Bella
Bella opened the hatch to the cell where the lighter skinned strange woman was being kept. She was lying on the bed, hands behind her head, staring at the ceiling. She closed the hatch and turned to Zxander and Dayo. Leven stood next to her, almost shoulder to shoulder. Or, she would have been if Bella wasn't five foot one, and Leven a willowy five foot eight.
"She's still awake. She doesn't look that dangerous. I say we go in." She went to turn the key, but Zxander put his hand over hers.
"Seriously? Where were you yesterday? Because I thought you were out in the wilds with me, getting your lip busted by three underfed strangers, but apparently you were taking a walk in a meadow of flowers and bunnies." He tapped her playfully under the chin. Dayo and Leven laughed, making Bella bristle. At nineteen, she was probably the youngest person still considered an adult in Elysium, and everyone let her know it. She furiously pushed his hand away and scowled.
"Yeah, by the man. She didn't do anything. Probably still weak from that stab wound..." Bella trailed off. Leven and Dayo shook their heads in disgust.
"If I'da known, I'da have never shot the taser at her. Done more harm then good." Dayo's deep Southern voice was full of self reproach.
"It's standard procedure my friend. Subdue strangers, eliminate any possibility of them being dangerous, don't let them see our location and then evaluate." Zxanders eyes flicked towards the cell. "I wonder...what happened to her. And which of her friends dressed the wound."
"Come on in, and I'll tell you." Bella and Leven jumped away from the cell door as the voice rang from inside. The four of them stared at the door for a moment. Then Bella walked forward.
"She's chained to the wall by her ankle," she reasoned with the others. "What harm can she do me?" She entered the cell, but before she could close the door, Leven slipped in behind her.
"Two bodies are better than one, non?" Bella didn't like to admit that the Frenchwoman's presence reassured her, but she nodded. She studied the woman on the cell bed. She was slim, olive skinned and brown haired. Her ears were littered with studs, and one sparkled from her left nostril. Like most people they picked up from the wilds, her hair was messily tied back in a pony tail, her eyebrows wild, her hands and fingernails dirty. After supervising her shower, Bella knew the woman had more piercings in her belly button and three tattoos. She also knew she was covered almost head to toes in scars. All, but one, were old and faded. Jack, their resident medic had wanted to prescribe antibiotics to clear any infection, but Dayo had said no. There was no point, unless she passed the physical, wasting valuable medicine. And she didn't show signs of infection. So she could wait. Straightening her back, Bella cleared her throat.
"Ma'am. My name is Isabella Rambin. This is Caporal Chief Leven Furhman, of the Chassuers Alpins. We're here to explain to you the procedure that you're to undertake over the next few days." The woman turned her head to face them. Dark brown eyes. A nasty scar down one cheek. Bella was suddenly certain that this woman would pass the physical with flying colours. The look in her eyes was one of a fighter and saviour, someone who was use to weighing up the opposition, to finding the best way out of a tight spot. She could see her doing it now, taking in the small brunette woman with the child like face, and the tall slim blonde French woman who blocked the door. She would have heard that Zxander and Dayo were just outside that door, and beyond them, countless others. She knew all that, and so she was forming a plan of sorts. Slowly, the woman sat up and stared at them.
"You look very young." Bella swallowed her indignation.
"I'm nineteen years old ma'am." The woman leant her head to one side.
"Do you mean you were nineteen when the walkers came, or you're nineteen now?" Bella looked at Leven in confusion. Leven shrugged, equally confused.
"I...I was nineteen when the...walkers...started to rise ma'am yes." The woman nodded in satisfaction.
"Then you're probably twenty. Congratulations, you're no longer a child." Bella stared for a moment, then regained her composure.
"You...you're currently residing in a holding cell in Elysium. This is only until you take your physical, upon which you will either be made an offer of residency, or be taken back to the wilds, to continue your travels. The physical is..."
"Elysium?" The woman interrupted. "Isn't that, like, some sort of heaven?"
"It is." Leven interrupted, obviously irritated by the woman's questions. "The Elysium fields were a part of the afterlife the Greeks believed were reserved for great heroes and righteous men." The woman looked amused.
"And that's where I am. In a city full of heroes and righteous men? That attack and kidnap strangers and lock them up?" She laughed, clapping her hands. "You're all insane." Bella stiffened. She could imagine how it looked to this woman, but how could she explain.
"The process of your attainment, is necessary to protect current citizens. If the location of Elysium is known to persons other than those loyal to Elysium, then there is risk of undesirables trying to storm the city and preventing the achievement of the Elysium dream." The woman snorted.
"And what is that dream?"
"Taking back the world from the dead." Bella spoke without hesitation.
"Creating a new race of human. A race of strong, resourceful people." Leven added. The woman scowled.
"I've had enough of that crap from the Nazi fuck who stabbed me." Bella shock her head briskly.
"Not a pure master race ma'am. Not like that. Just a race of strong people, who fight, take down walkers, who support the rehabilitation and re population of the earth. That's what the physical is for. To separate Elysium from the lucky. Doesn't matter if you're black, white, Hindu, whatever. If you can fight, and you can train, you can stay." Bella was aware that her voice had risen slightly, as it tended to do when she spoke about the Elysium dream. But the woman was finally still. She sat up straight and looked at the pair straight for the first time.
"Is this all for real? A safe place to stay, to live, and all you want from me, is the commitment to take down a few walkers?" Bella nodded. The woman thought for a moment. Then more to herself then anyone else, she muttered "what do I have to lose?"
She attempted to get to her feet, but the chain around her ankle pulled her back. Sighing, she held out her right hand.
"Georgina Powell. I want in."
"Your official physical will be in three days," Bella ignored the hand and carried on with her spiel. "In those three days you will have time to prepare and..."
"Fuck the preparation. You find me a walker and a knife, and I'll show you exactly what I can do. Stab wound or no, by the time I'm done, you won't just want me living here, you'll want me training you."
If Georgina had been shouting, or at all aggressive in her tone, Bella would have ignored her. But her voice was simply quietly confident. Bella suddenly wanted to see the woman fight. She wanted to see her use the bow she had been carrying. She wanted to see her take on a walker. But she didn't say any of this.
"It's not up to us Miss Powell. But I will ask. For now, you should rest." She turned on her heels and walked out of the cell, Leven close behind her. Zxander and Dayo stared at them both as they exited.
"She seems...eager." Dayo mused, opening the hatch. "Too eager maybe?"
"We don't know where she 'as been." Leven reminded him. 'Maybe this is a heaven to her. To be safe after wondering in the wild. 'Ou would not want to be in here, rather than out there?"
"Yes but..." Zxander, Dayo and Leven fell into a discussion about the woman. Bella didn't hear any of them. She simply looked through the hatch at Georgina, sitting, idly playing with the sleeves of her shirt, occasionally bringing the fabric up to her face.
"No one gets scars like that through luck," she thought to herself. "I'm going to be at that physical examination. I want to see the action."