Warning: Crappy, short filler chapter with an equally crappy ending ahead. Like, possibly worse than last chapter. The next one will be way better and more relevant, I promise.
Also, I added a couple references to the American Revolutionary War. More specifically, references to the Sons of Liberty and the Patriots. They won't be too hard to find.
The trio arrived in the Center late that afternoon. The previous night, Gilbert had finally given in and told Amelia all about his rebellion and what had happened to it, excluding no detail other than the fact that it was her who had killed his best friends. Amelia, of course, gave mixed reactions, but for the most part, seemed to have been overjoyed that there was still a chance at a rebellion. However, naturally, she was reluctant to join the two messengers in their quest for freedom from the government, but Mikkel was able to coax her into it. Though the idea of now having two soldiers in his rebellion made him just the slightest bit uncomfortable, Gilbert was happy that he was finally beginning to restore his cause.
"Alright, dudes, I think we need a cool name for this whole thing!" Amelia announced as they drove through the streets of the Center. "I was thinking something along the lines of 'Children of Justice' or... 'Nationalists' or maybe... 'the Freedom Militia'. What do you guys think?"
Gilbert turned around to face her from the passenger's seat. "The Freedom Militia sounds pretty awesome! Badass, too. Mikkel?"
"I like that one, too!" the other messenger agreed, his eyes still fixed on the road. "Oh, and Amelia, where are we headed again?"
She leaned forward and stared at the street they were on. "The Center Emergency Hospital. You know where it is."
Mikkel nodded and turned at the next street on the right, eventually pulling into the parking lot of the hospital and stopping near the entrance to let Amelia out. She hopped out of the jeep and began to head inside, but paused and turned back to them. "Actually, can you guys come inside with me?"
"Sure thing, Amelia!" Mikkel exclaimed before Gilbert could have a say in the decision. He brought the jeep further into the lot and parked it before stepping out and joining Amelia by the door with Gilbert. "Why are we here, anyway?"
Amelia led them inside and walked straight up to the front desk without even acknowledging Mikkel's question. The woman sitting behind the desk chatting with a nurse looked up and immediately frowned when her eyes met Amelia's. She cleared her throat and whispered something to the nurse, who nodded and left. "Miss Jones," said the woman, "your sister is not—"
"Listen, lady," Amelia cut in as she leaned on the desk and narrowed her eyes, "she has to be here, and if she isn't, then I know that you know where she is. But we can deal with that another day. I'm just here to visit a friend."
The woman cleared her throat and sat back in her seat with a sigh, directing her eyes to the computer screen and getting ready to type a name. "Alright, Miss Jones. Name?"
"Oh, um," Amelia straightened her posture and shot a glance back at Gilbert and Mikkel, "he's actually their friend. They know what room he's in, so we'll just be on our way." She turned and began walking down a hallway, motioning to her companions to follow her. With a particularly fast pace, Amelia led them through the hospital, actually seeming to have a sense of where she was going.
"Uh...Amelia?" Mikkel appeared beside her and tapped her shoulder. "What are we doing?" he asked her. Gilbert was clearly wondering the same thing as he looked around curiously. He watched as Amelia pressed on, focused and determined as she ignored Mikkel's question. Eventually, she stopped at a door on the second floor in a quiet, almost abandoned wing of the hospital. She looked both ways down the hall before opening the door and walking inside.
She spun around and beckoned the others to come inside. Once they did, she stepped closer to them, lowering her voice. "This was my sister's room. Last time I snuck in here was a week ago, and she wasn't here, but it still seemed like she was staying in here. I don't know anyone else who would request gourmet pancakes and maple syrup brought in from the Western territory. Anyway, they caught me in here and threw me out, and there's no doubt they're hiding something judging by the way they were acting. So what I wanna do is look for clues and stuff. One of you should keep watch while the other helps me look around."
"I'll help you," Gilbert volunteered. Mikkel gaped at him in surprise, and he just smirked at him. "What? Is there a problem, Mikkel? Don't think the awesome me can handle this?"
Mikkel looked from Gilbert to Amelia, who had already begun searching the room, then back to Gilbert. He grinned and said, "Oh, I get what's going on."
"What?"
"Nothing, nothing," the blonde muttered, adding in a smug grin. "Well, I should start keeping watch. Have fun." He chuckled and went to stand by the door.
Gilbert shrugged off his partner's comment and began to look around and observe the room. The sheets on the bed were disheveled, and the television remote sat on top of them to one side of the bed. The room smelled like someone had been making breakfast despite the fact that it was late afternoon and hospital food was never good enough to smell this great. Upon close inspection of one of the pillows on the bed, Gilbert found a long, wavy golden strand of hair.
On her side of the room, Amelia noted a vase of red roses that she had brought two visits ago, and left with a receptionist when she was inevitably told again that her sister was not here. Along with the roses were some other things visitors had brought, such as a stuffed polar bear and more flowers. In a trash can near the bed was a paper plate with what seemed to be syrup left on it along with a plastic fork and cup.
After just minutes of looking around, Amelia reported to Gilbert, still keeping her voice low. "Okay, so she's obviously been here, and no other patients have been put in this room." She sighed and scanned the room again. "But where the hell could she be right now? They should've given her any emergency upgrades by now..."
"And why would they lie to you about her not being here?" Gilbert added brows furrowing in confusion and frustration. They both realized that something was definitely going on now. They had to do something, but what could they do from here? There was absolutely no indication of what they should do or where they should go to investigate further.
"Guys," Mikkel whispered, closing the door behind him quietly, "someone's coming down the hall. There's no way we can make it out of here without them seeing."
"Okay, um..." Gilbert exhaled and ran a hand through his hair. "They can't be coming in here, right? Just get low by the door and wait for them to pass by and leave this hallway." He sat up against the wall to the right of the door, and Mikkel and Amelia followed his example. Light footsteps grew louder and louder, and then stopped somewhere near the outside of the door. The three inside held their breath and let out relieved sighs when the footsteps finally disappeared into a room across the hallway.
Once he was sure the person was gone, Gilbert stood up and put his hand on the door handle. "Let's get the hell out before someone realizes we've been in here." The others nodded and followed him out carefully. Now they just had to get out of that wing without being seen.
"Wait!" Mikkel, who had been trailing behind the other two, had suddenly stopped and was staring through a slightly open door.
"What?" Gilbert asked, turning his head to look at him. He snickered. "You look like you've seen a ghost. Come on, we have to get out of this section of the hospital before someone finds us."
Mikkel shook his head slowly and continued staring into the room. "H-He's supposed to be dead!" He was completely frozen in place, and his face displayed an expression of anguish.
Gilbert and Amelia exchanged confused and concerned looks. "Who?" Amelia questioned as she walked up beside him. Just as she peered into the room, the curtain in front of the bed closest to the door was closed and a man walked out.
The man closed the door behind him and glared at the three intruders. "Amelia, what are you doing here? Who are they?" he inquired. They were more like demands than questions, however. He crossed his arms and lightly tapped his foot as he awaited an answer.
The soldier cleared her throat. "Oh, hey, Arthur. I was just visiting someone," she said surely. She nudged Mikkel softly with an elbow. "These are a couple of messengers I met up with yesterday at Central territory after the mutant breach. I actually knew Mikkel here when he was in the military. Anyways, since they're keeping my plane over there, these guys agreed to bring me here to the Center."
Arthur nodded and narrowed his eyes at the messengers. "And these men have come into the hospital with you because...?"
"Oh, well, you see, the person we're visiting is actually their friend, and I just tagged along because I've got nothing better to do and I wanted to catch up a little with Mikkel here." She gave Mikkel, who still seemed to be in a bit of shock after seeing whoever or whatever he saw, a firm pat on the shoulder.
"Ah, I see," the formal-suited man said with another nod. He continued to study the faces of the other two strangers closely. "Well, Amelia, that's funny, because there should be absolutely no reason for you to be in this wing of the hospital. There are no patients here, and I know that you would not get lost in this building on your way to any other section, especially if a receptionist had told you all where to go. I do hope that you are not up to something. So, I will repeat my question, and you will answer truthfully. What are you doing here?"
"Hold on," Mikkel interrupted, finally escaping his inner thoughts, "I just saw someone in that room you came out of. And if no one's here, then what are you doing here?"
"That is not of your concern, Mr...?"
"Densen."
"That is not of your concern, Mr. Densen. It is my business and mine alone. Now if you will please excuse me, I have somewhere important to be right now. Goodbye, Amelia." Seeming to have forgotten their initial subject, Arthur quickly made his way down the hallway, appearing to be in a hurry, and soon was completely gone.
After Arthur had disappeared, the trio continued down the opposite way, glad that they had gotten themselves out of that situation so easily. No one dared to speak or get distracted again until they finally made it back to the first floor and were headed out the main exit.
"Who was that guy and why was he such an un-awesome ass?" Gilbert asked Amelia as they made their way back to the jeep.
"My best friend. He's not usually like that. He's a completely different person when he's working than when he isn't," she explained, frowning. "I don't even know what he does. He never tells me. I just know that he's really close to the King and he probably knows stuff about the government that none of us would even think of."
"Oh, so if we were to hypothetically kidnap him and torture him for info—"
"Don't even think about it. We'd never get away with something like that if it's just the three of us," she stated, smiling a little at the outrageous idea. "Nice try, though. I don't think I could bring myself to torture him, anyway." She then directed her attention to Mikkel, who was sat at the wheel. He started the car and began driving, but hadn't spoken yet. "Hey, Mikkel, you alright?"
"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine!" he replied after some silence, giving a weak grin. He didn't bother to say anything else, not even an explanation for what had happened back at the hospital.
"Where to now, Amelia?" Gilbert asked while Mikkel waited for an ambulance to clear the way for him to drive out of the parking lot.
"Center HQ. I was told to report back there after finishing up in Central territory," she said, staring down at the small screen on her arm upgrade. She looked through the available missions, trying to find one that required the least emotional restriction. If she was going to be part of this rebellion now, she had to make sure that she was being controlled as little as possible while still doing her job in order to keep out of the eyes of suspicion.
Gilbert didn't look too happy to hear that. Although he was finally beginning to accept her trustworthiness, he was still a bit unsure of her. He had to be extremely careful of who he chose to give his trust to if he didn't want to end up like all of the other previous defeated rebels. "Alright," he said. "What about the, uh...you know? Should we arrange a meeting place?"
"Oh, right." Amelia looked down at her feet and thought for a moment, then back up at Gilbert. "Let's meet Saturday near the Southern territory HQ. That's my day off, and the Southern territory usually has the least soldiers patrolling it. Does 9:00 PM sound alright?"
Gilbert nodded. "Yup, got it!" He faced forward in his seat as Mikkel stopped the jeep in front of the HQ and Amelia got out. "See you in a couple days!"
Mikkel leaned over Gilbert and said, "Bye, Amelia."
She waved to them and smiled. "Bye, guys! I'll see you on Saturday!"
After she was gone, Mikkel started to drive away towards the nearest wall gate. "So, should we spend the rest of the day here or find some work to do? Hey, maybe we could go back to Central territory and help with rebuilding and—"
"Are you alright?" Gilbert suddenly asked.
"Huh?"
"You heard me. Are you alright?" he repeated, casting a serious look at the other. "Don't act like nothing's wrong. My awesome senses can detect when there's a problem. You haven't been acting like yourself. You've been all quiet and you don't have as much energy as you normally do. Is it the mutant poison? And what happened back at the hospital."
Mikkel frowned and tightened his grip on the wheel. He tried not to make any eye contact. "I'm fine, I promise! Like I said, a little mutant poison won't kill me! And you gave me the shot, right? So I should be alright! I'm fine!" He took a deep breath. "And back at the hospital... It was nothing. I thought I saw someone, but obviously I was just imagining things. I've had a long week, I guess. I probably just need more sleep."
Gilbert decided against questioning him further and tried to discard the fact that Mikkel had spent more than enough hours sleeping, and seemed completely fine before yesterday. "If you say so. Let's just stay here for the rest of the day. You need more sleep anyway, right? It's probably best if you catch up on sleep on an actual bed rather than a bumpy car ride."
"Yeah, you're right."
The duo checked into a hotel minutes later and then headed to a fast food place for dinner. They were completely unaware of the stealthy figure that followed them closely from within the shadows.