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Chapter 15

“It’s time to get up.” A gentle voice called.

It was a pleasant change from someone, won't be naming names, coming in to rip my covers away from me. I only buried deeper into my burrito at the call. Even at the slight shake, I did not budge. I cracked an eye open and closed it again. I shifted around in bed so that my back would face Seonghwa. I heard him sigh and vaguely heard him issue instructions to somebody.

Next thing I knew, the burrito was effectively unfurrowed and ripped away. The warmth left me and I violently shook from the cold, still plastered to the bed. That was until I was forcibly removed from the bed. Yeosang hoisted me up and threw me over his shoulder like a rag doll. I could only hang off his shoulder and sleepily drift in and out of reality at the steady rhythm of his steps.

I heard the greetings from the others and the slight questions at my state but dozed off without a second thought. I was unceremoniously dumped into another bed, this time in the medical room. That didn’t stop me from going back and forth between dreamland and reality. 

Hands lifted my arm then placed it back down. I was still half asleep until I felt something tighten around my arm. The cold metal buckle bit my skin. After the band around my arm inflated and deflated, velcro strap was ripped away loudly and my arm was free once more. 

"Your blood pressure is a little low." 
I couldn't be bothered with knowing the causes and risks of that. 
"Can you sit up?" 

I would like to say I tried but I would be lying. Seonghwa helped me upright and I slumped against the headboard. The blood rushed from my head and I closed my eyes from the dizziness. My arm was nudged and I opened my eyes to find a glass full of transparent orange liquid. I glanced up at Seonghwa. 

"It's just hydration tablets." He stated, reading my mind.

With difficulty, I raised the glass and tipped my head back a little for the liquid to enter my mouth. The dizziness faded after a while and I could control my hand eye coordination better. I guess I was severely dehydrated - don’t forget to hydrate kids. Seonghwa brought his index finger close to my face. He slowly moved his finger left, right, up and down. My eyes followed his finger before focusing on his face in confusion. 

“Eye tracking has returned to normal. Now answers." He crossed his arms.
I scratched my head, a little unsure what he demanded for. His foot began to tap impatiently. 

“Well let me try to jog your memory. Last night.”

I pointed at the writing material scattered across his desk. It was like my own doctor forgot about my condition -well it was- because it took him a few moments to realise why I didn’t answer his question.

"So what was that whole thing last night?"

I may or may not have tried to remember something. 

I braced myself for a scolding that was to come my way. I could see it in his eyes. He did not attempt to mask his emotions, disappointment being the most prominent. 

"You can't recover your memories like that. Remember the last time? You passed out." 

Not too bad. 

Seonghwa shook his head in disapproval at my response. 
“You are not to do it again. If it happens again, Hongjoong would be hearing about this too.” 

I vehemently shook my head. Hongjoong’s nagging had quite the reputation. In one instance, I was passing by and caught the faintest bit of the nagging and it was by far something nobody wanted to be subjected to, (unless you’re Wooyoung *coughs*) 

•••

The weekly regrouping in the captain’s office had fallen on this day. I trudged my way to the office, closing the door behind me once I realised I was the last person to arrive. The desk was overflowing with strips of messages, either about updates from other groups or threats rolling in.

Hongjoong had not one single night of proper shut eye, having to sort through the piles of messages, providing remote assistance to groups and making the arrangements. Mingi was slumped on the couch, having not woken up from the movement around the room. He too had dark circles. Since the alliance meeting, he had turned into bed later than me and was gone before I was up. I could see his combined effort with the captain on the corkboard that displayed directions of other groups and predicted movements from the Black Tigers. 

“They have found our location. We are not safe even in the base though I doubt they’d attack openly after downing so many subgroups.” 

I could sense that they all were concealing something on purpose. My mind still hadn’t left the subject of what was on the wall that afternoon.
 
“We’ll start sending out supplies in three days. We can arrange the trips though it would be at least half of us going out at a time. Mist, you’ll be in charge of inventory and management. Remember to stay alert. They’re waiting for an opportune time to strike. “

•••

Over the course of a few days, I was taught basic self defence. It was a roster swap between Mingi and San. I was led to a corner of the communal space which accommodated a punching bag, dumbbells and scraps of metal.

By the end of each lesson, I would be sore and ready to collapse. In a way, it was harder to teach me due to the inability to voice discomfort or the need for assistance. My discomfort during sparring from the potential to make contact in close proximity was spared so we eventually moved on from boxing type defence to application of weapons. That was not to say that I didn’t spar in a makeshift ring and lost terribly, gaining bruises from falling and taking hits. Two weeks worth of training gave me the foundations but barely. 

To make up for the lack of contact, I learnt how to wield a dagger. Wooyoung tagged along in teaching as his specialty lied with knives. Guess that’s where all the slicing and dicing techniques came from. The familiar weight of the knife was both comforting and terrifying. Knives are people openers after all.

I had become more comfortable with knives, having thrown daggers across the room at targets. Close to bullseye most of the time. I was bestowed the daggers I had practised with. The thought of causing someone harm on purpose unsettled me but I knew that these would help in the event that somebody were to come after me. Bullets and cartridges were scarce so operating a gun was not an option so it was not included, much to Mingi’s discontent being denied of passing down his wisdom. 

On top of impromptu classes, I had to provide frequently updated logistics on the supplies. I could tally inventory items with little to no errors on the first round of calculations.

There was news from other groups that they had been attacked. Groups that were once merged had to split apart which made them more vulnerable to attacks. SOS messages flooded in. Each subgroup of groups required regrouping and supplies were running dangerously low for them. The need to account for resources of other groups had put a tremendous workload on me. This did not compare to the trips taken by the others in retrieving and distributing material accordingly.

It was very quiet from the Black Tiger’s end even on other groups' radar. The calm before the storm. The ocean tides receding only for a tsunami to return crashing back ashore.