I know it took long and I am so sorry and I know that there is not much action in this chapter but I hope you'll still enjoy it. By the way thank you so much for reviewing and following etc. I was really suprised :)

Chapter 3

"The fluid in the shower certainly was not water. That fucking etched. I thought my skin is burning" Raquellle complained as she joined the lab of Major Levy completely new dressed in a fresh clean outfit, consisting of a simple jeans and a T-shirt. It was a wonderful feeling to wear not dirty and ragged clothes. Her blue T-shirt, which she plucked, smelled beautiful after washing powder. She deeply inhaled the smell, which she had not able to smell for weeks.

"I'm sorry, I hope it hasn't hurt too much", the medic replied with an apologetic smile.

"It's alright" Raquelle muttered and walked to a mirror in the corner to view herself. Her own reflection seemed so strange to her that she had to look two times to identify herself. Apart from the fact that she had clearly lost a few pounds, she had almost forgotten her clean look. In the last weeks, her sight had been shabby and dirty, not beaming and fresh. It seemed to her as if she has been requickened.

Now, I just have to gain weight, I no longer want to look like a skeleton, she thought while shoving her shirt up. Her ribs were clearly in the offing. Raquelle sullenly watched her figure. Sighing, she put her shirt back down to turn back to Scarlet, who looked thoughtful, her head braced on one hand. After gazing over Raquelle, who now seemed to feel less uncomfortable than before, she began to speak.

"How are you feeling?, she asked in a voice that reminded Raquelle of a caring big sister, but that was exactly how she behaved. It was a strange feeling that someone was caring for you who did not even belong to the family. She was a totally stranger. In addition, she knew that Raquelle did not have a clean slate, but Scarlet did not seem to care about her past.

The raven-haired woman shrugged her shoulder listlessly to answer as she began to slowly walk through the lab and interested consider every single item of which she did not even know what it was.

"Well, I guess, better than the last few weeks", the younger replied with an absent voice.

She could feel Scarlet's scrutinizing gaze on her, watching every movement of her. But she did not care. She felt much more relaxed than before. Perhaps because she was clean and refreshed, even if the shower had almost corroded her skin. But maybe it was because of the fact that no soldier was present and pointing a gun at her.

What a jerk, she thought annoyed. Who points a gun at an injured and not even armed girl?, she wondered, simple ignoring the thought that people could consider her an infected with good causes. Admitting a fault was foreign to her nature.

"What are you going to do?", she was asked by Scarlet.

Raquelle froze in her movement.

Good question, what am I going to do? What shall I do? Or better, what can I do?, she wondered in complete silence. But she did not know any answer to that important question. She would prefer to continue her search for her father, but she definitely would not reveal that to Scarlet, after all it was not allowed to leave District one. And if she wanted to look for her dad again, she should keep this as her little secret.

"I don't know", Raquelle answered honestly. How was she supposed to answer the question if she did not know the life in District one?

"Are there really no infected anymore?" she asked without turning to Scarlet, her gaze clued on the steel table in front of her, her fingers sliding over die cold metal.

Unsureness grew inside of her, however, she tried to ignore it.

"No one is out there", Major Levy replied with a relieved undertone. The reply struck Raquelle like a shot.

Her stomach tightened immediately. No one. That included her father.

Desperated, the black haired girl bit her dry lower lip. Her bite was so strong that her lower lip started bleeding slightly. She would like to hole up at a corner, but her wish would not be fulfilled.

No one was out there. So was her father, wasn't he?

`But…they thought I haven't been out there. They were clueless 'bout me. So, it could be possible that Dad is somewhere hiding out there", Raquelle reasoned.

`And perhaps they are wrong and there are still some people infected with the rage virus.´ The appalling thought crossed her mind, but she tried to shake off the thought. Even if she had forgotten almost every memory of the past few days, she remembered some moments, horrific images of infected monster which flashed by her mind.

Moments where beastlike people had run after her. She could remember the feeling of panic and fear, which she could feel again throughout her body, very well.

Forcefully, she shook her head, her raven black hair swaying, before she turned to Scarlet.

"I don't know what I shall do know", she admitted finally while looking at the medic expectantly.

The medic smiled before getting up and stepping toward the black haired.

"Never mind, I'll help you, after all, I've took responsibility for you", she tried to cheer Raquelle up, petting her arm gently.

Raquelle was about to open her mouth, but she could forbear the comment that she is a 24 year old adult and mature enough to take care of herself. Major Levy tried to help her and she was not really an easy person.

"Whatever", she mumbled, not wanting to fight against a fact that she could not change.

"First, you need an apartment. I am going to look for a free one that you can move in."

"I've no money", Raquelle reminded herself.

"And that's one thing we also have to solve. You definitely need a job. A legal job", the medic added with a strict glance.

Raquelle rolled her eyes in annoyance, slowly really feeling like pubertal teenager.

"But, hey, you could assist me in the laboratory. I could need some support and at the same time I could take care of you", Scarlet said suddenly beaming.

"Hey, I'm not a little kid. I'm an adult, anyway I'm 24 years old", it finally slipped out of her mouth. It annoyed her to be treated like a child, after all she has looked for herself for years. In addition, Major Levy treated her as if she was made of glass, even the carefulness with which she touched Raquelle, made her see red.

"I'm totally aware of this, but you are not well versed in District one and the condition for not shooting you immediately was that I accept sole responsibility for you."

"Whoa, wait a sec. They wanted to kill me?", Raquelle wanted to know with a baffled expression on her face, her eyes widening in disbelief.

"Yes, because the possibility that you were an infected was high. As the kids have found you, you were lying unconsciously on…"

"Who have found me?", Raquelle interrupted Major Levy sharply.

"Two kids. They pulled out of District one and found you. That was a really lucky coincidence. Who knows what would have happened to you", Scarlet explained her.

"Wow, I should thank them both, I geuss", the black haired said, running a hand through her hair.

"And now", she wanted to know, her questioning gaze focused on the medic.

"Now, you have a job as my personal assistant. All you need know is somewhere to live, but I'm going to ask about that. I don't think that this will be a problem. After that we need a shopping date, because you definitely in need of clothes", the medic replied with wink, before turning around and walking toward the door.

"Can I ask you for a favor?", Raquelle made her stop just in front of the door. The chief medical officer turned to face her with a warm smile.

"Of course."

The discomfort which grew in her stomach caused her to scratch her arm, a habit which she could not get rid of and which she always did whenever she felt nervous.

"Could you find someone for me? Her Name is Jamila Greene. The last time I saw her was on the day of evacuation. She should go ahead and we should meet later. I'll stay with her, if she is living in District one. We used to live together before…you know…all this bloody crap happened, we…"

"Are friends?", Scarlet finished her sentence with a smile, feeling relieved that Raquelle is not completely alone.

But Raquelle corrected her: "She is family to me."

Encouragingly smiling, Scarlet looked at her: "I'm going to ask about her. Wait her for me, I'm back in some minutes."

"Thanks, Miss Levy?", Raquelle said feeling a little bit awkward.

"Call me Scarlet", Major Levy offered the young raven haired woman.

"Thanks Scarlet."


She was supposed to wait for Scarlet, but after waiting in a cold and cheerless lab for ten minutes, she felt extremely bored. She did not know anything about District one, not even how it looked like. After few steps into freedom, she recognized that District one seemingly was a normal town. Her gaze swept through the surrounding environment, trying to suck in every special feature. Skyscrapers, which sparkled due to the sun, rose from the ground all around her.

Wow, someone exerted oneself, she thought full of sarcasm, while walking on and shaking her head in disbelief.

People were walking on the streets as if nothing had happened. As if the rage virus had been a bad nightmare and they had just waked up. But it was not like that. Unfortunately it had not been bad nightmare.

That's it. That's the life after the virus, she thought and stopped, not knowing what she was supposed to do. Could she fit District one?

The only hint that not everything was normal was the armed soldiers on the streets and on the roofs Raquelle caught sight of. Out of curiosity she scanned the area to spot the soldier she had met in the lab. A ridiculous try since she barely remembered his appearance.

Sighing, she walked on as she heard snippets of a conversation.

"Are you aware of how irresponsible your behavior was? Leaving the security zone? What did you think would happen?"

Her glance slid to a small group. An older man who told two kids in front of him off. One of the kids was a quiet beautiful teenage girl with heavily waved blond hair and the other was a boy about ten or eleven year old with blond hair. Their sights were directed at the sidewalk and Raquelle immediately understood who the kids were.

"I guess, I have to thank you both", she addressed them while walking toward the group.

All three of them glanced to her in confusion. Just the girl seemed to recognize her finally.

"You probably saved my life", Raquelle went on smiling and hoped that she could somehow calm the man down. As she said the kids probably saved her life, so she could at least save them from house arrest.

"You should feel proud of such kids. Not everyone can be a hero", she continued to speak to the man, totally aware that she is exaggerating, "they're really brave, but leaving the security zone again would be stupid. Right?"

At first, both of the children were perplexed, probably because her sudden appearance, but still they nodded in agreement.

"So, thanks for...uhm…that. By the way my name is Raquelle Guevara, but you can call me Ray if you want to", she introduced herself with a warm smile.

"Tammy Harris. And that's my brother Andy", the sweet girl introduced herself and her younger brother while she returned Raquelle's smile.

"Pleased to meet you Tammy. And you have to be the father of the two brave runaways", she guessed turning to the man again.

"Yes, Donald Harris", he briefly introduced himself, slightly overstrained with her sudden appearance. Good, then he will forget to penalize the kids, Raquelle thought content.

"I have to go. I'll be happy if I run into you again", she took leave of them, winking at Tammy who glanced at her with a huge grin, before Raquelle turned away.

She should rather go back. Scarlet would be worried and there were too much soldiers after her fancy. One last time she intuitively searched the area for the soldier at the lab again, but she could not catch sight of him.