I try to push through, put I can tell I don t have a chance to get to him anytime soon, so I walk back up the stairs, sit against a wall, and try to wait. It s Hell, waiting. Waiting is always Hell, but this is the worst its ever been. I needed to see him. After what felt like hours, some people finally began to come up the stairs. The first group s up now, so I rush down, hoping I ll be able to get to him.
I pass others leaving as I hop down the stairway. By the time I m there, there s only about ten recruits besides Cade and me. Most of them are to the side, having their own discussions. One, however, is sitting right by Cade, who is laying in a hospital-like bed. The recruit has his head in his hands, never looking up, acting like he never will again. After looking around the room, a take a seat on the opposite side of Cade from the upset recruit.
Cade s wound was in his left shoulder, with a now bloodstained bandage wrapped around it. Besides that, he looks fairly okay. He s obviously still breathing, his face has lost only a little color. He looked better than I thought he would.
Hey OJ, over here, called a recruit from the second step, after walking down most of the steps.
The recruit, apparently known as OJ, looks up. He has a deep scar over his right eye. I almost gasp out of surprise. He looks like he s a little younger than me. He had a few tears running down his face.
Fine. One second," He replied.
"Oh. There s others down here," he muttered. "You guys come on up, too. Captain's callin' a meeting."
As I walk up the stairs I remember what Marc was telling me. One bloody amazing shot.
Someone runs up the stairs behind me, pushing me out of his way, breaking me from my thought. As I react the main deck, I can see how crowded it is. I see Fluke on his pedestal, preparing to speak.
"Quiet, quiet," He tells the crowd. "I know you're all wound up after that, but let me talk.
"Thank you. I know a lot of you are worried about our injured recruit, Mr. Ander. The medics have told me, thankfully, that he should be fine. After a good rest. We would get him somewhere where he could get better easily, but we really can t risk trying to get close to shore.
So about the previous mission, I wasn t fully honest with you guys. The crowd looks around at each other, some murmuring questions. That wasn t really our mission. We were honestly more of a distraction than anything.
Are you kidding me? I hear someone shout. Is that all they think of us?
Calm down. Please. I wasn t happy about the role when they first requested it either. But someone had to do it. And, might I say, I d say we did a pretty damn good job!
Some slight agreement came from the crowd.
Our job was to allow the ground units to infiltrate the city. And, because of us, they were able to do that, successfully. Thanks to a great shot from our newbie. Hedgehog, I think you guys have been calling him?
Some recruits turned their heads towards me. So it was me. I did that. How many people did I kill?
Great job man! It was an amazing shot! I hear other recruits say. I don t want to hear it. I didn t want to do that. Kill so many others, even if they did work for the Empire. The Empire I wanted to destroy. When I think about each enemy individually, they really don t feel like enemies.
Let me continue. One more thing. Please, Fluke continues. Thank you. A pause. Now, I have an announcement that will probably surprise most of you. A pause, longer this time.
What is it, Fluke? A recruit asks, mockingly.
C mon. At least have the decency to call me Will, he responds, partially joking, partially not. So, as I was saying. Our rebel force is planning an attack on the Capitol, led by the General. General Hollow, I think some of you guys call him? What s with you guys and nicknaming your authority? I ve heard the name float around. General Hollow. I ve known he s our leader, the main rebel against the Capitol. When I asked Cade what was up with nickname, he said it was because the guys thought his skull was empty, often making rash, unplanned decisions.
So, to complete his mission, he has asked me, and many other patrols, to send him the best we ve got. And today, I ve made my decision. The crowd gets seriously fired up.
That s me for sure! I hear someone proclaim. See ya Link, nice knowin ya! I hear behind me.
Guys! Let me finish, please. My God. As I said, I ve made my decision. I ll be sending three of you to Hollow for his attack. Firstly, as many of you would have guessed, Link will without a doubt be going.
I think I hear Link shout something about the resistance, but I can t be for sure through the congratulatory cheer towards him.
Seriously! Wait til the fuckin end! Fluke screams. Obviously agitated at the lack of respect, and how long it s taking him to tell us everything. Sorry, I m just, never mind. The second recruit being sent to our General will be, OJ.
What? I can t go! I hear to my left, presumably the recruit I saw downstairs. I can t leave Cade when he s half dead! What the hell do you think you re doing!? The anger in his voice scares me. I feel like they must have known each other before they joined the rebellion. I don t know how he could be so exuberant otherwise.
He s not half dead. He ll be fine! We have perfectly good medics here that ll take great care of him. Fluke responded.
Whatever. I ll leave once I see it. If you re lucky.
I guess I ll take my chances. The final recruit I m supplying to Hollow, for his plan is, after what he s shown today, our wbie, Hedgehog.