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Chapter 22: Respite

Marcy’s POV

The other’s carried the dead guy; apparently his name had been Jake, back to camp. His sister seemed to be in a bad way, and I’d have liked to thank her or console her or just do something to let her know she’d done a great thing for us today, but I couldn’t. That joke I’d made at Dave’s expense earlier was all I’d had in me. I was exhausted. I wasn’t really in shock; well, maybe a tiny bit. I had just been rescued through force of arms from hostile territory and all, but I’d always had a knack for functioning while distressed. What I did not have a knack for was functioning while tired enough to keel over and sleep right here in an exposed field.

Dave walked up front, not saying a word. He hadn’t spoken since the girl, Penny, had been reported missing. From what I gathered, she was probably a traitor, which seemed to be upsetting Dave. Fair, I suppose. The chick had just stabbed them all in the back. One of them a little more literally than the rest.

It seemed to take hours, but we finally got back to camp around what I guessed was midnight.

We were greeted by all of the military officers, Amy giving me a brief hug. I liked Amy. She was like a big sister, not only to me, but to all the probatios in the third.

Reyna came up to Dave to congratulate him, but then she noticed Jake’s body. My friend exchanged looks with the Praetor, which I guessed conveyed the message, “we need to talk”, because Reyna called all the officers into her tent a moment later, leaving the scout and Jake’s sister to deal with Jake’s body and the rest of us to just wander back to our barracks with the promise of a debrief in the morning.

I started back to my own bunk, ready to break down and sleep for as long as I’d be allowed, but then one of the leadership tent’s flaps opened next to me.

It was Kat. I’d figured she would be asleep, but apparently not. Then she was running at me and I barely had time to think “this is gonna hurt” before she tackle-hugged me and we fell into the dirt.

“You’re alive!” Was she crying? I really hoped she wasn’t crying.

“Not for much longer if you don’t get off me,” I gasped.

She rolled off me, stood, and helped me up. Then she was hugging me again. What had I missed? When did all the hugging start? And when had I started looking gift horses in the mouth?

“Come on,” she said, breaking away and dragging me back to her the tent.

My mind was too slow and groggy to really register what was happening, so I just went with it.

We walked into the tent, which was lit only by a lantern in the middle, casting a dim orange light onto the purple canvas walls. There were three sleeping bags on the ground, one each for Dave, Kat, and Amy. One was all messy and smelled like Kat, so I guessed it was hers. Another was completely orderly and looked liken you could do the thing with the quarter on it, definitely Dave’s. And Amy’s sleeping bag was somewhere between the other two, not a disaster and not quite perfect.

Kat made me lay down in hers and before I knew it was out.

-----

Morning came faster than it should’ve been legally allowed to. I woke with light leaking through the sides and top of the tent, the lantern having been put out. I sat up, grabbing my ribs as I did so, looked around, but there was nobody there. I did see Oculus, however. I’d dropped it when I’d been grabbed.

I’d only just had time to wonder where Kat was, since I was fairly certain she was the one who’d brought me here, when the woman herself ducked through the flap of the tent, carrying two plates of wheat toast and hardboiled eggs. Yummy.

“Morning,” she smiled, sitting down next to me, “How are you?”

“Seriously,” I said, “What dream am I having because it is very life-like.”

Kat laughed. “No dream, just breakfast.”

“Oh, great,” I said, “In that case, why am I in your tent and not the barracks like I was supposed to be? What was that all about with the hugging last night?”

Kat sat silent for a moment, our breakfast off to the side. Then, she spoke. “I’m sorry. I was just really relieved you were back. Honestly, I was hoping you wouldn’t remember exactly what happened and believe I dragged you in here after you just keeled over.”

“Well,” I said, “If you’d waited thirty seconds that may not have had to be a lie.”

Kat chuckled, and then looked up, meeting my eyes. “Holy crap,” she muttered.

“What,” I said, worried, “What is it?”

“You’re all beat up!” Kat sounded surprised. I guess she couldn’t tell last night in the bad light.

“Oh,” I said, eager to shift the conversation, “It’s nothing, guards weren’t very gentle but I’ll-”

“Shush!” Kat ordered, putting a finger over my mouth as she stood up. “Today I’m going to take care of you. No arguments.”

I didn’t have it in me to point out that even if I let her do it, there was no way I’d get away with staying in bed (well, bag) all day.

Kat crossed to a small chest on the other end of the tent, and as she did I found my eyes drawn to her legs, the way they moved, so easy and graceful, yet I could tell they were strong when she squatted to open and rummage through the chest.

I shook my head clear. But then I ended up looking at her hair instead, blond and red streaked. Longer than I’d ever liked to wear mine.

‘Gah! Come on, Jones,’ my voice of reason said, ‘Situation at hand, here!’

“Here,” Kat said, snapping me out of it, “Have some ambrosia.”

“Some what now?” I asked, not sure if I’d heard right.

“Food of the gods,” She grinned at me, apparently amused by my confusion, “We eat, it heals. Just, not too much. Too much burns you to a crisp.”

“Fun,” I muttered, taking some and popping it in my mouth. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but it was not my mother’s lasagna, which had been my favorite meal back north.

Within a minute my face felt way less swollen and my ribs weren’t nearly as sore.

“Handy,” I remarked, poking at my own side experimentally.

“Isn’t it?” Kat said, sitting back down and handing me my egg and toast.

“So,” I spoke between mouthfuls of toast, “What was that about last night?”

“Like I said,” Kat spoke with the demeanor of someone dodging an awkward topic, “I was worried about you. I was worried about everyone, of course, but I knew you personally, so, yeah.”

“Alright,” I said, having had quite enough of this, “Can I just ask you something, and if the answer is no, can we forget that I asked?”

“Um, I guess so.” Kat sounded nervous. It’d be a pretty big lie to say I wasn’t.

Never the less, I was done being nervous about this. “Do you like me? And yes, I mean like that.”

There was silence for three seconds, and then Kat said it, “Yes, I do.”

Description
Chapter 22: Respite

Marcy’s POV

The other’s carried the dead guy; apparently his name had been Jake, back to camp. His sister seemed to be in a bad way, and I’d have liked to thank her or console her or just do something to let her know she’d done a great thing for us today, but I couldn’t. That joke I’d made at Dave’s expense earlier was all I’d had in me. I was exhausted. I wasn’t really in shock; well, maybe a tiny bit. I had just been rescued through force of arms from hostile territory and all, but I’d always had a knack for functioning while distressed. What I did not have a knack for was functioning while tired enough to keel over and sleep right here in an exposed field.

Dave walked up front, not saying a word. He hadn’t spoken since the girl, Penny, had been reported missing. From what I gathered, she was probably a traitor, which seemed to be upsetting Dave. Fair, I suppose. The chick had just stabbed them all in the back. One of them a little more literally than the rest.

It seemed to take hours, but we finally got back to camp around what I guessed was midnight.

We were greeted by all of the military officers, Amy giving me a brief hug. I liked Amy. She was like a big sister, not only to me, but to all the probatios in the third.

Reyna came up to Dave to congratulate him, but then she noticed Jake’s body. My friend exchanged looks with the Praetor, which I guessed conveyed the message, “we need to talk”, because Reyna called all the officers into her tent a moment later, leaving the scout and Jake’s sister to deal with Jake’s body and the rest of us to just wander back to our barracks with the promise of a debrief in the morning.

I started back to my own bunk, ready to break down and sleep for as long as I’d be allowed, but then one of the leadership tent’s flaps opened next to me.

It was Kat. I’d figured she would be asleep, but apparently not. Then she was running at me and I barely had time to think “this is gonna hurt” before she tackle-hugged me and we fell into the dirt.

“You’re alive!” Was she crying? I really hoped she wasn’t crying.

“Not for much longer if you don’t get off me,” I gasped.

She rolled off me, stood, and helped me up. Then she was hugging me again. What had I missed? When did all the hugging start? And when had I started looking gift horses in the mouth?

“Come on,” she said, breaking away and dragging me back to her the tent.

My mind was too slow and groggy to really register what was happening, so I just went with it.

We walked into the tent, which was lit only by a lantern in the middle, casting a dim orange light onto the purple canvas walls. There were three sleeping bags on the ground, one each for Dave, Kat, and Amy. One was all messy and smelled like Kat, so I guessed it was hers. Another was completely orderly and looked liken you could do the thing with the quarter on it, definitely Dave’s. And Amy’s sleeping bag was somewhere between the other two, not a disaster and not quite perfect.

Kat made me lay down in hers and before I knew it was out.

-----

Morning came faster than it should’ve been legally allowed to. I woke with light leaking through the sides and top of the tent, the lantern having been put out. I sat up, grabbing my ribs as I did so, looked around, but there was nobody there. I did see Oculus, however. I’d dropped it when I’d been grabbed.

I’d only just had time to wonder where Kat was, since I was fairly certain she was the one who’d brought me here, when the woman herself ducked through the flap of the tent, carrying two plates of wheat toast and hardboiled eggs. Yummy.

“Morning,” she smiled, sitting down next to me, “How are you?”

“Seriously,” I said, “What dream am I having because it is very life-like.”

Kat laughed. “No dream, just breakfast.”

“Oh, great,” I said, “In that case, why am I in your tent and not the barracks like I was supposed to be? What was that all about with the hugging last night?”

Kat sat silent for a moment, our breakfast off to the side. Then, she spoke. “I’m sorry. I was just really relieved you were back. Honestly, I was hoping you wouldn’t remember exactly what happened and believe I dragged you in here after you just keeled over.”

“Well,” I said, “If you’d waited thirty seconds that may not have had to be a lie.”

Kat chuckled, and then looked up, meeting my eyes. “Holy crap,” she muttered.

“What,” I said, worried, “What is it?”

“You’re all beat up!” Kat sounded surprised. I guess she couldn’t tell last night in the bad light.

“Oh,” I said, eager to shift the conversation, “It’s nothing, guards weren’t very gentle but I’ll-”

“Shush!” Kat ordered, putting a finger over my mouth as she stood up. “Today I’m going to take care of you. No arguments.”

I didn’t have it in me to point out that even if I let her do it, there was no way I’d get away with staying in bed (well, bag) all day.

Kat crossed to a small chest on the other end of the tent, and as she did I found my eyes drawn to her legs, the way they moved, so easy and graceful, yet I could tell they were strong when she squatted to open and rummage through the chest.

I shook my head clear. But then I ended up looking at her hair instead, blond and red streaked. Longer than I’d ever liked to wear mine.

‘Gah! Come on, Jones,’ my voice of reason said, ‘Situation at hand, here!’

“Here,” Kat said, snapping me out of it, “Have some ambrosia.”

“Some what now?” I asked, not sure if I’d heard right.

“Food of the gods,” She grinned at me, apparently amused by my confusion, “We eat, it heals. Just, not too much. Too much burns you to a crisp.”

“Fun,” I muttered, taking some and popping it in my mouth. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but it was not my mother’s lasagna, which had been my favorite meal back north.

Within a minute my face felt way less swollen and my ribs weren’t nearly as sore.

“Handy,” I remarked, poking at my own side experimentally.

“Isn’t it?” Kat said, sitting back down and handing me my egg and toast.

“So,” I spoke between mouthfuls of toast, “What was that about last night?”

“Like I said,” Kat spoke with the demeanor of someone dodging an awkward topic, “I was worried about you. I was worried about everyone, of course, but I knew you personally, so, yeah.”

“Alright,” I said, having had quite enough of this, “Can I just ask you something, and if the answer is no, can we forget that I asked?”

“Um, I guess so.” Kat sounded nervous. It’d be a pretty big lie to say I wasn’t.

Never the less, I was done being nervous about this. “Do you like me? And yes, I mean like that.”

There was silence for three seconds, and then Kat said it, “Yes, I do.”