The Patriots

CHAPTER 25 (HEARTS)

Once they arrived at the camp, the injured soldiers were given immediate treatment. Del was silent the whole time and Vera knew he was more than furious, but he was just holding his anger. Anna noticed his anger and she never left his side. The three of them matched into Del's tent with curious eyes following them.

Immediately they got into the tent, Del burst out.

"Start talking!" he ordered. 

"I decided to play a little trick on the minds of the rebels and it worked," Vera said flatly.

"We never asked you, did we?!" Del yelled. "What if they killed you, huh? What if they broke you? What if you failed? What if they managed to kill us all?!" the tone and pitch of his voice escalated. He was trembling with anger and fear.

"Yes, you didn't ask me. And yes, I could have been killed or you all could have been killed. But none of them could have broken me, because I'm already broken!! They killed my parents! They took the people I loved the most in this world away from me. They killed me even before I ever had the chance to live. So yes, I acted stupidly. But to me, it was great. I feel great. And I'll do it again and again until they all pay for what they did. Including you!" Vera screamed amidst tears and anger.

"What do you mean by including us? You could have spoken to us. You could have..." Del started but was cut off by Anna.

"...Del. She's just a kid. She did what she thought was right. Imagine what she went through. Please let it go." Anna pleaded. Her eyes were red with unshed tears, but she had to remain strong for Vera. All the girls looked up to her.

"You're dismissed." Del finally said to Vera, taking a deep breath.

Most of the team heard Del's outburst but none of them truly knew the real reason behind it. Cecilia caught sight of Vera as she angrily stormed out of the tent, still in tears. Cecilia caught up with Vera and started asking her a whole lot of questions despite her condition.

"How do you expect me to answer all that?!" Vera exploded on Cecilia. She became conscious of herself and the shocked look on Cecilia's face made her heart skip a beat. It stung, as if her heart was being pricked with a needle.

"I'm sorry." Vera apologised and run out of the camp. Running helped her to breathe. She wiped her tears while running and the wind carried her feet. She didn't go far though, she was not going to run away like a coward. She came back to her own tent a few hours later.

Cecilia went to search for Kelvin and they asked for permission from Anna to go home. They spoke about random things, but Kelvin noticed Cecilia was feeling down. He was certain it was because of Vera.

"That girl is a lot," he whispered when they were quietly walking.

"What?" Cecilia asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking out loud," he grinned nervously, making Cecilia chuckle.

"See you tomorrow then?" Kelvin said when they arrived at the junction they normally parted ways at.

"Sí, see you." Cecilia waved and walked away with a heavy heart.

The next day, Cecilia went about the normal training routine. She avoided Vera the whole time and every time Vera tried to get her attention, she pretended to be busy with something else. When training was over, Cecilia moved to relax in the bigger tent.

Vera entered the tent too when everyone was out and slowly sat on the floor where Cecilia was lying in her sleeping bag. Cecilia pretended to be sleeping but Vera started her story anyway.

"I was 15 when it happened. My whole world turned dark and gray. I just wanted to get justice for my parents.... That's why I did that. Del was angry and I was overwhelmed with so many emotions. I'm sorry for yelling at you and for not telling you the truth about me earlier." Vera sniffed as she wiped stray tears away from her eyes.