Episode 3 - Chapter 9: Briefing

(Headquarters on Floor 19 in The Tower - 20:19...)

"Look Brecken - we need more Antizin, I know," I heard an African-American Scout speak as I entered the Headquarters to see him, Jade, Libby, Rahim and Brecken in the middle of a briefing. Hi everyone, don't mind me since I just got chased by volatiles whilst getting Antizin for you! I'm perfectly fine now! "But buying from Rais?! You can't be serious!"

Hearing this, Jade rose to her feet with a frustrated "Oh for god's sakes, I'll go! I'm not scared!"

"Absolutely not, we discussed that already," Brecken scolded.

"No, we didn't discuss it!" The woman argued. "You just decided that you would make us stay here in prison, whilst you get yourself killed out there!"

"Now you know how Libby and I feel about the two of you keeping us here," Rahim scoffed with a grin, smugly rubbing his satisfaction in their faces with "How does it feel?"

"Rahim, stop it," My friend warned with a glare, quickly sending apologetic looks to Jade and Brecken.

"I'll go!" I interrupted. You guys aren't gonna get anywhere, if you're all fighting!

Cue the five survivors to whirl their heads in my direction and stare at me with complete shock ... before Jade cautiously asked: "Are you serious?"

"Well," I began calmly. "This Rais guy has never seen my face before. Clean slate, right?"

"Yeah, and he hasn't seen mine or Libby's faces either," Rahim agreed enthusiastically, addressing me with: "You okay with the two of us being your team mates?"

"Sur—" I attempted to answer, before Jade interrupted with a fierce "No, absolutely not!"

Hearing this, the older kid scowled desperately. "I know you and Brecken believe I'm irresponsible, Jade! Let me go, so I can prove to you that I'm the opposite of that! Please!"

The two overprotective adults were taken aback by Rahim's plea ... but the woman would not give in. "No. You two are the only family I have left, I can't lose you both and I won't,"

For f*ck's sake, woman!

Cue Rahim to get sent over the brink with rage. "It's always about you, isn't it?" Cue a very rude impression. "Oh hey there, I'm the world famous kickboxing champion who only gives a sh*t about the medals she earns instead of her useless brother and his best pal who are only allowed to sit on their *sses and watch everyone else get themselves f*cking killed!" And cue insults, despite Libby yelling at him to stop. "Well, f*ck you b*tch! Why can't you put other people's feelings first, for a change?!"

After his angry vent, Rahim stormed out whilst calmly addressing the younger girl with: "C'mon Libby," to which she sadly followed.

Meanwhile, I was left dumbfounded by the older boy's sudden outburst - yet I understood his and my friend's frustration. "Wow,"

"Sorry you had to see that, mate," Brecken apologised, appearing to also understand the kids' sides of things.

"No, it's alright," I reassured him, noticing that Jade looked really upset. "You okay?"

"Yeah," The woman replied bravely, briefly considering asking me the same question before holding back. "I'm perfectly fine,"

"Are you sure?" I pressed kindly, walking over to her.

"Of course!" She snapped icily, which stung quite a bit. Woah, I'm only looking out for you! Jade then sensed this and flashed an apologetic look. "Sorry,"

"It's fine, really,"

"No, it isn't," The woman disagreed sadly with a sigh. "I understand how the kids feel and I want to trust them with missions like this, but..."

"You're scared that you'll lose them like you lost Amir," I finished, feeling bad for her. "You know, you allowed Libby to help me and she came back in one piece. Rahim will be in safe hands too, that's if you're willing to let him help,"

"Do you promise to keep him safe?" Jade pleaded.

"Yes, of course," I replied, quickly glancing at Brecken and remembering our conversation in the hospital. "I'm a man of my word,"

Please consider this, guys!

K-R

(Meanwhile, on the Tower's Roof...)

I really wasn't looking forward to dealing with 31 when he first showed up, especially since Amir died because of him.

The latter was pretty much the older brother Libby and I never had; he loved to help people and he always went out to do so or collect airdrops with my best pal and the other scouts. Plus, he was the only person who treated us like we were adults ... unlike my initially world famous b*tch of a sister, Brecken and everyone else here in the Tower.

Amir was a friend to everybody and losing him out there hurt a lot! But on the bright side, I was able to get my revenge on 31 by pretending to be the Boss. Hope it taught that f*cker not to cause any more deaths...

Nowadays, I've realised that I may have been overreacting to Crane because he's proved himself to be a cool dude who treats my best friend and I like adults, similar to how Amir did. It was a lot fun interrogating the sh*t out of Yusuf with him and to be honest, I saw that as an opportunity to show him that I was more than just a d*ck - which was basically my way of fixing mistakes back then. I may have had moments where I behaved like an *sshole, but there were reasons for it and I felt that Libby was the only person left who understood my anger about feeling useless.

Looking back, I feel extremely lucky to have her as my best pal and I'm quite surprised that she stuck around, despite my occasional fits of rage. She was an absolute bad*ss during our time in that sh*thole (she still is!) and the fact that she has autism makes her even more awesome! Just like how I'd confide in her about issues I've been having, she'd talk to me about her own sh*t and after Amir died..., it honestly felt like we had each other. My sister, Brecken and everyone else in the Tower; they'd focus on themselves 24/7 instead of doing half of that and making an effort with us.

I mean, we were better than good before! Why the f*ck is this happening, I do not know!

"Do you ever wish that there were more people our age here?"

Hearing this, I turned to face Libby with concern. "What?"

"Do you ever wish that there were more people our age here?" My best friend repeated sadly, as the two of us sat on the roof and gazed at the pretty city lights ahead. "Considering we're now the only teenagers?"

"Yeah, all the time," I answered gently. "It would have been awesome to have more buddies here," So that we'd feel less lonely...

"Well, we have Kyle now, don't we?" The younger girl asked reassuringly with a forced smile.

"Who?"

"Crane," My best friend corrected with annoyance. "Sorry about that. Kyle is Crane's first name,"

"Oh!" I replied in understanding. Kyle Crane, huh? Cool combination of names, nice. "Don't worry about it, Lib. You're right as well, because he's proved himself a lot since yesterday," A look of concern then painted my face as I continued. "What do you think's happening downstairs, right now?"

"Kyle's probably getting Jade and Brecken to change their minds about us," Libby suspected, smiling. "I know I've had a chance to head out there already, but I want you to have a chance to do that too. Think about it, mate; us collecting an airdrop for example and having each others' backs whenever the infected hunt us down - awesome scenario, right?"

Hearing this, I chuckled. "Yeah, I agree. Here's hoping that we'll actually get to do that soon,"

"I'm sure we will, Rahim," My best friend spoke in a comforting manner, flashing a grin. "I think we just need to wait and see what happens first, and then take it from there,"

"Well, I'm not gonna argue with that," I agreed. Here's hoping that we get a good result, then...

Afterwards, I ended up losing count of how many minutes my best friend and I sat on the roof and talking about our sh*tty issues (loneliness for both of us, feeling useless in my case and discovering that her favourite singer may be working for Rais in Libby's case), but it didn't take very long for a friend to come up and visit us.

"Hey, kids," Crane greeted tiredly. "Figured I'd find you both up here,"

"Hey yourself," I responded, turning to see him approaching us. "S-Sorry about my fit earlier,"

"It's no problem, kid," Our friend reassured me. "I get what's it like,"

"Really?"

"Yeah, though that's something for later," The man revealed. "How are you both holding up, though?"

You already know how I'm doing, pal.

"Feeling better now that you're back in one piece," Libby answered shyly, prompting me to hold back a grin. "Lauren's okay and she's with the nursery kids too, in case you were wondering. You doing alright, as well?"

"I'll be honest," Crane responded. "I'm still trying to get over that airdrop, because I maaay have had a run-in with the volatiles," Cue the two of us to stare at him with worry, and him to smirk with amusement. "I'm still in one piece, though,"

"Good," I said sharply, calming down as I continued with: "So, what brings you to our safe haven?"

"Well," The man began, visibly taken aback for a split second. "I got some Antizin from the airdrop which is in the hospital now - but I'm heading to Rais' place, since it won't last long. I've been trying to get Jade and Brecken to change their minds about you guys coming with me, an—"

"And?" I snapped, prompting Libby to chide me with: "Rahim, let him speak,"

Hearing this, Crane smiled appreciatively before continuing sadly. "And don't shoot the messenger, but only Libby can go,"

WHAT?! I can't f*cking go too?!

My two friends looked disappointed as much as I was, and words couldn't describe how angry I felt at Jade's over-protective behaviour. What the f*ck happened to the awesome gal she was before, huh?! Why is she such a needy b*tch now too, will it ever stop?!

"Rahim, I'm so sorry," Libby apologised, deeply upset.

"Yeah, I'm sorry too, kid," Crane agreed sadly, flashing a concerned look when he noticed me clenching my eyes shut and squeezing my hands into fists to calm down. Don't have another fit, don't have another fit! "You okay there?"

"Y-Yeah, sure," I stammered, fighting to hold back my anger whilst opening my eyes. "You guys go, okay? I'll be fine,"

"Are you sure, Googles?" My best friend choked out, holding back tears.

Upon seeing her guilty expression, my heart gave a painful lurch and I forced a brave smile on my face. "Yeah. Don't worry about me, Lib, I'll be fine. Go get the Antizin and come back in one piece, alright?"

Please don't blame yourself for this, as well...

"Okay," Libby replied tearfully, rising to her feet as Crane addressed me with: "I'll look after her, kid. We'll see you soon,"

"Cheers," I thanked him, sadly watching them leave before I turned to violently throw an old beer can over in a fit of anger, screaming.

Why me, Jade?! Why me?!