The Search for the Eoz Potion

12. New Resolve

The SG watched the whole display from out in front of the towers. When Tellis was tortured, the group sang out as loudly as they could. They wanted their song to reach into the prison walls. They wanted Tellis to hear them. They wanted the General to hear them. Even though there was no sound in the security feed that was being shown on the tower wall, they could tell from Tellis's lack of a reaction that their song had not penetrated the prison walls, but that only served to inspire them.

After General Drawde had left Tellis alone in her cell again, the SG were more determined than ever to free her and the others. Their spirits were lifted by seeing that, in spite of all the HRA had done to her, Tellis, though weak in body, was strong in resolve. They continued setting up their camps around the prison. They would spend the night camped out there and begin their march in the morning. As the day passed and word spread throughout the city about what was going on, more and more people gathered to see the standoff. This was all part of the plan.

The day passed quickly for Claire, and as the sun began to set, she sat by herself on the ground near a large table that had been set up with Yllopian fruit while the SG continued to mill around in a circle around the towers, occasionally stopping at the table for some food. As she watched the crowd, Hailey noticed a man standing with a little girl she assumed was his daughter. The girl was about five or six years old and she and her father both looked as though they had not eaten in a long while. Their clothes were old and worn. When a small argument over the SG's tactics broke out at the other end of the crowd, the two were able to take advantage of the commotion and sneak closer to the SG.

Someone Hailey did not recognize noticed the two and waved them closer to the table of fruit. Seeing how apprehensive they were, the SG member picked up two large oranges the size of basketballs and brought them over to the man and his daughter. Claire walked up to the fruit stand as all this was happening and stood beside Hailey, watching. When the man and his daughter had accepted the fruit, they turned to the crowd behind them and waved others over. Through the crowd of people, a woman and an older boy emerged and were able to sneak by the police in the continued commotion. The SG member walked the family over to the table and Claire immediately helped feed them.

When she was done, she grabbed an apple for herself and sat down beside Hailey and tried to think logically about everything that was happening. Ever since their conversation with Zack about his dad, Claire had been feeling out of sorts. There was a little bit of homesickness on which she could blame her mood, but she knew it was more than that. Zack had chosen to stay in the garden as long as it took to save his father, yet here she was, abandoning hers to save someone else. Her family had been through so much over the last year or so since the divorce, and she missed and worried about them all.

"What did you mean when you told Zack your dad was all you had?" Hailey asked Claire as she took a bite of an apple the size of a softball.

Claire shook her head nervously and insisted it was nothing. Hailey, however, refused to let the issue die and asked again.

"It wasn't nothing," she said. "I know nothing, and that wasn't it."

"It was, Hailey. I shouldn't have said it."

Hailey saw something in Claire for the first time, a glimpse of someone more than the clumsy girl who wore pink unicorn sweatshirts. She wanted to know more, to know if what she was seeing was real.

"'It was nothing' and 'I shouldn't have said it' are two different things. And you did say it. Look, we've been through a lot together in just the last few hours. You can tell me."

Claire didn't want to share, especially with Hailey. But she felt up against a wall. She was on this journey with Hailey now, and she knew that if they were going to be successful they had to trust each other. And she knew that if Hailey felt she was keeping something from her, that trust would be impossible to maintain.

"My parents are divorced," Claire admitted, hanging her head and sighing. "It was messy. Then, a few months ago, my mom moved for work and we stayed with my dad for school. We hardly ever see her." Once Claire started talking, she couldn't stop. It was as if the information had been begging to get out, pleading to be free. "Then my brother and my dad started fighting. Typical stuff, but he ended up moving out with her. Now, it's just me and dad."

"Wow," Hailey said, at a loss for something more profound. "I'm sorry about all that."

"It's nothing. Lots of people have parents who don't live near each other."

"What's your brother's name?" Hailey asked casually.

Claire sat silently on the verge of tears as she thought about her brother and the friendship they used to have.

"I'm sorry," Hailey tried to backtrack.

Hailey would have liked for the conversation to end right there. She had wanted to know these things, but now the emotions were scaring her off. If she'd had her way, she would have made a quick joke to lighten the mood and then move on to something new. But the moment seemed too heavy for that. After all they had already been through together, even she didn't think she could do that. Instead, she found herself attempting to connect with Claire.

"I don't get along so well with my parents, you know?" she said, trying to keep it casual. "So it's nice at least that you have your dad."

Claire looked up and wiped what was the beginning of a tear from her eye.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Oh, they are just the most perfect people in the world, you know? Dr. and Dr. Redmond. And guess who else has to be just as perfect, just as smart?"

Claire shook her head and made a face like she understood even if she couldn't relate.

"It's okay, though," Hailey continued, "Not trying is a great way to avoid failing."

"You don't really believe that, do you?"

"I don't know. I just want to find this potion and get out of here," Hailey said, trying to change the subject.

"How are you two doing?" Zack asked with a smile as he and Josef sat down next to the girls. Hailey was relieved to have some help in changing the subject.

Zack was eating a single piece of broccoli the size of his fist and offered a bite to the girls. They each refused.

"We're good," Claire offered from behind a forced smile. She too was trying to push past the conversation they'd just been having.

"So," Hailey began with a sarcastic smile, "How much longer until we can finally go searching for the potion?"

"Tomorrow morning we march," explained Josef. "Around the towers three times."

"Then what?" Hailey asked impatiently.

"We don't know exactly how it will work," admitted Zack.

Hailey laughed in frustration under her breath and looked down at the ground. She had convinced herself she had no choice but to go along with these people in order to get out of the forest, she had even been willing to go along with the idea that freeing Tellis would somehow help them find the Eoz potion and save Faith, but hearing that they didn't even know the specifics of how their plan was going to work, that she had to trust them based on no information at all, was asking too much. She didn't think much of it at the moment, though, as she just assumed that if things didn't work out in the morning, she and Claire could just head out on their own to look for the potion. She was willing to give them until then.

"When the prisoners are freed," Josef explained calmly and matter of factly, "we flee back out to the garden. They know to meet us there. Once we're together, we can help get you all to the Eoz Potion."

"And you really think all this will work?" Hailey asked skeptically.

Josef cracked a rare smile and responded.

"Not with an attitude like that."