Kaylin woke up, sore and stiff, to knocking on her door. She sat up in her bed as Adolfo came in, smiling, wearing the same uniform as yesterday, but with different clothes underneath.
"Morning Kay," he said, then raised his arms, "I've got breakfast for you."
Kaylin rubbed her shoulder and looked at the tray that Adolfo had in his hand, shutting the door behind him. She wasn't sure if she was looking forward to eating more puddings, but her stomach growled despite her uncertainty. She reminded herself that she needed to, and not just for her benefit.
"Thank you Adolfo."
Kaylin rubbed her arm where the scrape from the concrete had scabbed over and now was begging to be scratched open. She did not comply; she was running out of bandages in the first aid kit.
Adolfo handed her the grey-ish green tray and she swung her legs over the side of the bed, setting it down in her lap. She stirred one of the puddings, a light green color that smelled like toothpaste. Adolfo pulled up the metal folding chair as she tested the green pudding, confirming it was some kind of mint flavor. She'd save it for last.
As she moved the spoon to investigate a near-pink crème-colored pudding she noticed that Adolfo was still smiling. It was contagious, and she pursed her lips to try to not smile herself, "what's so funny?" she finally asked. She was certain it was her hair, or that she had lines on her face from the fabric of the pillow.
"Ah well," he said and leaned back in his seat and undoing his vest, revealing the grey tank-top underneath a bit more, "this morning sarge and the others reviewed the tape to confirm that I was telling the truth about what that dick was trying to do to you. Funny thing is that while the camera was covered, the sound was still coming through just fine."
Adolfo chuckled, and Kaylin poked at the pink pudding waiting for the point of his story, unhappy to relive the still-raw memories, "sarge heard the 'butch lesbians' bit and… well… almost ripped 'Mr. Happy' off," Adolfo grinned wide and Kaylin forced a frown, which only made Adolfo laugh, "well he's been stripped of rank and sent out to live with the gangs for a while, the Skulls'll likely pick him up. I hope he does something stupid when they do."
Kaylin shook her head at Adolfo's humor; she hoped the marine would be alright. If he was going to be dropped with other prisoners like everyone else, he better hope the Skulls would get to him in time. Kaylin wasn't there to rush to their safety anymore. Was anyone in the gangs wondering where she was by now? Surely the Mels expected her to return, but maybe they didn't care anymore.
Kaylin pushed her pain to the side, along with the deep stomach feeling that she hoped the marine would at least be punched in the face or something, and distracted herself with food again. She found that the pink pudding tasted close enough to strawberries to actually enjoy.
"Can she really do that?" Kaylin finally asked and Adolfo cocked an eyebrow. Kaylin toyed with another one of her puddings, one that looked to be taupe in color, "she can just, hit you, beat you and throw you out like that? Aren't there protocols?"
Adolfo's lips thinned and he leaned back a little in his chair, "we've been here a long time Kay," he finally said, the happy edge gone from his voice, "some of us have been here near eleven years. Yeah we have rules and protocol, but the truth is most no one really cares anymore. Some of us, like me, have been living with those gangs and… it's rubbed off on us…."
Kaylin's eyes flashed up to Adolfo, remembering that he had brought her the syringes that she had lost in the fire. She remembered what he said, that his was used for xeno zip.
She didn't say anything. The camera was on. She didn't need another enemy in this place.
"How long has the sergeant been here?"
"She's one of the eleven-years ones," Adolfo said, relaxing a little, "she was here with the first team since we were hired, and they just kept sending more and more of us in. She's the only one in charge really, don't know why, we're basically and entire base here, there should be more higher-ups."
Kaylin shook her head. She knew nothing of military rank, but she filed the information away.
"Don't like that one?" Adolfo asked and Kaylin looked at the taupe-colored pudding she had been stirring.
"Oh," she took a bite and looked at Adolfo, smiling, spoon still in her mouth. Maple and brown-sugar oatmeal. It was perhaps the closest flavor so far.
"Yeah, that one's my favorite too," he smiled back. There was no real conversation after that. Adolfo asked about her wounds but there was nothing to do for them now except let them heal. He waited until she was finished with all the puddings and took the tray with him outside, leaving her alone in the room again. She turned back on her bed and wrapped her arms around her knees, giving a glance to the camera and looking at the metal folding chair leaning against the wall. She wished Adolfo could stay, although she knew he couldn't. She felt a little bad, getting information out of him that he was maybe not supposed to be sharing. And felt a little worse at the plans she was making with that information.
How many people was an entire base in the marines? Quite a bit she had to guess, but probably not as much as there were gang members outside. That many guns would make things near impossible. She frowned and conceded to the fact that she was probably going to die in this place, whether she made a move or not.
She laid back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, grey concrete like the rest, dark lines suggesting water had gotten to it at some point. She let her mind wander, rubbing the scarred flesh on her hand. There was no clock here, no telling of time. She could only guess it was morning, noon or night by when Adolfo brought her meals, assuming that he was being punctual about it, but as he said, no one there really cared anymore. She wasn't sure how far underground she was, or even if she was on the first level of the compound. There were a lot of unknown variable to take into account….
She jolted suddenly when the there was a knock on the door and the sergeant's loud voice screamed at her through the metal, "wake up prisoner you have a visitor!"
Kaylin narrowed her eyes, rubbing the salt out of them, unsure of when she had fallen back asleep, but wondering more who could possibly be there to see her. Not Adolfo, he came in whenever he wanted. Had Cee tracked her here? Were the gangs outside? That would be bad, they had no bargaining chip and limited ammunition. She hoped it wasn't any of the gangs; she didn't want that bloodshed on her conscience.
She swung her legs over the bed and stood to her feet, dropping her hand from her eyes as the door opened. It swung with a pained screech she did not recall it having before as it opened all the way into the room and a man stepped inside. Kaylin's hand reflexively curled into fists and her breath caught in her throat.
"Nice to see you again Miss Carnica."
Kaylin tried to move back, forgetting that the bed was directly behind her. She stumbled, forcing her eyes to break from the cold ones of her visitor. She looked back at the bed and closed her mouth, tightening her jaw and turning again to face the man, squaring her shoulders.
"Mr. Weyland," she wished she sounded stronger, more assured of herself, angrier. Less like a frightened child too frozen to calling out to the darkness to make sure the monster wasn't there.
"Glad you remember," he said, having closed the distance between the two of them very quickly. She stood her ground, but couldn't help but shudder. All of her worst fears were beginning to materialize from this man's presence.
"You know, several days ago when I heard that you were alive and in custody of the marines here, I almost gave the immediate order to terminate you," his voice was smooth and calm. Pleasant, just as it had been when she first met him. He began pacing slightly, slowly.
"This planet and its prisoners failed to kill you like I had hoped," he said and Kaylin saw the sergeant in the back, stoic and looking very unhappy.
"But, a several-day journey gave me time to think, and then I realized something Miss Carnica: this was a blessing in disguise. You see these aliens, these… predators, like your friend we have downstairs, they're very difficult to catch, and even more difficult to keep alive. They have a protocol to terminate themselves if ever they think that they are on the brink of losing. Why, just a year after I sent you to this place, one detonated and destroyed an entire alien temple, and hundreds of innocent workers to make sure we didn't get our hands on him and his people's technology."
More? How many? Was someone going to come looking for Jitar and get captured just like he was? No, no one had last time he was imprisoned. But how many did Weyland want?
Weyland caught on her distraction, saw her eyes rove to the side and his arm snapped, grabbing her face in a single hand and forcing her to look at him, "pay attention Miss Carnica, this is very important. I decide to let you live for one single purpose and if you want your alien friend to live as well, you're going to do as I say, otherwise, I'm only going to get a single sample out of him and be done with it."
Kaylin's very breath shuddered. So that was it, she was right, they were going to infect him with the parasite, and once again, she was there to make sure they could keep doing it, over and over again. Kaylin felt her eyes burning as she began to shudder, looking into Weyland's brown eyes.
"You're going to kill us all," she whispered, starting to lose control of her breathing, remembering all the black skins of the aliens shining in dim light, kept separate in tubes. Tears started flowing from her eyes, wetting the leather fingers of Mr. Weyland's gloves.
She saw the sergeant perk up with a small but sharp movement of her head, but the soldier said nothing.
Weyland's eyes searched her face then dropped his hand away from her chin, wiping it on his coat. He turned his back to her, clasping his hands behind him and began to walk away, "no, not all of us, but if you're not going to do what I ask then I have no need for you."
"I'll do it," she gasped without hesitation and the man stopped and looked at her, seemingly genuinely surprised.
"Oh? That quickly? I didn't even have to persuade you."
Kaylin sniffed and swallowed, trying to get a hold of herself, tightening her jaw and clenching her fists.
Weyland smiled, eyes glittering. Very well Miss Carnica, thank you for your assistance, we'll begin the procedure immediately," this last was as much an order to a person in a labcoat standing outside, as it was a promise to Kaylin, glowering at his back.
Kaylin grit her teeth as Weyland resumed his withdrawal. She looked over at the sergeant, the woman's dark eyes boring into hers, but she could see there was doubt there. Kaylin shook her head. The sergeant and the soldiers left.
He was going to kill them all.
Kaylin didn't have much time anymore, she needed to act now. She stared at the door as the heavy metal slab groaned again and clicked shut.
Ten minutes. Then it would begin.