A/N: Hey everyone, its me again :) I feel like the transition between this chapter and chapter six were kind of awkward, but I can't think of any other way to do it. If anyone has any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated :) Also, I'm trying to keep a consistent schedule of updating every sunday, but if anyone thinks that's too fast then I was considering to changing it to a chapter every two weeks (it would give me more time to edit, if I needed it :sweat:)
My mumblings aside, I hope you enjoy chapter seven :)

Chapter 7: To Kill A Mockingbird

Allena wiped at her eyes, trying not to cry. The fight had left her feeling low, like she was doing this all in vain. Was her work really useless? Everyone else seemed to think so, but was negotiation really such a bad idea? She just didn't understand why everyone else thought that way.

It's discrimination rearing it's ugly head, Allena. That's how it's always been- you want to destroy that which is different.

She shook her head in disgust at the scientific little voice in her head. For once, she didn't want to listen to reason. She just wanted to go home. She managed to sit down, despite what she had said to him- she couldn't find the energy to even begin to think of a way out. The silence stretched on, him stewing in anger, and her wallowing in misery.

She looked up as she heard talking- yes, those were people! She got to her feet as Baird called out, the voices getting closer. "Cole, is that you? Hey, Cole, get me out of here man!"

"I hear you Baird," a familiar voice called out, sounding slightly amused.

"Then get me the hell out of here," Baird shot, and Allena could hear the capsule being messed with from the outside. There was a hiss as it was opened, and she could hear the other man stepping out of his capsule. "About time, what the hell took you guys so long," Baird asked as he stumbled out.

"You're welcome," she heard Marcus growl; she couldn't help but be relieved that he was alive.

"You said Allena was with you," she heard Dom ask, sounding a bit anxious. "Where is she?"

"There," Baird said; she winced at the obvious distaste in his voice. A second later, there was a clanking outside of her capsule, and with a groan the heavy metal door pulled open, revealing the Gears.

"Well hello there," A tall, dark-skinned man whistled as Allena clumsily stepped out of the capsule. "And who's this?"

"Cole, this is Allena Duke. She was assigned to Delta by Prescott," Marcus said, looking the girl over as if to check for injuries. "Allena, this is Augustus Cole."

"Better known as the Cole Train," Cole interjected, stepping in with a wink. "How you doing, miss Duke?"

"Hi," she said, managing a timid smile. "You can just call me Allena." Now, she was used to big Gears, but this guy was huge, almost as big as Tai. Speaking of… "Did you guys ever find out what happened topside?"

"No idea," Marcus said, shaking his head with a grimace. "Anya said the drill zone had gone dark." The squad leader turned and knocked on the side of the capsule, curiosity on his hard, scarred features. "What the hell are the Locusts doing taking prisoners?"

"They're locking people up, taking them deeper into the hollow," Baird said, his movements agitated. "They were going to process us, man! Whatever that means…" Allena rolled her eyes- yes, whatever that did mean. It sounded bad, and if the scenario from before was anything to go by, it was downright terrible.

"Shit, I'll show these Locusts bitches some process," Cole said fiercely, shaking his Lancer for emphasis. Allena got the feeling he wasn't joking or bragging, either.

"Come on, we need to check this out," Marcus said, waving a hand for them to follow. The group fell into line behind him, and Allena found herself walking next to Carmine.

"Good to see your alright," the rookie said, and although he sounded tired there was still that cheerful quality to his voice. "We thought we'd lost you up there, when Dizzy went to go fight that… thing."

"Its good to see you guys are alright, too," she said, managing a tired smile. "I was almost a goner if it hadn't been for…." she trailed off, swallowing hard as she remembered those first few minutes in the cavern. She glanced at Baird, then scowled and looked away from him. She was still pissed at him for the outburst, pissed that he was just like everyone else who thought she was working on nothing. "Anyways, I'm glad to see you all again."

"Keep an eye out for survivors," Marcus called out over his shoulder, as they pushed farther into the area.

"Shit, I didn't know the Locusts took prisoners," Cole said almost wondrously. It was a small little factoid that had baffled them all.

"I guess they do now," Dom said grimly, glancing at an empty capsule as they passed it. A sort of dock could be seen ahead, and Allena felt her blood run cold when she saw the large ship passing next to it.

"That's them," Baird said grimly, indicating the ship. "The Beast Barges." Allena shivered as she realized that was what they had seen passing by earlier, where all the screams had come from. "That's where they're taking all the prisoners, I think they're torturing them in there." As she watched it with her view unobstructed, she realized that it was alive, or at least part of it was, the creature crawling along the roof of the cave with the barge attached underneath.

"Then let's get in there," Marcus growled, catching Allena off guard. Why on earth would anyone want to get on that thing? "If there are any prisoners on board, we're getting them out. Come on." As soon as the ship docked, a Locust patrol came off of it; the Gears opened fire on the unsuspecting Locusts, and soon the air was filled with bullets. Allena ducked down, grabbing for her shotgun but unsure that it would be any good in this situation. A loud boom shook the air, followed by an explosion behind them.

"Someone take out that boomer," Marcus shouted, and fire rained down on the heavy Locust carrying a large launcher of sorts. Finally, the area was cleared, the boomer toppling off the bridge.

"You know how Cole do it, baby," Cole crowed triumphantly, standing up from behind a fallen capsule. "They bigger they are, the better the kill!" He winked to Allena, pulling a smile from her.

"Let's go," Marcus said, waving them forward.

"Allena, why do you only have a shotgun," Carmine asked, falling into step beside her. She looked down at the gun in her hands, a frown on her face.

"They took my… The Lancer from me when they caught us," she explained, looking up at him. The rookie stared at her for a second (or she could only assume he was staring at her; it was impossible to tell through the helmet) then trotted ahead of her, kneeling down next to something on one of the corpses. He got to his feet as she got closer, turning and holding a Hammerburst out to her.

"A shotgun isn't going to do much in long-range confrontations," he said cheerily. "Why don't you take this? It doesn't have a cool chainsaw bayonet, but its pretty accurate." Allena took it gratefully, nodding to him as she tested the weight of the weapon. She looked ahead and spotted Baird picking up a Hammerburst as well, a few feet away; she caught his eye, and scowled fiercely when he looked up at her. He sneered back, getting to his feet and promptly turning his back to her.

Ass.

They all jogged up the ramp onto the Beast Barge; Allena had to force herself not to look down, lest she embarrass herself in front of the other Gears. She stared in horror as she stepped onto the barge at the cages that were suspended in the air; bones clattered around noisily in one of them, serving as a dismal warning bell.

"Ah shit," she heard Carmine say, sounding panicked. She wondered if he was afraid of heights as well or something- until she turned and saw a platform lowering down to their level, the huge Locust standing on it hefting up a chain gun to aim at them.

"Grinder!"

They all ducked behind cover, and she found herself next to Baird. If she could have moved without being turned into Swiss cheese, she would have gone to hide next to Cole or something; the Blonde Gear's grimace told her he wanted the same. Hell, he probably wanted her to leave despite the fact that they were getting shot at. As soon as the Grinder had been downed with a cleanly placed head-shot from Dom, she moved away from Baird, peering up at the underbelly of the beast.

"Alright, let's head up this way," Marcus instructed, as they all grouped up. "We need to get this thing moving." They all fell into line behind him, guns up and ready to tear into whatever creature tried to get in their way. They went to the platform, going up in twos; Allena ended up going up with Cole, leaning against the rail slightly to make room for him.

"What is this place," she murmured, looking around the room. Doors lined the walls, all of them rusty and dingy. Marcus and Dom were already at the other end of the room; Marcus pulled a lever, and the doors swung wide open. The cells were empty, and Allena couldn't decide if it was a good thing or a bad thing; she didn't want to see what happened to people on the barges.

Marcus and Dom went up the ramps at the end of the room, leaving the others alone in the room.

"So what happened to you," Carmine asked, catching up with Allena as she peered into a cell. She wrinkled her nose; it smelt like old blood and rust. "After we all got on the grind lifts?"

"Well, I hooked up with that jerk over there," she said, the venom in her voice thinly veiled as she pointed at Baird. He didn't hear her; he was deep in a hushed conversation with Cole. "We were with Omega-Seven for a while- we all saw Ilima go down." She shivered slightly at the memory- that had been a close call. "Then they caught us." She shrugged, her Hammerburst feeling heavy in her hands. "Nothing really happened until you guys found us." Okay, so that was a lie- but she didn't feel like even thinking about the fight between her and Baird. She sent a glare at the Blonde, wondering what kind of nasty things he was telling Cole about her.

"So, man, what happened between you and the cutie?"

Baird snorted in disgust as he turned to face Cole, one blonde eyebrow raised. "Cutie? You mean Miss Anal over there?" Cole chuckled, making a face.

"Ooh, man, she must have gotten you good. What'd she do to ya?"

"Nothing," Baird shot, feeling irritated as he thought of their fight. "She's just an irritating little twerp who needs to go back to her lab." Cole raised an eyebrow, nudging his friend.

"Come on, man, you can't deny she's easy on the eyes." He glanced at Allena and nodded approvingly. "Very easy on the eyes." Baird rolled his eyes at his friend's observations. He couldn't say Allena was ugly- he could bitch and moan about her personality all he wanted, but while she wasn't the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, he had to admit she was good looking.

"Look, you can go ahead and have at her," Baird snorted, snapping out of his thoughts. "But I'm warning you now, man, that girl's a bitch."

"Come on, baby, she can't be that bad," Cole said, trying to be reasonable. "Besides, it looks like something interesting is goin' down between you two- like I'm going to step into that." Baird made an irritated sound in the back of his throat.

"Look, we hate each other's guts, now can you leave it," he shot at his friend, running a hand through his blonde spikes irately. "There is absolutely nothing, and never will be, anything between us." The two looked up as the Barge suddenly lunged forward; he lowered his eyes in time to see Allena and the kid with the helmet trying to regain their balance, obviously thrown off balance. He watched as the Gear held out a hand to help the girl, and something sparked ever so slightly inside of him as she smiled her thanks. He scowled; and what was she so fucking cheery about? Cole nudged him, chuckling as his friend turned the scowl on him.

"You gotta admit, man, she's got a great smile."

"Let's just go," Baird growled, storming away from his friend and going up the ramp farthest from Allena and the helmeted Gear. He emerged topside, where Marcus and Dom were discussing their next move. Before he could say anything to them, bullets cut through the air; he cursed as he ducked down, a reaver zooming past them. The three men opened fire as the others joined them, the helmeted kid taking up the chain gun and taking out one of the reavers on their tail.

As Baird ducked down to reload, there was a jarring crunch that almost knocked him on his butt; he looked up to see their barge tangled with another, the Locusts on board the other barge opening fire on them. He saw a blur of movement in the corner of his eye and spotted Allena as she crouched behind a metal crate in front of him; jesus, couldn't this kid just go away? She popped up and took out one of the Locust, a satisfied smirk dancing on her lips as she turned to take out another. Before she could squeeze the trigger, something zoomed past her face, and a startled, pained cry escaped her lips as she fell to the ground.

Baird swore he felt his heart stop beating for a moment.

"Allena," he heard someone shout, and lo and behold, there was the helmeted kid, kneeling down next to her. For some reason, he didn't like him. He watched as Allena sat up, grimacing as she lifted a hand to her cheek. He looked away, taking out one of the last Locust- well, the bitch wasn't dead.

Something inside of him was a little glad about that. Something that he would like to kill right about now.

Allena swore soundly as Carmine helped her to her feet, her cheek throbbing.

"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth," Carmine asked, in a lame attempt at a joke. Allena rolled her eyes, lifting her hand away from her cheek to look at the blood that stained her glove.

Her blood.

"Come on you guys, we don't have all day," Marcus shouted back to them, as he moved forward to check that the coast was clear. As Allena stepped onto the other deck, Cole caught sight of her; his eyes instantly went to her cheek.

"Damn, girl, what happened to you," he asked, causing Marcus and Dom to turn as well. She blushed, shaking her head.

"It, ah, a bullet cut me," she said uncertainly. "Well… at least, I think it did." Cole chuckled, patting her shoulder.

"Good thing that's the only thing it did," he said. "You got lucky there, baby, looks like all you'll have is a nasty scar."

"Oh joy," she said dryly. The thought of a scar didn't bother her; the pain did. "I've never been shot before," she added with a sort of dazed wonder. Cole chuckled again, shaking his head.

"There's a first for everything, right?" he said with a wink, before looking up and past her. She looked over her shoulder to find Baird standing there, his eyes fixed on her cheek. She scowled at him, then promptly turned back around and headed to catch up with Marcus and Dom, Carmine in tow.

"Let's go check out what their hiding on boat number two," Marcus said, as the group headed down the ramp. The scarred Gear went around and pulled the lever as the others came down the ramp, the doors swinging open like before.

Except this time, one of the cells wasn't empty.

"Tai, is that you," Marcus asked, sounding incredulous. Allena's eyes widened as the large Gear stepped out of the cell, her heart aching for him. He was stripped down to the waist, and every inch of skin was covered in cuts and bruises- it was obvious he had been tortured. The others stared at their friend in horror, and for a moment it was silent.

"Marcus, we got more Locust on the way," Dom said suddenly, cutting through the stunned silence. Marcus glanced back at the Latino, then unhooked his shotgun from his back.

"Tai, let's go," he yelled, tossing the shotgun to the man. Allena watched the warrior from across the room as he looked at the shotgun like he didn't know what to do with it. "Cole, Baird, cover that door," Marcus instructed, turning his back on the man. "Carmine, Dom, cover the rear. Allena, I want you to check out Tai's wounds, do what you can for him." Allena leaned forward slightly- something was wrong.

A strange look came into the warrior's eyes, a painful, sorrowful clarity.

Allena watched in horror as the man lifted the shotgun, placing the barrel under his chin. "No, Tai," she shouted, bolting forward to stop him. The others turned at her cry; something grabbed her around the waist, stopping her short and spinning her away from Tai.

"Tai," She heard Marcus shout, and then a split second later a loud crack shot through the air, causing Allena to cringe. "No!" Allena bit down on her lip, closing her eyes tightly for a second- she didn't know if she could look. She opened her eyes and looked up at whoever had stopped her, all the fury and hrut from the past few hours piling up and breaking past her enternal barriers.

To her surprise, she found Baird staring down at her, his face unreadable.

"Why," she suddenly shouted. "Why did you stop me?"

"You would have gotten hurt, you idiot," the man snarled. She shoved him away from her, bristling angrily as her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

"I could have stopped him," she yelled, her eyes brimming with tears. "We could have saved him!"

"No offense, but he's a lot stronger then you," Baird snorted, his eyes narrowed. "If he wanted to kill himself, I doubt you could have stopped him." He looked up at Marcus, shaking his head. "I told you, man, they're breaking people! I could hear them screaming from the docks."

"I can't believe they did that to Tai," she heard the rookie say, his voice faint and a little squeamish sounding. "He… He survives everything… Doesn't he?"

"Let's just get the hell out of here," Marcus managed, before walking over to the warrior's body. Allena turned to watch as he knelt down and grabbed the man's tags, her heart beating painfully in her chest.

One thought blared through her muddled, confused thoughts- this shouldn't have happened.

She spun around, her eyes blazing as she made a beeline for Baird. Before she could stop herself, she drew her arm back and threw a punch, catching him in the jaw. The man stumbled back with a startled curse, obviously caught off guard. She cursed slightly, shaking her hand- damn, she didn't know that that would hurt her.

She looked up as the Blonde Gear got back to his feet, his blue eyes blazing. Cole and Carmine stepped in-between them, pushing the two away from each other. Allena didn't fight the rookie- she had done what she needed to. She glared at Baird for a moment, then turned away as she felt her angry mask breaking, her sadness surging up and causing tears to well up in her eyes.

"Allena," Carmine said, almost pleadingly. "Are you…"

"Let's just go," she said, her words harsher then she meant. "We should get out of here before the Locusts get here. Right?" The others nodded silently, each looking at the girl with different expressions. She suddenly felt small around them, as the silence bore down on them heavily.

"Yeah, let's go," Marcus finally said, relieving the tension to Allena's relief. "We don't want to be cornered on this thing." Allena wiped angrily at her eyes as she followed Marcus and Dom, ignoring everything else around her but the steady pounding of blood in her ears.