Triple Point

Chapter 91: Surprise Visit

Elsie

It was on the fourth day when their monotonous routine had finally broken. The chaos started off with the sound of a low rumble during their lunch, and it was quiet enough that everyone figured it was an earthquake. After all, they were all from areas that were earthquake hot spots.

The second rumble was slightly louder, and the third rattled their dishes. By then, everyone was slightly alarmed, and they looked at each other with worry; it didn't matter what the threat was when they didn't have the abilities to defend themselves regardless. While Elsie was also nervous, it's not like she could do much under normal circumstances anyway, and she was actually slightly relieved for the break from her boredom.

When the rumbling was then accompanied by audible shouting, Camilla jumped to her feet first, hauling Elsie along with her, and everyone else followed soon after.

"Mack, Finn, AJ," Camilla began, her tone suddenly lower and authoritative. She pointed at the wall perpendicular to the cell's single entrance. "Wait along that wall and try to hold the door closed if someone comes through. But keep your distance; whatever's going on, there seems to be explosives involved. Use the meal trays as shields to block some of the debris.

"Hitomi and Nakia, with me," Camilla continued, gesturing at the wall along the door. "We'll attack whoever comes in while the others are holding them back. With any luck, if there are multiple enemies, at least we won't have to face them all at once."

Everyone nodded in agreement immediately; even Elsie, who wasn't mentioned explicitly. She couldn't help but feel immediately compliant and trusting of Camilla's words, even if she had never really seen Camilla in her captain mode before.

As Camilla took Elsie's hand and led her over to the wall, Elsie belatedly realized that she found this side of Camilla extremely attractive. But it definitely wasn't the time for her to come to this realization, and Elsie forced herself to focus before her mind could wander into inappropriate territory.

"Stay close to me," Camilla muttered as they walked without taking her eyes from the door, and she squeezed Elsie's hand. "And as soon as you see an opening, you take it and get out of here."

"I'm not leaving you," Elsie said automatically. Realistically, she knew she would be useless in any kind of fight, whether it was against metas or not. But she couldn't just leave without even trying to help. Not again.

Camilla let out a soft sigh as she stopped and faced Elsie.

"I appreciate your bravery, I really do." Camilla held Elsie's hand with both of hers and squeezed gently once more. "But I need you to do this for me, okay? Whoever's out there, we can't hold them back forever. And once they all storm in here, I'd feel a lot better if you weren't stuck in here with us."

"We can't protect each other if we're apart," Elsie insisted.

Her words must've meant something, or maybe it was the pressure from the nearing sounds of shouting, because Camilla sighed again, impatient.

"Then can you leave to look for weapons?" Camilla compromised. "The only things we have to fight with are our lunches and whatever the intruders bring with them."

It sounded more like an excuse to appease Elsie, but there wasn't much time to argue. So Elsie simply nodded, determined, and she followed Camilla to their starting positions.

As Camilla positioned herself firmly between Elsie and the door, Hitomi and Nakia followed her, while Mack, Finn, and AJ lined up along their wall as well.

"Hitomi," Camilla said without taking her eyes off the door. "These inhibitors."

"I can only think of a way to short them out," Hitomi answered immediately, moving to stand next to Elsie. "And that may shock the wearer."