Refinement: A War of Europe

Chapter Six: West~ 013

Eloise~ West (England)

The pain from my arm subsided quickly. I breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Is that better?” A woman with soft green eyes and short blonde hair asked, her eyes searching mine for any sign of pain. For the first time, I glanced down at my arm. I am sure it looked a lot better than it had originally, but it still made me wince. My arm was as red as the blood within it, and it had yellow blisters covering more than half of it. 

“Much better.” I grimaced. I did not like having to be held back at the infirmary instead of getting a tour of the Base. Just about twenty minutes before I was escorted to the infirmary, the General read out the names of my eighteen contemporaries. 

“Alex, Arielle, Carlton, DJ, Dorian, Drew, Eloise, Gabi, Jenny, Kyle, Lex, Lilly, Lucas, Olly, Relle, Reyna, Sally, Saphire, and Trey,” As they filed into a glass elevator, I was called to the infirmary. 

“You are ready to go. You might just make it to Orientation.” I nodded in gratitude to the nice nurse. I wondered if she went through Inauguration. I wondered if she wished that she were on the field. My arm was bundled in a white cloth, and slung over my left shoulder. The door opened, and the guy that had told me to calm down after I was brutally attacked by three wild dogs, leaned on the white door frame. 

“C’mon. I’ll show you your room.” I stood stunned at his intoxicatingly good looks. I had been in too much pain to notice my surroundings before, but now, it took my breath away. The ceiling was at least one-hundred feet above us, completely white. All of my surroundings were white. The space was so huge, that I thought I could fit six of my houses lined together in it, and there would still be walking room. It was all open. No walls making separate rooms, just one huge space. There were dividers that cut through the room, but they were just tall enough to cover the top of my head. The dividers created seven areas. The first, an incredible training room. The second, cafeteria. The third, weaponry. The fourth, treasury. The fifth (we had just exited it), the infirmary. The sixth, market. The seventh,  housing for soldiers. Each sector was large enough to hold a house. Soldiers milled around us in grey suits. The boys and girls alike had their heads shaved. 

“My name is Grayson.” I looked up into his face. He looked hurt, shattered. He looked mean. 

“My name is Eloise.” 

“Yeah I know. I hate that name.” I was stunned. I did not know how to respond. “I’ll call you El.” I nodded, almost scared of what he would do if I had refused. “How’s the arm? How much bone was showing?” My lips slightly parted in disbelief. He was so blunt. Like talking to me was a chore. I let all emotions drain from my face, and I stopped craning my neck to look into his eyes. I just looked straight ahead- like a soldier. 

“I didn’t look.” I winced at how wimpy that sounded. 

“You didn’t look at your own wound?” He scoffed. Tears surrounded my eyes.

“No, I didn’t. Is this my room?” I said, changing the subject as quickly as possible. He looked directly into my eyes for the first time. He looked genuinely puzzled, like he didn’t understand what I was. I stared back, letting my face relax just a bit. Showing him that I could be friendly, but he just looked away. I gritted my teeth in frustration.

“Yes. Just type in your name, and scan your hand.” I did as he asked, and the door slid open. The room consisted of four things, a little bed, a side table, a bookshelf, and a chair. All of the items white, even the books (All about war techniques and strategies). 

“Orientation is in ten minutes. In the middle of the base.” He left without another word. I walked over to a mirror and looked at myself. My black hair was pulled into a messy bun on the top of my head and my brown eyes with a gold ring around the pupil were red with tears. I looked like a little girl missing her mother. I didn’t want to look that way. I wanted to look strong like Arielle. I let out a gasp when I heard a rasp on the door.