Cairo

Chapter 21: Breaking Point

Adena winced as her truck door slammed shut. She pulled off her sunglasses, staring up at the Government outpost she was previously stationed at for a few months. There was doubt lingering in her mind about the meeting she's heard of as she pulled out the note she scribbled down from her boob pocket. It took looking from the note to the building a couple times before she was satisfied she'd gotten the right place.

The enormous barbedwired gates that reached greedily to the sky still looked intimidating to her no matter how many times she'd passed through them before. A guard from above that was stationed at one of the towers called to her through the intercom. She scanned her hand and inserted her I.D. into the slot just below the intercom. Once everything was checked, the gates squeaked open and a muffled voice replied with, "Have a nice day."

She pulled out a very thin silvery grey CDP from her pocket, flipping the three windows open as her finger thumbed for the fourth Fire Mage. She pressed the screen when the name Tyson came up, stretching her neck to try to see into the rooms she passed by. When he didn't pick up after three attempts, she closed her CDP, sticking it back in her uniform pocket. Hopefully, he'd be in the control room, she thought, listening to the echo of her boots on the cold floor.

For a moment she stood in the open doorway, watching as Tyson scrolled through an internet site of naked women on his laptop placed on a desk perpendicular to the main computer setup. She cleared her throat, causing Tyson to flinch in his seat. His eyes grew wide as he fumbled to close his laptop. He propped his arm up and rested his chin on his fingers when his laptop was properly closed, a smile dancing around his lips.

"Heey," he drawled. "Haven't seen you around here for ages, Adene. What can I help you with today?"

Adena creased her eyebrows, a frown panning out on her face. "Isn't there a meeting here today?" she asked.

Tyson shook his head. "Not to my knowledge, unless whoever told you forgot to include me in that."

"Aidan told me." She sighed, her thumb rubbing against her bottom lip. "He called and told me early yesterday morning that the Fire Mages were having a meeting here today in about twenty minutes from now."

"There's a reason we haven't had a meeting in years," Tyson said with a roll of his eyes. "Nothing ever gets done in them. Eventually we all stopped trying because no one would listen to what anyone else had to say. The only thing we ever agreed on was that we'd listen to Coaltrice if she had orders, otherwise it was every man for himself. That was before you and Cairo, but I still figure that rule still applies."

Tyson adjusted his face so his cheek was resting in the palm of his hand, his fingers combing through his well trimmed locks. He flipped open his CDP, pressing a few times on the screen before he closed it. A frown filled his face as he slide the CDP back on his desk.

"Hm, but I wonder why Aidan would tell you there was a meeting scheduled here today? There's definitely not any scheduled either."

"I don't really care if there's a meeting or not," Adena huffed. She folded her arms across her chest, shifting her weight to one foot. "What pisses me off is I just wasted the time I could have been using to look into what Cairo wanted. He barely makes any personal calls, so I figured it was important too."