One-shot, simple and kinda dark. I'm working 55+ hours this week and I'm exhausted and frankly not in the best mood. I had to vent ;)

Please leave me a review if you read, always much appreciated, and it would encourage me to write more short random lilttle pieces like this in between chapters of bigger projects.

Thanks!

Waiting for Instructions

When she woke up coughing and saw that the room was filled with smoke, all her training went out the window. This wasn't a drill, something bad was happening. Others said they were under attack. She didn't care what was happening, what they needed right now was a way to get the door to the barrack to open. They were locked in. After a few minutes of pure panic, something completely new for her, the door finally opened and all the occupants of the room ran for their lives. As far as they could tell, the whole building was aflame.

There was no order, no more soldiers, everyone was running, trying to make it to the woods, or the roads. There was confusion and gunshots. It seemed like the X7s didn't know if they should run too or keep the others from running. There were also nomalies coming out, scaring the little kids.

The few ones still able to think clearly knew that whatever was happening, they needed to get to safety and then wait for further instructions. X6 – 327 was one of those. Once she got outside, she pulled her hood over her short black hair and ran. The fence was no longer an issue, no one was guarding it. The guards were chasing after anything that moved. The grounds were filled with people, there was no way to know who was friendly or not. She leaped over the fence and she just blurred into the woods.

She ran until she couldn't smell smoke anymore. She ran until she could tell she was alone. There was no one close by, following her. She didn't want to deal with others, did not want to get caught in friendly fire. It was getting dark out. She climbed a tree and sat down on a high branch. She was going to wait for a signal to regroup, to remobilize. Standing by for further instructions, that's what her training dictated. They were trained to look for a light signal if the facility was ever compromised.

It took a few hours for complete dark. After the night finally became silent, that's when the blinking light started moving among the stars. She smiled. That was a very good sign, it meant that whatever happened back at Manticore, whoever attacked them, Command was still in place. Otherwise there would not have been a signal.

Just in case, she was going to wait for morning to move out. It would be easier to spot a trap, if there was one, in broad daylight. She closed her eyes; maybe she could catch an hour or two of sleep while she waited.

Throughout the night, she sometimes heard gunshots around her, saw and heard other kids trying to escape. She understood there was a hunt. She didn't signal her position to any of them. She wasn't able to get clear identification if anyone was from her unit or were enemies, so her own survival came first. And she'd never been one for talking anyways. Following orders what was she was good at. Orders and killing. She preferred to remain alone.

If they were remobilizing, maybe she wouldn't have to go through with that disgusting mating ritual for a while. She understood the necessity of it, since the DNA lab was blown to pieces and the data lost, but she didn't have to like it. The only contact with others that were acceptable was while training for combat. Anything else was irrelevant.

At dawn, she started to move out. She took the long way around the rendezvous point, to throw out anyone who might have been following or tracking her. When the trees started to thin out, she stayed under cover, observing. There was a bridge looming over a weak river. There was a military vehicle parked on the other side, blocking access. There was a squad of 6 armed men and what seemed like their Officer. Heavily armed, surveilling the area. They seemed official enough and she didn't smell a trap. Besides, her orders were to rendezvous here, that's what she was going to do, no questions asked. A good soldier never questioned orders.

She walked out of the woods, keeping her hands cleared to show she wasn't armed. She made it across the bridge, acutely aware of the 6 guns pointed at her. She stopped a few feet away from them and saluted.

"X6-327 reporting for duty sir."

"At ease Soldier." Said the unarmed man. He indeed seemed to be the one in Command.

She crossed her hands behind her back and stood at ease.

"Where is the rest of your unit 327?"

"I assume they went to ground sir. I didn't see any of them since the attack sir."

"What attack?"

"The attack on Manticore sir."

"Right, the attack on Manticore. Tragedy."

Some of the men still pointing their weapons at her started laughing. She couldn't help throwing them a look.

"Eyes up front Soldier." barked the Officer.

"Sir, yes, Sir."

She was starting to think that maybe there was no regrouping, when the Officer moved to the side and nod at the gunmen.

"Take her out."

Before she had time to ask herself if her own survival was worth disobeying and running, she was riddled with bullets. Just like that, a valuable military asset such as herself, terminated.

After she fell, White kicked her once to make sure she was dead. When he was satisfied she was, he turned her over to see her barcode. He checked her designation from a list and went back to the truck.

"Clean that up" he instructed his team. "And stay here to wait, more dutiful soldiers will come."

He drove away, that last female had been the 40th kid to show up since they started the laser signal last night. They would have all those freaks rounded up in no time. He smiled.

Please review :)