren't you that new mutant that that was fighting in the training room earlier?" Elaine asks and I nod. "Holy shit, you were badass! The way you jumped in the air like that... I've never seen anything like it before!"
I pause. "Wait... you guys don't hate hero mutants?" I ask astonished. "Wes sure didn't seem to be in favor of me when I first arrived."
"Of course we don't hate mutants!" Elaine says like it was the most ridiculous think she had ever heard. "We don't judge people based on their genes, for crying out loud. It's the heart that matters." she points to my chest. "Good mutants, I will fight for. Bad ones like Commander G-R72... never in my life."
There was his name again. And to think I had temporarily ridded him of my mind was baffling.
I could already tell Elaine was going to be a good friend of mine. She radiates good vibes—exactly what I looked for in a friend.
I snap out of my trance when the sound of a new alarm begins to sound. It was deeper, and much scarier than before. And suddenly all lights but one click off in the changing rooms, making the ominous shadows in the room twice their normal size. Did we enter a horror movie all of a sudden? I couldn't shake the fact that I had a pair of eyes on me at the moment, either. It was like a monster was about to jump out from one of the curtains...
"Shit, this can't be good," Elaine mutters to herself, making me curious as to what the alarms meant. "The lower alarms mean some of our soldiers were just murdered by Plague guards..."
"Then we need to go help, come on!" I exclaim dragging her hand along, but she stops.
"Mara, you don't understand," she pulls me back softly. "The first, higher-pitched alarms that rang earlier meant that the guards were in danger. The lower alarms mean that our base location has most likely been compromised. The power shut off because they don't want the Plague to see the power usage going underground to our base. It's a code red," she whispers.
The scary alarms suddenly shut off.
"We need to find Wes," I say to Elaine as she looks to me with wide eyes. "He would tell us what's really happening up there."
She sighs. "Fine. But I'm only a gas filler, I don't have permission to enter the leader headquarters!" She exclaims.
"You'll have me as your permission, now let's go."
She nods one last time before taking my hand and running, leading me to the command center where Wes and Lana would hopefully be.
________
"What are you doing here with her?" Wes questions as we both enter the command room out of breath. "Mara, I hope you understand that this room is strictly off limits to higher positions only."
The command room was much smaller than I had expected. Massive televisions surrounded each of the walls, some with surveillance cameras, some with data analytics and few with scrambled messages.
I raise an eyebrow at him. Why on Earth would he refer to someone so important to the Rebel base as just her?
"We want to know what's going on," I say firmly holding my ground. "I think we deserve to have at least a little knowledge as to why our base is being shut down."
"Mara, we—"
"Don't Mara me! Do you know how sick I am of hearing my name?" I snap, thinking back to all of the times Hudson has said my name in the past few days. All of the generals' eyes were on me now, yet I wouldn't be intimidated. "Tell us what's happening, because surely the soldiers out there would like to know what happened to their fellow comrades."
Wes rubs his forehead, clearly agitated with Elaine and I coming in. "Three of our own were patrolling the city undercover for any suspicious activity. Their cover was blown when a group of Plague guards approached them asked them for identification. Their identities matched their disguises, but the Plague saw right through them. The guards beat our own to the point where their disguise machines broke. They were captured, but that wasn't even the worst part. The technology that they had on them could possibly reveal our location in the bunker. As soon as we heard the news, we were trying to disconnect our radios between them as quickly as possible. Now only time will tell if the Plague was able to track us down."
"What are we doing about it?" I question, and suddenly a thought comes to my mind.
Where was Priscilla?
That question seemed to be the only thing on my mind as Wes began explaining something about high security watch. As I search for any connection between her and I, all I found was nothing. Had she gone missing, or even worse could she be hurt?
Audible whispers could be heard around me as my eyes look everywhere but Wes. Suddenly, my feet carried me out of that room so fast I could've been the flash. Elaine calls my name, but that was the last thing on my mind.
The cold metal below my feet was the only thing that could be heard echoing off the walls as I race for Priscilla's room. Something was wrong with her, I could feel it. It was an unsettling, downright horrible feeling that didn't sit right with me.
As I finally reach the long corridor that her room branched off of, I stop. Was I really ready to see whatever waited in that room? As I turn the door handle, the feeling of uncertainty washes over me like a wave, and suddenly a new feeling is replaced.
I couldn't decipher it. It felt like serene clashing with a fury of hatred, like the beauty of destruction. The calm before the storm, even.
Opening the door, I had finally prepared myself for whatever I was going to see. When suddenly my hopes diminish, as I see the same masked man sitting in the corner.
"Hello, Mara. Missed me?"
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Thanks for reading everyone❤️