Chapter 8 - Snaking Thorns.
I landed with a thump on the ground, their rough hands tossing me into the large cell. Sounds of shouting and moaning echoed down the hallway. I scrambled up, pounding my fists against the thick glass wall as they locked me inside and walked away. Katie looked up from across the hall, she too trapped inside a cell. Her eyes looked sullen and she wasn't smiling like she used to do. I slipped back down against the glass wall, burying my head in my knees. I looked up when I heard a clatter on the ground, it echoing throughout the dingy cell. A tray of food was sloppily laying on the ground, the mushy food on top of it a mixture of greys and browns. I begrudgingly crawl towards it and pick it up. I knew I'd throw it up later when they experimented on me again but I forced it down. It was only a snack anyway. They overfed us. Mostly due to a large of people puking up their lunches after the tests. I glanced back over at Katie who was staring out of the bar window at the back of her cell, her pale and clammy hands clutched around her legs. She was so small in the large fabric of the uniform she wore, it almost the same tone of colour as her fading skin. "Katie?" I rasped. She looked up with shock. "Are you okay?" Her eyes lock with mine and she shakes her head slowly. I place the palm of my hand against the thick glass, Katie doing the same. I give a small smile. Our moment is cut short when a pair of guards walked down the hall and roughly open my cell door. I'm ordered to back against the wall and with my back turned the grip onto my skinny wrists and dragged me away. I don't resist. There isn't reason anymore.
I wake up with a start, tumbling off of the bed. Vivid memories beginning to flood back like someone removed the dam from inside my head. With the good came the bad. I jolted out of bed and stumbled towards the dresser. Gripping tightly onto the piece of furniture, so hard my knuckles became a ghostly white, I looked out of the window. A faded yellow light trailed through the jungle, heading towards the building I was inside. It glowed in the dark night outside. I knew who it was and my wings flared in frustration. Amber had the gall to traverse the jungle in the dead of night to visit me. I sighed, sitting back down on the bed and placing my head on the palm of my hand. Moments later, a quiet knock rattled my window. I unlocked the hatch of the window and swung it open. Amber was standing outside, a mixture of fear and shock. The torch she was holding cluttered to the ground as she leaned over the window frame. I caught her by the underneath of her arms as she collapsed with a groan. "Amber?! What happened? Are you okay?!" I breathe, helping her inside and onto the bed. I realize quickly that she wasn't here for a visit. She was visually bleeding onto my sheets, turning them an even darker shade of red. "Shit. Amber, what happened?" I asked again, quickly getting into my uniform and shoving on my mask. She doesn't reply. I lift her carefully, slinging her over my shoulder as she hissed in pain. I rushed out of the room, heading towards the Infirmary. I pounded on the door, complaints rapidly slurred in german echoing from behind the door. Medic opened the door, his glasses slightly askew and an old-fashioned nightcap on his greying hair.
"Herr Pyro? Oh my. You can explain later. Schnell, get her onto the bed!" He shouted, slamming the door behind me as I carefully lay Amber on a cot. Sitting down on a wooden chair beside her, I gripped my hands around her own in a panic. Medic shambled over a vial of a cream like substance in one hand and a sterile needle in the other. I watched as Medic found the wound, a big tear in her back between her shoulder blades. He fixes her up rapidly, losing his cap along the way. After what seemed like hours, he wiped his hands clean and walked back over to me as I watched the monitor beside her beep slowly as she slept. "Vho is she, Pyro, and vhat happened?" Medic asked, pulling up a chair. I lift my hand up in hesitation, it wavering mid-air. I sigh from behind the mask. Slowly, I pull out a pad of paper and grabbed a pen from a nearby holder that Medic owned.
'She's my friend. I don't know what happened to her. Please don't tell anyone. She wouldn't be my friend anymore if someone did.' I write before passing it over to Medic. Medic sighs, his face contouring as he thought over my message.
"I von't tell, Herr Pyro. But I vill need somezhing in return for assisting you." He said a faint smile on his face. Although I didn't want to get involved with Medic's insane experiments, especially after what I witnessed in the forest earlier today but Amber's life was on the line.
'Fine.' I write in dismay. Carefully, without much protest from Medic, I lift Amber up from the bed, carrying her like a groom would his bride. Lucky that tomorrow is a ceasefire day again. I thought. I carry her out of the room and down the hall, shutting the Infirmary door behind myself as I left that room. Tossing my mask across the room, I lock the door. I put Amber down in the armchair that sat in the corner of my room before I gathered the dirty sheets. I fix the bed up with fresh linen and lay Amber back down on it before sitting in the same armchair and falling asleep.
I wake up a few hours later, sunlight streaming through the open window. Amber was sitting up on the bed, her red hair frizzy and blood still caked across her body. "Oh. You're awake." She squeaked when she saw that I was awake.
"You feeling better?" I asked, getting up from my seat and walking over towards her.
"Why did your Medic help me?" She questioned with a quiet voice. I sigh, sitting down beside her.
"To be honest, I kinda regret taking you to him. Although there was nothing I could do. I'm no doctor." I sighed, flopping against a pillow. Suddenly an idea pops into my head."I think we need showers. Wait here. I'm gonna go ask Sniper for something." Without waiting for a reply, I jump up before I stuffing my body into my uniform. Accidentally, I put my uniform back to front, earning a giggle from Amber before I fixed it. I stuffed my mask on and rushed towards Sniper's room. I knocked on the door quickly. Sniper opened the door, still in his pajamas and with a mug of hot coffee in one hand.
"Good-mornin'. Need somethin'?" He asked, sipping on the mug of coffee in his hand. I lift my mask up slightly, allowing my mouth to be seen.
"I need a favor," I whisper. He quirks an eyebrow. "I need to take a shower without being discovered."
"Hmmm. Fine. I could keep watch for you but you owe me one." He stated, holding out a hand. I shake it before rushing off. When I returned to my room, Amber was holding all of the plain toiletries I owned and a dry towel in her pale arms.
"I've got spare clothes you can have in my locker. Cmon. Sniper will keep watch." I told her, grabbing a dry towel. She follows me out of the room and I spot Sniper waiting at the entrance to the staircase. He frowns, spotting Amber. I ball my hand together and wave it in a threatening manner, shutting him up before he could say anything offensive.
"Everyone but Medic is down in the common room. Cmon then, mates." Sniper sighed, leading the way towards the shower room. Once we arrived inside, Sniper sat down on the wooden bench and sipped on his coffee. I pulled my clothes off and Amber removed her own bloodstained clothing before we went into one of the more open stalls. I slowly turn the tap on, looking at Amber as she stood next to me. Thick stitches now littered my counterpart's back. My wing preened themselves in the water as I grabbed the soap. When the room began to get steamy, Amber finally spoke.
"It was Spy." She said, rinsing her short hair of dirt. I look up at her in confusion.
"What?" I asked, feathers falling down the drain with the grimmy water.
"My Spy. He attacked me. I was heading towards the spring and he ambushed me. At least I think it was him." She stated, leaning against the tiled wall. "I'm an idiot." She sighed, placing her head in her palm.
"No you're not. Amber don't say that about yourself. I trust you even though you're the supposed enemy." I shouted, the only other sound the trickling of the water as it splashed down on the floor. Amber sighs before scrubbing the last of the soap out of her hair.
"This reminds me of highschool." Amber whispered with a smile. "I went to a boarding school and all the bathrooms were shared meaning the showers were open." I placed a hand gently on her shoulder.
"Cmon. We best get back. It's almost lunch time meaning someone will be looking for me." I turn off the faucet, Amber gathering the toiletries. We wrap towels around our waists before entering the main locker area. Sniper was still sitting on the bench, although he had a book in his other hand. I swung open my locker, pulling out clothing and tossing some towards Amber, who caught them breathlessly. They were a little tight on her slightly larger body but would have to do. Sniper looked up from his book and his eye widened in shock. I shove my mask on and look up.
"Hey, Sheila? What happened to yer back?" He asked, noticing the stitches in Amber's back. Amber froze, the unwanted attention startling her.
"It's nothing." She shyly whispered, her face becoming red. I steer her away and out of the room. We rush upstairs and into my room, locking the door behind us.I pull the mask off and watch as Amber flops onto the bed, laying spread out on her back. "You looked like you were about to set him on fire down there." She said, leaning onto a pillow.
"No I wasn't." I reply, a knock coming from the door that was followed by Soldier shouting about lunch. "You want lunch or do you wanna rush off?" Amber nods her head. I shoved the mask back on before walking downstairs and into the common room. Everyone was gathered around the large dining table, either standing or sitting. An array of sandviches littered the table. Silently, I grab two sandviches that were covered in cling wrap before heading towards the fridge. I grabbed two bottles of chocolate flavored protein shakes that Medic had started insisting we drink rather than actual chocolate milk. I had almost left the room when I heard someone shout my name. I turned around, my small bounty of food and drinks in my arms. Engineer walked over to me, slinging an arm around my shoulder and pulling me back in. I mumbled in protest but Engineer chuckled with a cheerful smile and pushed me into a chair. I put my bounty down and pulled out my pad and pen, scrawling how I had something to do. I shoved it to the center of the table before gathering my stuff and booking it. As I exited, I heard Heavy mumble something about my oddness but it didn't phase me. I entered my room, dropping the food and drink onto the bed from I removed my mask. I wiped sweat from my face as Amber looked at the sandviches. She unwrapped it and bit down on it, scattering a couple tomatoes onto the floor. We ate in silence till Amber abruptly got up. She looked out the window before speaking.
"I've got to go. My teammates will worry if I'm not back soon. Thank you for everything. I owe you one." She said, jumping out of the window and running off into the jungle.
I rushed through the trees, leaping from one branch to another as my wings flew through the air behind me. I watched as Spy and Medic halted by the spring, their voices mixing with the sound of the water. "Are you sure zhis will work?" I heard Spy say. Medic laughed.
"Of course it vill vork. Ve slip zhis into the ground and zhey vill know vhere to attack."
"Hans, zhis is a terrible idea. You have no idea what zhat man is capable of. I've seen him myself."
"To vin a var zhere must be some casualties, Herr Spy. You of all men should know zhat." Medic sterly stated, pointing a finger at the man in red. I leant against the tree, causing a bird to flutter out in shock. It cawed every loudly, causing the two men below to look up. Startled, I backed up, almost toppling off the branch. "I must go. If anyone comes zhis vay you are to do your job." Medic snapped, walking in the direction of the RED base and leaving behind a slightly startled Spy. The man below pulled out his butterfly knife, flipped it and slipped into the bushes.
