Sky Corruption (Past Tense)

Chapter Eighteen

Faith and Jay had idly stared at one another in the spare room. They had been so busy arguing that there was nothing but heavy silence. Faith's feet remained firm on the ground, arms folded across her chest as her eyes sharply dug into Jay's. Jay had his fists clenched, he was fighting the urge to pummel them into the wall, but he knew that losing his temper with Faith would only make things worse.

"The boy isn't to be trusted." Faith sneered with an eye roll, her facial expression remained the same, her tone ice cold. 

Jay grunted in response, "He saved China's life, you know what that thing would've done to her-"

"Ah, here we are, revolving things around that kid once more," Faith remarked, Jay opened his mouth to argue but no words managed to come out.

"She isn't your sister Jay." Faith answered tersley, not an ounce of emotion within her voice. Faith had been in the military ever since she was eighteen years old, she had made short remarks about her father raising her to have a tough exterior, but she never had went into full detail.

Jay knew deep down that Faith meant well, there had to be an iron fist within the group, someone who isn't afraid to make the cutthroat decisions, provide the truth no matter how hard it is to accept, she was the logical one.

Faith drew in a deep breath, her chest heaved up, "I get it. China reminds you a lot like Thalia, but that can't be your reason for you to bend the rules for China every single time, that'll get to her head soon enough." Faith lectured, Jay's shoulders slumped as he idly listened to her talk.

"China is a good asset to the group, don't be mistaken." Faith added, "She's incredibly agile, knows her way around Manhattan and can parkour like no other...but other than that, she hardly knows what's going on around her."

Jay glared at Faith, "China isn't stupid-"

"China isn't all...here." Faith interrupted while making pointing at the temple of her head with her index finger, "Because of that, she's more gullible and simple-minded."

Jay folds his arms across his chest, tilting his head upwards as a sharp breath escapes his lips. Deep down, he's looking for a contradiction in what Faith just said about China. Jay saw China at her absolute worst, ever since then, she changed for the better.

"What are you trying to say?" Jay growled in response, even though the truth was pretty obvious.

"China isn't very smart. The girl is an airhead Jay." Faith answered, her response was firm and it caused Jay to wince.

China wasn't all that smart, and that was a truth that even Jay couldn't argue against, she fell easy prey to insults and shady remarks without actually understanding them.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Jay waved his hand dismissively, not even making an attempt to even consider what Faith was saying. "But can we get back on track? Bob."

Faith rolled her eyes, aware that Jay wasn't willing to agree with her. "I suppose we don't have to have him under heavy surveillance, but we shouldn't trust him off the bat."

"I agree with that," Jay consented, "China told me that the boy had several blackouts on the way here."

"When he mentioned some girl's name, he blacked out for the last time." Jay continued as Faith paced around the room.

"We should keep a close eye on him while the others make small attempts to jog his memory, it's only in a matter of time when he shows his true colors." Faith continued, having to stop pacing and to face Jay again.

"Nikki filled me in the other day," Jay continued as leaned against the wall as he propped a cigarette in the side of his mouth. "Bob's recovery should be slow but gradual, but the signs should be pretty evident that he doesn't really hold a threat right now."

"Fair point." Faith acknowledged and stepped to provide the end of Jay's cigarette a light. She slid a cigarette of her own in her mouth, flicking the light as she took several drags.

Silence filled as a gap between the two. "How's the ammunition?" Faith asked Jay, who simply spoke with his cigarette flapping from the side of his mouth.

"Tyrese has it covered, him and North have been handling the magazines, we're running low on ammunition though." Jay answered as smoke emerged from his lips. This is the only room that they could smoke in without triggering the smoke detectors.

"Please don't tell me that North is going on another trigger happy rampage when on the surface..." Faith groaned, her tone was uneasy but her body seemed to relax with each draw she took in. "Ammo doesn't last forever and we need some sort of protection while on supply runs."

Suddenly, the door opened that interrupted the diplomatic conversation between the two. China quickly rushed inside as the door slammed behind her. China panted out short but rapid breaths.

"Knocking is pretty nice, you should give it a try," Faith enthused sarcastically. China straightened up and walked back toward the door and knocked on it.

Jay laughed as she turned around and beamed. "You're right, it is pretty nice!" China agreed.

"I...nevermind," Faith grumbled in frustration, to her, it was no use in trying to insult China, she was too oblivious to even recognize sarcasm.

China placed her hands on her hips, "Bob woke up!" She chirped happily, "And Tyrese is done with the food, he wants to have a word with you."

Jay gave Faith one last glance before he approached China, "Hey China, do you remember what Bob said before he passed out?" Jay asked her.

China glanced at the ceiling and tapped her index finger on her chin. "Hm, Desiree? Deandra?" China guessed at the tip of her tongue.

Faith sighed out of disappointment as Jay shot China a sheepish stare. "T-that's okay...we'll figure something out."

China nodded and turned to Faith. "You should join us Faith, Tyrese is actually a pretty good cook!" She exclaimed, her whole demeanor is friendly but Faith was secretly trying to hide the urge to wrinkle her nose.

"I'll think about it..." Faith vaguely answered instead. Jay knew by Faith's tone that her answer was actually a hard no but China, as always, remained oblivious to the obvious signs.

China turned on her heel, a slight bounce in her walk while Jay quietly followed her from behind. Jay's hand lingered on the edge of the door, with a bit of hesitation, he peered over his shoulder at Faith.

"It wouldn't kill you to actually spend some time with the rest of us," Jay remarked, his tone neutral but his words left a impact on Faith, given by her annoyed stare.

With those words out of the way, the door slammed behind Jay.