Water crashed on Bella's shivering back. Her neck swayed as she smirked at the satisfying crack. Scrubbing the congealed blood on her arm, she watched the water turn pink as it washed down the drain. There was never enough hot water for everyone on campus, so Bella braved the cold showers. She didn't mind. It brought her down to reality. Bella kept cleaning herself, even after the more obvious traces of death had been removed. Then she reached for the homemade liquid soap and squeezed a blob in her hair. She watched the dirty clumps of rosy flesh fall from her hair and splash the water around her feet.
She shook her head, wondering why nobody cared to mention how she looked like a horror movie reject. After she rinsed herself, she turned the water off. She stepped out of the shower and fortified herself in a thick towel. She wandered out of the ensuite into her bedroom and dressed herself in a clean grey t-shirt and jeans. She buckled up her belt, attached her holster and slotted her walkie-talkie into one of the leather pockets. Bella had just slid on her jacket when she heard knocking coming form the door.
"Come in" She called. Emmett, Jasper and Edward filed in. "What's up guys?" She asked, pulling her dripping hair into a tight, high ponytail.
"We uh," Jasper cleared his throat, "know you don't have much time left but…" Bella felt a smile bubble to the surface. She looked down, letting it rip. ""What?" Jasper cocked an eyebrow.
"Look," Bella shrugged off her jacket again and tossed it, revealing her smooth, pristine right arm. She then tugged the corner of her shirt down to show off her round shoulder. "See? No worries. So what did you want to tell me?"
"Wha… how?" Jasper stuttered.
"Nevermind. Tell me what you wanted to say?"
"We want to know why you took the blame for the car alarm," Emmett interjected.
"You're new here. Such a dumb mistake would cost you any type of credibility you started with. The team would lose whatever little faith they had in you. They wouldn't respect you either and I wouldn't have that. Afterall, my team don't have to like each other, but they must trust and respect each other."
"You didn't have to take the zombie bite for me" Jasper said.
"Yes I did!" Bella paused, and whispered, "I can't tell another family I got their loved one killed." She watched each face "Are we done here? I have to go help Vinny pack her brother's possessions," She lunged for her jacket and stormed out the door.
"Bella," Edward called, following her out into the hall.
"What?" Bella yelled behind her as she walked.
"Why are you doing this?" Edward steadied Bella's wrist. Through cool eyes, Bella stared at the hand which used to make her heart skip a beat and stoke her cheeks.
"Doing what?"
"Ignoring what we have," He murmured.
Bella held his eyes, calculating what to do next. She yanked her arm out of Edward's reach.
"You only have yourself to blame" She managed to say before leaving him there.
"Can we . . . talk?" Edward caught up to her easily.
"Fine." Bella spat "Tomorrow. Now excuse me." She flung open a door and disappeared. Edward sighed and returned to his room.
Bella sat next to Vinny on her brother's bed. Ryan's room mates were packing his things into a small box. When it came to rooms, it was "First come, first serve". They usually bunked with each other like a family. Bella put an arm around Vinny's quivering shoulders.
"Bella," Vinny croaked, looking up at her "Tell me how he died,"
"Vinny … I don't think . . ."
"I need to know". Vinny demanded. For a split second she looked like Ryan. Bella suppressed a grin when she realised as soon as Vinny turned eighteen she was going to have one hell of a soldier on her hands.
"Well." Bella stopped, carefully selecting her words. "There was a horde of the infected, and your brother was helping me … dispatch them … and one of them managed to . . ." She squinted, "nip his leg. He was crippled". She checked Vinny's face and took note of the tears building up in her eyes, holding on by a fine thread.
"I wanted to save him but he didn't want to slow us down. Ryan opted to stay behind, fend some of them off. He didn't die in vain! If it wasn't for him, even less of us would have come back." Bella finished, looking away from Vinny only to realise Ryan's roommates where listening too with wide eyes. She looked at one of them. Daniel was Ryan's second in command in the south block. "Can I speak with you outside?"
Daniel nodded. Bella stood up and went outside then faced Daniel, "I hope you're up to being leader of the south block."
"Shouldn't you really pick someone else?"
"Ryan made you his second in command for a reason. I trust his judgement." Bella simply replied. Daniel nodded slightly and escaped her presence. Bella straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. Back at her room, she jumped straight into bed fully dressed. She gazed at her handgun before pushing it under her pillow like a child plants a tooth for the tooth fairy. She lay on her stomach and just as she drifted off to sleep, her hand subconsciously curled around the gun as if it were her teddy.
The moisture in the air clung to her skin and dripped down her neck like sweat. The wet strands of her messy pony tail fell over her face. Steaks of dark green flashed past her. The undergrowth was squishy beneath her led boots. She bolted through ferns and vines. Her breathing was ragged as she broke the tree-line. There she saw a man who was digging his gun into the skull of another man, his arm constricting around his neck like an anaconda. Bella drew her gun, level, pointing it at the man.
"Lower your gun!" The heavy Korean accent barked. "Or he dies!"
Bella looked at the pair whilst the gears in her head turned and clicked behind her dark eyes.
"Bella, please!" The man gasped as the arm around his neck tightened. Bang! Blood trickled from his forehead like the waterfall in the backdrop.
"There goes your leverage." Bella's mouth twisted upwards. The man's eyes widened. He turned to run. Bella shot repetitively at his chest. She trod over and ripped the computer chip out of the man's stiff hand. She looked over to her fellow soldier, his mouth dribbled blood and his face was white. Then his blue lips whispered,
"Why?" His blurry face suddenly became clear. "Why?" Ryan hummed again.Bella clamped her eyes shut. The gun went off in her hands. Slide, click, BANG! Slide click, BANG! Slide , click, BANG! Over and over. Round and round the ritual revolved.
Bella opened her eyes to see what was left of Ryan. But all she saw were dark, spotty blemishes across a plane. She shot up in her bed. Smoke spilled out of her poised gun. She peered up at the holy ceiling. Then she glanced at her screaming alarm clock.
"Screw you." She muttered before knocking it off the table with a swipe of her hand.
OKAY! Well, thank you to my friend Grace Poole for helping me with this chapter. Sadly she doesn't have a Fanfiction account although I do this she'd be awesome on here. I has a bit of a different style, whatcha think?