No More Anything

Chapter Ten: The Escape

Alpha Team unloaded their loot and took their gear off once they got back to Tranquility, and Blake's head was still playing the memory of Brian killing that poor man over and over again. It was about midday, so everyone should be nice and awake by now, meaning he could go talk to Lucille and tell her everything that happened. He had lost all trust in the members of Tranquility, but he refused to believe that she could be one of them. She seemed different than anyone else he'd met, and he prayed his hunch about her was correct. He'd never tell her this anytime soon, but he's starting to think he might be slightly in love with her, so if she DID turn out to be a murderer, then it would absolutely destroy him. 

As Blake made his way towards his room, he glanced into the food court area, but didn't see Lucille anywhere, so he figured she's probably in her room reading. As he got closer, he could see that her door was cracked, and she was looking out into the hallway. When her eyes made contact with him, her face lit up and she flung her door open with a big smile. "You made it back!" Before Blake could say anything, she ran towards him and wrapped her arms around him tightly. 

He hugged her back, burying his face in the crook of her neck. They moved away from each other, looking into each other's eyes. Blake said "yeah, barely. Look, there's something I need to talk-"

Lucille shook her head and held a finger to her mouth. "Not here. Come on." Holding his hand, she led him into her room and shut the door, locking it. "I have to tell you something, Blake."

He shook his head as they sat on the bed together. "No, me first. Listen, when-"

"No, ME first. Brian isn't what he seems." Her face was as serious as he'd ever seen it, and her cold tone was unlike her.

Blake nodded and pointed to her. "That's basically what I needed to talk to you about. Something happened on the run."

Lucille looked over to her axe in the corner, and then back to Blake. "Yeah, something happened last night, too. You first."

He took a deep breath and told her exactly what he witnessed in that neighborhood after the biters attacked and how Brian threatened him to keep him quiet, and she didn't seem surprised at all. Afterwards, she told him the story of the night before, how she'd watched Brian shoot a man in the head, and then threatened her in the same fashion.

"Oh my God, what the hell's going on?" Blake sighed deeply and looked down at his feet.

Lucille said "I'll tell you what's going on. These people pretend to be all sweet and happy, when in reality, they're monsters."

He looked back up at her. "Yeah, before Brian shot the man, the guy said he knew who Brian was. Said his people stole and killed anything they wanted, and that's what seemed to set Brian off. Almost like the guy told him the truth, and he didn't want to hear it."

She nodded. "Yeah, sounds about right." She put her hand on Blake's, resting them both on his knee. "We need to get out of here, Blake. It isn't safe."

Blake let out a short huff. "Yeah, for sure. I wasn't planning on staying long anyway. I'm trying to get back to my family down in Portman, provided they're...you know."

"Yeah, I get that. My parents...they didn't make it. After that, I left home and stumbled across this place. I don't have anywhere else to go." When she mentioned her parents, her voice cracked slightly, and Blake could tell there was a bigger story there, but he found it best not to ask right now.

Blake squeezed her hand a little. "Come with me. To Portman." She looked into his eyes, her face slightly red as she tried to fight back tears. "It's obviously not safe here, and it's not safe for me to travel alone. My parents, they're good people. They'll love you. My sister, Emma, she's always wanted a girl to hang out with, so she'll be happy you're with me."