━━Calamity¹

three.

chapter three
private Lee

Alina laid on the elevated bunch of training mats in the corner of the room with her head leaning toward the floor.

A black punching bag dangled overhead, mats strewn over the floor to protect from any nasty fall in training. A black window through which she couldn't see anything overlooked the space - a one-way mirror into some kind of room beyond her knowledge - while by the other wall, an empty table stood.

Felix sat against the wall next to her with a tired look directed to the other three people spread around the room, speaking nothing beyond what a few distant breaths or sighs could tell. He huffed, turning his gaze to Alina, who instantly noticed two purpling circles beneath his eyes. "I shouldn't have said yes. We both know what's outside." He exhaled a shaky breath, shallow and quick, and his slightly blue lips quivered as he ran his hands over his arms to warm himself up. "We'll die out there, Allie."

Alina brought her head up, the blood rush making her dizzy before she leaned onto the wall behind. "Not like we won't die in the mines."

Felix sighed, probably not wanting to deal with her sarcasm. "At least we'd be free after a while. There's no freedom outside."

"I don't know about you, but I'd rather die outside then be crushed by a boulder in the mines."

Felix sighed and shook his head, eyes returning to a dark-skinned woman wearing a black shirt and a plaid overcoat paired with blue trousers and sitting on the table as Alina watched him wring his sweaty hands and wipe his forehead, the rise and fall of his chest erratic.

She settled next to him and grabbed his shoulder. "You okay, Lix?"

"No. It's...it's the drugs. I can't help it. I need water."

Alina walked over the door near that table from which they had come and slammed a hand against it, rattling the room, yet nobody paid any mind to it. No policeman came looking for the source of the commotion, Dominique Caldwell as if abandoned them, as Alina continued to pound on the door. "My friend needs water. Please help."

"Get back, scum." Came an answer through the door, the muffled voice of a policeman.

Alina ignored the comment even though she wanted to bite back, yet knowing Felix needed her aid stopped her. "Please."

The door unlocked and two policemen stepped inside with their weapons risen, pushing Alina further in. "Sit. Down." He ordered, and never expecting her to answer, slammed the door in her face.

Alina sighed and returned to Felix, wrapping her arms around his shaking frame, as he lowered his head onto her shoulder, trying to stabilise his shallow breath and wet his cracked lips. She ran a hand through his dark curls, attempting in that way to calm him down as best she could, but his shakes wouldn't stop.

She glanced at the gathered - that woman on the table, a blond man donning a serious attire of a government official, sitting near the one-way mirror and an orange-haired man checking every corner he could.

Nobody spoke a word, Alina daren't open her mouth for fear that any of the present wouldn't take kindly to her, for they all looked far worse than both her and Felix. She glanced to the door, gaze meeting with the woman sitting on the table and she sent Alina a weak smile before returning to tinkering with the zipper on her vest.