━━Calamity¹

ten.

chapter ten
different matters

At the edge of her memory rested a visage of pain.

The visage of that same pain following the gunfight they had barely escaped at the outpost, a stinging reminder, a dull ache full of bloody agony.

Alina rested on Felix's shoulder, wincing at every jolt of the car over road bump with a wave of stinging pain that rushed from her shoulder grazed by the bullet, coiling like tendrils down her arm, and she gritted her teeth as shallow pants twisted out of her parted lips.

The blood flowed slower now, but the pain never stopped.

She had heard voices, one close and loud, the other sweeter and a bit away, arguing back and forth for something she could not entirely name before the vehicle made a sudden stop. She had snapped out of that painful daze then just as a familiar face appeared in her sight, telling her of something that would happen but she could barely hear over the buzz in her ears.

Felix had bandaged her shoulder and she ate scarcely, after which most sensation had returned to her being and she could at last see the world again. After resting awhile on the road, the group packed again and headed to the car to continue.

As they settled into the vehicle, Felix cleared his throat. "Okay, you know what? I'm tired of secrets. You'll tell us everything from the beginning, I don't care how long it takes." He stated, all eyes on him.

"Ask your questions." Simone continued.

"Why the fuck is Walker cooperating with Lieutenant and why did he attack?"

"How do you know that?" She glanced at him through the overhead mirror, but quickly shook her head. "That's besides the point. Walker's outpost became a threat to Lieutenant. She's got people, resources. They struck an exchange deal. Walker's resources for his guns." She sighed. "Why he attacked, I don't know. Maybe he has a better deal now, or maybe..."

"What?"

"Maybe Crusaders had a leadership change."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Denise asked.

"That means whoever took his place is about to sever everything he's worked for. If it's not a leadership change, he's about to become a problem."

"How do we come into this?" Felix continued instead of Denise.

"You've made that connection already."

"The files?" Mikkael asked. "Date, testing?"

"Yes. Listen, the whole story is a lot and even I don't know some parts." Simone shuddered. "Essentially, it started three years ago around the time I sold info to Jackson, previous leader of the outpost. I gave him details about newest developments in cure testings, and Caldwell found me. During that time I also found some pretty messy stuff about Julian Danvers and test subjects."

She sighed, gripping the steering wheel so harshly her knuckles turned white. "Caldwell threatened to expose me, but promised to keep it silent if I agreed to her conditions. I did. She would've kept me prisoner forever, but something happened after those three years. Networks went down, everyone panicked. If the networks didn't get fixed soon, we'd have a bigger problem. Naturally, Caldwell said she'd deal with it and gathered all of you to do it. If networks stay down, there's a very good chance we'll lose contact forever which means no more trade, no more cooperation. Very dangerous and we could all die for it."