"Andrea?" She jumped, startled that her name was being called. She looked up, and the person from across the street was now right in front of her.******
"U-uhm..."
"You recognize me, don't you? It's me, Brian? Brian Shay?"
After a moment, realization flashed across her face.
"Oh, Brian! Yeah, I remember you now! From Woodworking, yeah?"
Now he took a seat on the bench next to her.
Yup, that's the class. So, did you ever follow your dream of- ah, erm, joining the "troops"?"
He changed what he was saying due to their "surroundings", and Andrea, understanding what he meant, nodded.
"Yeah, I did. Right after High School, in fact. It's been a tough six years, but I finally got a break..."
'Or, at least I ALMOST did...', she added, under her breath. She then looked at Brian again.
"And what about you these days? What have you become?"
Now, he sat up straighter, straightening out his jacket, looking prouder.
"Well, while you were on the front, I was here getting anPh.D. in human Psychology.
I am a Therapist."
Andrea suppressed a few laughs, and congratulated him.
"O-oh, well, that's good... G-good job, Brian."
He laughed, patting her on the shoulder.
"It's okay, go ahead and laugh. I know it doesn't seem very cool at all."
Now, she laughed along with him.
"I'm sorry, but it really doesn't."
They laughed like that for a few seconds longer, but suddenly, Andrea quieted down.
"Now why can't it be this easy..."
Brian looked at her questioningly.
"Huh? Why can't what be this easy?"
She looked at him, wondering if it would be alright to tell him her plight. Making a decision, she looked down at her hands in her lap.
"Well... You see... There's... There's this guy... that I MIGHT like... And-"
But Brian stopped her.
"Ah-ah, stop right there. Say no more, I see the problem. You li- ah, MIGHT, like this guy, but you can't speak to him like you can speak to me. Right?"
She looked up at him immediately, half embarrased and half surprised.
"Ah, w-well... Well, yes, that is the problem... I don't kmow why though, it's just... Like..."
"It's nerves, in a sense of speaking. You see, it's human nature that when you find a person that's... "different" from the rest of the crowd, you'll find yourself naturally attracted to them... If that makes any sense."
"U-uhm..."
She did understand what he was getting at, but the whole situation was just becoming more and more embarrasing for her. She looked down again, hiding her face innher hands.
"Y-yeah, I follow you, but..."
She just shook hef head, not even knowing what to say anymore. She heard Brian shifting next to her, wondering what he could be doing.
"Uh, here. Take this."
Now, she looked up from her hands to see what he was giving her; it was a pocket watch. She took it, staring at the intricate design on its front.
"Wait... What?"
"Well, according to studies, it is often easier for people to speak to someone that they're nervous around if a good friend of theirs is present, or something that reminds them of a friend, better if male... So there, take my watch. Maybe it'll help."
She looked at him, then back at the watch.
"Wow Brian... I don't know what to say about this..."
"Try "Thank you Brian", maybe?"
She laughed, smiling at him.
"Okay, alright, alright. Thanks, Brian. I'll... I'll try to have it back to you soon, if possible."
But he shook his head.
"Nah, don't worry about it. I've got another one of those things; patients want hypnosis for some odd reason."
Andrea laughed, and was about to say something else when someone ran up to them.
"Hey, you guys! Come on, you're gonna miss it!"
Andrea looked at them questioningly.
"Wait, miss what?"
"A traitor! They caught a traitor, they're gonna shoot her in the streets!"
Andre stood up right away, shocked.
"Wait, HER!? Where?"
"This way, come on!"
The kid started running off, and Andrea followed without hesitation. A little ways off, she remembered that she had still been speaking with Brian. She turned to wave, but he was already gone from the bench.
'Huh...that's strange...' She thought. 'And he sounded different too...' But she just let all that slide. After just a bit more running, they finally reached their destination: The front of the clothing store. There was already a small crowd gathered, and the store owner stood in the center, along with a Korean soldier holding a bundle of clothes. Andrea was momentarily relieved that it wasn't Lyaina in the center of the crowd, but the relief was shortlived as the soldier rose up the clothes he was holding. Andrea gasped, putting a hand over her mouth.
"Those... Those are... Mine and Lyainas...!"
The soldier spoke, turning slowly so everyone could see the clothes.
"This traitor... Is accused with assisting... The terrorists 'Wolverines'!"
He faced the store owner now, who seemed like she was fighting a growing fear inside her, trying to remain brave.
Andrea was about to move forward through the throng of people to stop him, but something across the crowd caught her eye. She looked up, and saw Lyaina shaking her head at her. Once she knew she had her attention, she rose a hand, wagging a finger at her. Andrea gave her a look of confusion, and Lyaina pointed up slightly. Andrea looked up; she didn't see anything at first, but then, something glinted on one of the building tops. She blinked once, thinking it was her imagination, but now squinted to try and see if it might not have been. But what the soldier said next grabbed all of her attention once more.
"Do you deny these accusations?"
The woman said nothing, and merely continued to stand there. After giving her a look, the soldier dropped the clothes, and rose his pistol at her, cocking it. Andrea leapt forward.
"NO-!"
The woman shut her eyes in anticipation of the shot. And one was fired; she flinched, but nothing actually happened to her. Once she opened her eyes, the soldier fell dead. The crowd broke apart, running and screaming, and the other soldiers on the tank started pointing up and shouting. Andrea looked up as well, and saw them now: Daryl and Robert, on top of the building, firing down at the soldiers below. Lyaina ran over to her.
"Well, wasn't so hard catching up to them now, huh?"
Before she had the opportunity to respond, someone else shouted at them.
"There you two are!"
They turned around and saw TonI coming up to them. She threw guns to each of them, and started firing at other soldiers herself.
"Where did you two go off to; we all thought you dead!"
Firing at soldiers herself now, Lyaina scoffed.
"Please, like we would allow ourselves to be taken out so easily!"
Now, after shaking her head, Andrea spoke.
"Well, we'd better find ourselves some cover before we ARE!"
They went to the side of the street now, hiding behind a car. But it was heavily under fire, getting broken apart. Toni tried to turn out and shoot every now and again, but it was pointless; they were on the wrong side of the tank. With a frustrated grunt, Lyaina said:
"This is pointless! Our only options are to try and move elsewhere to fire, or stay here and keep trying; either way, we'll die pretty soon!"
Andrea looked up, then smirked.
"Well, maybe not. Look!"
They looked in the directoin she had pointed, and saw Robert running across the buildingg top to reach an area where he had a better shot at the soldiers using the tank for cover.
Lyaina pumped her fist in the air, grinning up at him.
"Yeah Robs, you go!"
But Toni shook her head, having an almost complete opposite reaction from Lyainas.
"Uhm, under all that heavy fire, I don't know how much longer he'll be able to "go" for! Let's try to cover him!"
Andrea and Lyaina nodded, and began shooting at the other soldiers now. The soldiers' attention was now divided between Robert and the girls. They could no longer focus properly, and Robert now opened fire on all of those behind the tank. They didn't stand a chance, and were all soon killed. Now, Lyaina, Andrea, and Toni ran out to where they were, gathering their weapons and ammo. They all looked back at Robert, giving him a thumbs-up. He returned the gesture, and then rose his gun, proclaiming:
"Wolveriiiiines!"
The people in the streets cheered for them, and gave them quick nods as they hurried along the way, back to their "hiding place". The shop owner nodded to them too, thanking them immensely.
"Thank you children, bless you all... Godspeed on your journey!"
