To Leah's surprise, the world outside the Veteran's Center hasn't really changed. Trees are still standing tall, their crowns swaying in the cold wind. A bush rustles to her right as a critter hides in the underbrush, Leah stops to see if she can spot what kind of animal is crawling around in there. A small patch of grey is visible between the branches, unmoving. A cold breeze sweeping her hair in her face almost makes her topple to the side as she crouches down to get a better look. She cranes her neck over the puffs of breath that make it hard for her to see anything.
A big sigh travels to her ears. It must be the fourth or fifth one today. Jacob's features are blank as he stands over her, but a grin is tugging at the corner of his mouth. A stone flies into the bush from her left, Leah's sure she sees Jacob's leg move at the same time, forcing the rabbit into flight mode. The blur of grey fur disappears into the woods, a crow caws after it overhead of her.
"What, you think it woulda came out if you'd sang to it, like a little Disney princess?", Jacob says to her after Leah shoots him a sour look from where she's still crouching in front of the bush.
It had been her idea to walk in the first place. Jacob regretted it soon enough. The little stint of being outside to reach the boat rental is a mere blur in her mind, all she can remember are the trees flying past her when she was on her way, not knowing if she would bring back a corpse with her. Leah's making up for all the time she's spent inside the Center, every movement and sound makes her ears perk up, head swiveling around on her shoulders.
The chill makes her bones creak inside her as she rises, the snow isn't here yet, it can't be long though. A flush of red spans across Jacob's nose and cheeks, bitten from the cold air, Leah's sure she's no different. Her hair fares okay as protection for her ears from the cold but it's certainly not ideal, she never remembered to bring a hat to Hope County.
"Come on, we could've been there yesterday by now.", Jacob says as he turns around.
"I'm trying to enjoy my first free day in months, sorry I'm not marching at a soldier's pace."
Leah actually has to take a couple jogging steps to catch up to Jacob. He does slow down a little bit, the smile from before still tugging at his mouth.
"You coulda just said something, going outside isn't illegal.", he grumbles next to her, keeping his pace consistent.
Why does it feel illegal, though? Leah can't wrap her head around the idea of going up to Jacob and telling him she's taking a day off. Let alone Stephanie.
"Oh hi, hello. I'm taking today off, see you tomorrow!"
It's because she's not doing regular work. This is her life, there's no employer to watch over her, no paycheck at the end of the month. There's no one to replace her if she's out, sure, Stephanie is a good contender, but at the end of the day, Leah's the heart that beats within the ward. The fabric of her has completely fused with the Veteran's Center, being outside feels odd.
"Who would replace me if something were to happen to me?"
Jacob snorts in response.
"Nothing's going to happen to you."
"But hypothetically, if-"
"Nothing's going to happen Leah."
His tone glides on an edge, a warning only, but there.
Leah's eyes fall on the rifle slung around Jacob's upper body. It's for wild animals, he had told her. Leah can't shake the feeling he doesn't just have four legged predators in mind. Her thoughts are shaken off by a gust of wind hitting her in the face from head on. Her vision swims as the bite of the cold washes over her, her foot catches on something but her stumbling feet are pulled up straight again as Jacob's hand clamps around her shoulder. It takes a couple of steps to find a rhythm for her, Jacob's strides are so much longer than hers, but as Jacob shows no sign to take his arm off her, so she takes the opportunity to snake her arm around his back.
Her right side is heating up as they continue to walk on, it's her own body heat that rises, Jacob's warmth is held in by his own thick jacket. Physical closeness isn't something she thinks she could miss, but her body tells her otherwise.
"What's your favorite colour?"
His voice over her head takes her out of the thoughts.
"Um, red, I guess?"
His answer is an acknowledging 'mhm' in his chest. Leah's eyebrows draw together.
"Where's this coming from?"
"Let's take a right here.", is all she gets as he pulls her alongside him.
The terrain gets steeper, they pass the treeline into a forest immediately after a car shoots down the road behind them. Leah cranes her neck after it but Jacob continues to walk on like he doesn't have her pressed to his side. The trees around them are dense, one next to another, barely any light gets through the thick tree tops, Leah's eyes have trouble adjusting. The thick brush is stiff with the cold, she has to lift her feet a lot higher so as to not catch onto something again. The calm ambiance around them is disturbed by their combined footsteps, the crunching under their soles resounds off the trees.
Jacob and Leah are forced apart as they encounter a long since dead tree that fell over before Leah probably ever walked into a hospital. Moss covers the entirety of it, Leah doesn't lift her leg high enough as she steps over it, her pant leg scraping against the bark and she lets out a loud sigh as she bends down and examines the streak of dirt on it.
"Why red?", he asks in a rather quiet voice.
Leah lifts her head from examining the fabric of her pants up to him. His arms are crossed, the barrel of his .50 cal peeks up behind his shoulder. Her eyebrows draw together in questions as she says with a quiet laughter: "Why do you want to know all of a sudden?"
Jacob just shrugs, his head cocking to the side, still waiting for an answer.
"It's warm, it's simple, all shades of it suit me. I guess that's why."
Little puffs of breath leave Jacob's slightly open mouth, his eyes roam her.
"Yeah, red would suit you, alright."
There's a beat of silence between them, their eyes are just locked onto each other. Leah thinks about kissing him, in this forest, no one around them, a moment to share just between them. Her chest gets tight, warmth spreading from the knot. The heat makes her body heavy, her limbs move sluggish as they continue on. Leah hides the smile spreading over her face in her jacket, her hands in her coat pockets ball into fists with giddyness. Her bewilderment about his sudden question is only half true, excitement about his inquiry also goes alongside it. It's not a weird question, not even a personal one, but it signals his desire to get to know her better. That's what Leah tells herself at least.
They don't get to sit down over dinner and talk, they don't get to go on dates or do any other activities. Preparing for the Collapse takes up everything they have, Jacob's and his brothers' lives especially, Leah knows.
"What's yours?", Leah asks as the edge of the forest comes into view.
Jacob thinks about his answer for quite a while.
"Don't know, guess I don't have one. Ma always used to say that green looked good on me. Back when she used to talk."
He clears his throat.
"Got any hobbies? Something you do when you're not workin'?"
It's Leah's turn to snort. Even if she did, she has no time.
"What, wanting to know things about my girl is funny?"
Her feet keep on walking, but her thoughts grind to a screeching halt. Her body is set ablaze by the two words. She squeaks out a tiny 'no' in response, her tight throat preventing her from forming an eloquent answer.
My girl.
On the one hand, Leah is happy that things are clearer to her now, but she also doesn't know how to behave. She has an answer for every question in the ward, if she doesn't, she'll figure one out. No one has ever called her 'my girl' in a way that she actually believes it. And she really doesn't know what to make of it. Thinking of herself as Jacob Seed's girlfriend is laughable at best, not that she would openly tell anyone what was going on between them, but if she were to, she knows those words would never leave her.
"So, do ya?"
He's picked up on it, Leah can hear his smug smile in just his three words and all she wants to do is bury her face in her hands. She wants to tell him to take his attitude elsewhere, but she would just fuel his fire more by looking him in the face with her flushed cheeks and glossy eyes. She has trouble thinking of an answer, her pulse thrums in her ears, but she doesn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her flustered.
"Not really, don't have time for anything anyways."
"Would ya want to do something if you had more time?", his ruthless pace has slowed a bit as the edge of the forest comes into view.
It's hard for her to think right now anyways, it feels as though Jacob's words made her senses sharper in regards to him. Every breath of his resounds in her ears, his little grunts as he steps over branches give her goosebumps. Thinking about what she would do if she had more time, which, let's be honest, will never happen, exceeds her brain capacity right now. With a long hum, she tries to give herself more time to come up with something simple to tell him. Her eyes are glued to the floor, her arms stretching out to give herself more balance.
"I like the shooting, I like walks, it's not something I get to do, but I don't mind."
She does not expect to get pulled behind a tree as an answer, but when the initial surprise has passed over her, she hears it too. Rustling, very quiet, but not one of the sounds that had been around them until now. The bark of the tree digs into her back, the cold elevating the little stings on her skin. Jacob leans on her, his upper body slanted to the left to peek out from behind the tree, eyes already looking down the sights of his rifle.
Not being able to see what may be behind her makes Leah's pulse spike again. Her eyes shoot back and forth between the trees, trying to give herself a small sense of security that nothing's coming at them from this side.
Jacob's chest slowly pressing into hers as he draws calm breaths make her heart slow down, she still feels safe when she's around him. Nothing of the acid that ran through her the last time he was so close to her is there anymore.
Leah can't tell if the rustling gets louder or if it's just moving parallel to them, she strains her ears to make out any sound she can. She moves her head ever so slightly to see Jacob, still as a stone, still looking for the source of the sound. His face is no indicator for what is out there, the rifle swaying back and forth as he keeps looking. He breathes a few more breaths before lowering his rifle, eyes closing with a smile to the ground. Tension leaves Leah's jaw and chest at his gesture.
"Being with you is making me jumpy as shit. Can't believe I almost shot a skunk."
She can't help but smile at his sentence, big and bad Jacob Seed, startled by a skunk. A feeling rises in her, an overwhelming pull. Her hands look small on his cheeks, his beard is rough under them as she pulls him close. The kisses are slow, almost shy. Small pecks peppered in between smiles and drawn out smooches. Jacob's hands don't leave his rifle, the only point of contact between them are their lips and Leah's hands on his face. She remembers that Jacob thinks of her as his girl, and she never wants to stop kissing him.
He looks like he wants to tell her something as they pull apart, but he decides against it. The calm atmosphere lingers around them as they gaze into each other's eyes, both smiling from ear to ear. Their combined breaths mingle in between their faces, Leah smoothes a hand over Jacob's hair, putting a particular strand back into place.
"Let's go, we're not far away."
A satisfying quietness falls over the rest of their way, the hill descends right after they pass the tree line out into the open. Without the trees around them, the wind becomes more cutting again, Leah buries her lower face in her jacket again while trying not to trip down the hill. She decides to just let go and awkwardly run down the rest of the hill. digging her feet into the earth to slow down once she's on flat terrain again. She looks up to Jacob who still takes the slower approach, alternating between sliding and stepping down the hill sideways. Behind her sounds the familiar clanks and shouts that have been going on at the Veteran's Center. She tears her eyes away from Jacob's descent and takes a couple more steps down a winding road around until the front yard of the water filtration plant of the McKinley dam spans out under her.
Jacob catches up to her soon enough, Leah's still trying to take everything in. The forecourt looks smaller than she imagined, the entrance has to be underneath her, nestled into the mountain. She hasn't seen the inside, yet she's already thinking about spending seven years here, when the world falls around them. A hand on her back pushes her to continue on walking down the gravel road.
A woman looks up from the crate that she's been prying open, her eyes turning to slits as she spots Leah first. A moment later, she apparently sees who accompanies her and her hand slowly retracts from the gun she was reaching for, like a child being caught sneaking candy out of a cupboard. A sharp whistle resounds through the forecourt and all work suddenly halts.
Leah looks to Jacob, hoping to find any reassurance in him, but his face conveys nothing, his eyes look straight ahead. All people turn towards them and Leah's stomach churns, attention has never been something she handles well. Jacob is never bothered by it, he seems natural in this setting, he belongs here.
A few greetings pass by her ear as they reach the tarmac of the forecourt, Leah is a step behind Jacob, she's never seen a single face here before. Whispers among the Center revealed that family from all over the county has been brought out here to build the Gate. The amount of people has to have tripled ever since Leah joined Eden's Gate.
They approach a small man standing next to a crate, and Leah has to retract her statement. She knows him, he's been hovering around Jacob ever since she came up into the Whitetail Mountains, his right hand of sorts. His beady eyes don't linger on Leah for a second before he bows his head slightly to Jacob. While they talk about a shipment of mattresses and bunk beds, Leah's eyes glide over her surroundings. She sees people averting their heads as she looks over to them. Her stomach drops lower. She's never been one for rumours and gossip, but the people of Eden's Gate are still humans that have flaws. There are looks thrown her way, whispers exchanged, she sees a young woman pointing at her, saying something to the man next to her. Leah keeps her head low again, hiding her face in her jacket. Her ears are painfully hot, her skin is crawling with the burning stares she feels.
She's saved by Jacob motioning to the entrance to her, saying goodbye to the man in front of him. The soundscape picks up again as they ascend the steps onto the entrance platform. The heavy steel door stands wide open, two Chosen beside it. The inside is dark, Leah feels like she's looking into an open maw of a monster. She only ever thought she would enter this door one time and exit it one time as well. Going into it now brings along a feeling she can't place. Like going into the empty shell of a house that's being built, you know it will be a home eventually, but the current state says nothing of the same.
Concrete walls line her sides as they make their ways through long corridors, steel beams jut out of the ceiling, the air is stale and cold. Sounds of heavy machinery reverb through the corridors, screeching tools and thumps of hammers. Jacob is still quiet, his boots add into the mix of all the sounds around them. Leah focuses on the rifle on his back as he walks in front of her, an uneasy feeling lingering within her.
It could take years before she has to live out seven years here, it could also merely be days. No one knows when the Collapse will strike, only that it's drawing nearer every day. She never expected it to feel like a nice welcoming home down here, but the thought of spending her time between these walls, caged in, with no natural night or ever hearing the sound of birds chirping in the morning is heavy in her chest.
Her mind draws up all the things she will have to take care of then. God help her if a virus develops down here, she makes a mental note to read up on Scurvy if she's back on the ward.
"You okay?" Jacob grumbles in front of her as she sticks her head into a room lined with bunk beds.
A few people are resting, the sight is depressing, really. The room is cold, almost lifeless. It's practical, sure, but not somewhere where you would want to lay your head to rest every night.
Leah stands to look at Jacob.
"I just can't imagine being down here for so long." she sighs.
A bad feeling is nagging at her, she should be more grateful. She was chosen as a part of the family that will rise again after the world crumbles. Seven years down here is nothing compared to the time afterwards in the new world. The Armory is not supposed to be a nice home, it has to serve a purpose.
Purpose, Leah. Remember yours.
She draws her shoulders back and lifts her head higher again. She won't lose her purpose down here. She'll have to double down and fulfill it even better, the hard times in the Center will be child's play compared to here.
Jacob's face is somber as he looks at her.
"Forget what I said. Is there a medical facility in planning?" Leah asks him, hoping to deter him from what she just said.
His look only shifts slightly, a little more light in his eyes and the hint of a smile on his lips.
"Come on, I'll show you."
They descend further into the plant, another couple flights of stairs later, Leah finds herself in another corridor that looks exactly like all the other ones. She's going to need an extensive map if she's ever to find her way around here. The only thing different here is that there are no sounds coming from anywhere. All she hears is the low continuous hum of the lights above her, construction probably hasn't reached down here just yet.
The room is empty. Another four walls of concrete span out in front of her after Jacob pulls open another heavy steel door. It's spacious, but maybe half the size of the ward in the Veteran's Center. Dread claws its way up Leah's throat again. More people to care for, less space.
"I know it's not much now, but we're working on it."
A big breath leaves Leah, her stomach is doing cartwheels again. This flip flopping back and forth between wanting to do her best, fulfill her purpose, and anxiety about everything that comes with life in a bunker is tiring.
She wonders if she'll be sleeping alongside others again. More anxious feelings flood her as she thinks back to the room full of bunk beds.
Her internal conflict shows on the outside, Jacob's hand comes to rest on her back.
"We'll be ready for anything that may come. And once we're down here, we depend on you to keep us healthy. You'll fulfill your purpose."
Leah wants to cry, his words don't help. She likes to shoulder responsibility, but if thinking about what awaits her here makes her queasy, she may be out of her depth.
"Can I get something to drink?" Leah turns to him, trying to hide her insidious feelings behind a small smile.
The kitchen eases her mind for a while, it looks normal, like you would expect. People on breaks shuffle around her, she sits at a small table, Jacob having gone off somewhere again, promising to pick her up in 10 Minutes again. She eyes her steaming mug of tea, hoping it warms her up at least a little when she's finished with her glass of water.
A figure at a table in the back catches her eye. They're obscured by shadows, the light fabric of their jacket the only thing that's clearly visible. Slumped over and just all around not looking good, they're also holding a mug, the same white one that Leah has in front of her. Their head is falling until a startle makes them shoot up again, looking around to see if anyone noticed. The lack of visible hair in the shadow tells Leah that a Chosen is desperately trying to stay awake at the table she's looking at.
She feels sorry for them, while her work can be tiring sometimes, it's at least a mental challenge as well. Patrolling and guard duty has to be exhausting.
The hands clutch the mug again, the dark skin a heavy contrast against the white ceramic. Leah should stop staring, maybe she can tell Jacob to let them off duty for a little while so that they can rest up.
But as their head dips down again and his hands get slack around the mug, the sleeve of their jacket rides up ever so slightly, revealing a bandage around the wrist of the figure. Could it be?
In a moment where Leah thinks no one is looking, she slides into the chair at the table, setting her mug down again. The Chosen lifts his head in surprise and his whole body goes rigid in an attempt to cover up that he's seconds away from falling asleep at this table. The light is low, but she can see him recognizing her in his eyes.
"Connor." Leah whispers over the table. His eyes go wide at the mention of his name.
"What are you doing here?"
Oh god he sounds like death. His vocal cords are blown, his voice sounds like he has a handful of gravel stuck in his throat. Bloodshot eyes look her up and down, the tiredness returning to them once he realizes Leah isn't somebody that will reprimand him for sleeping on the job.
"I just came here to see how things are going. What's up with you? Why's your wrist bandaged?"
Connor's eyes flick down to the bandage peeking out from under his sleeve, quickly pulling it back over it again.
"That thing came back. I cut it out this time."
It's Leah's turn to stare at him.
"You did what? Why didn't you come see me?"
He takes a sip of his tea before speaking again.
"Can't really do that when you're in the field. Besides, it's not infected or anything, it doesn't even hurt anymore."
Leah wipes her hand over her face, she can't believe he would do something like wants to scold him for doing dumb stuff like that. He's incredibly lucky that he didn't do any more damage to his hand and somehow avoided infection. Leah can't picture any way that wouldn't happen, patrolling the mountains can't be a clean job. But something else seems to be gnawing at him still.
"What's going on with you then? I saw you nodding off a couple of times there."
His eyes nervously shoot around the room, Connor's still afraid that someone might hear them talking. Jacob could be back here any second. But everytime they talk he seems to open up to Leah just a bit more.
"I feel like shit. My throat hurts so bad, even drinking fucking hurts."
Leah's head perks up.
"Anything else?"
"My eyes can't handle light anymore. I just feel like I was run over by a truck. What are you doing?"
Leah's fumbling with her holster, putting her gun on the table afterwards. Connor continues to eye her as she gets to work on prying off the small light that's attached to the barrel of her Glock.
"Take off your mask." she tells him, standing at his side a second after she took the light off.
Her medical voice thankfully works and Connor carefully pulls his mask off. Leah sticks the small light between her teeth as she lifts both her hands to feel for Connor's lymph nodes. She doesn't even have to feel around a lot, both her fingers glide over his skin and she can feel the swollen nodes right away. She could have him packing his things right then and there, but she wants to make sure.
The small white dots on Connor's tonsils put the final nail in the coffin for him. Leah turns off her flashlight just as someone comes up behind her.
"What's going on here?" Jacob grumbles.
His face is dark, eyes searing into the point where Leah's hand lies on Connor's shoulder.
"He's got mono. We have to get him out of here before he can infect someone else."