Humanity: Project X - 160

Chapter 12

Glass... everywhere. It was raining down, she was trying to take cover. She was huddling in a small tiny ball, hiding underneath a table, sheltering herself from any harm. However, she could still see it everywhere...

"Skye!"

She could hear her name being called, although it was very vague, very quiet. She ignored the voice, still wanting to take cover underneath the table, to stay protected. Or at least... she wanted to feel protected.

"Skye!"

Once again, this time more urgent, her name was called. Except it was of a feminine voice, one of which sounded so familiar... yet she couldn't place it. Perhaps they were lost, and they wanted her to help them find a way back? No, that wouldn't make sense. How could she have heard them then? And there were two different voices, one male and one female...

She felt jolts, shakes, the room beginning to move around. She screamed, being tossed around like a pancake...

"Skye!"

"Skye!"

"Skye!"

Several different people, this time. More urgent than before, more scared. She felt so awfully dizzy. Whether it was because she had bumped around in the room, or perhaps that she just had an accident a little while before, she had no idea. The only thing she knew for sure was that she was being showered with glass in an unknown area...

The shaking became more and more turbulent until she jolted upwards, and suddenly she gasped because of the pain.

In her leg.

"Easy," she heard a male voice whisper.

She turned her head to see Joseph, a piece of the fancy cloth that she was going to use on the other guy before he...

Turning her head to the side, she saw a worried Kaya staring down at her. She looked like she was going to burst into tears, the way she was looking at Skye. However, Skye knew better than to believe that she would actually start crying.

"You scared us real hard a little moment ago, love," she said, her voice shaky, yet relief-filled at the same time.

"Oh, I'm not leaving any time soon," Skye smiled. "Remember, I still owe you a drink."

Kaya laughed at Skye's joke, finally letting the tears out. She smiled down at her. Skye plopped herself up against the wall. However, Joseph quickly tried to gently let her lay down.

"You're badly hurt, Skye. It could've been a lot worse, but thankfully it looks like it shouldn't be permanent."

Shouldn't.

Only shouldn't.

She knew that he meant it to sound comforting, but she found it horrifying. The fact that she could... well, she could be hurt forever. Maybe he was right, she should rest a little bit to make sure it wouldn't get worse. But no, she didn't like this at all.

For some odd reason, however, she found this bond between Joseph and herself, that she really did trust him. She didn't know why, perhaps because of that one flashback she had of him... but what about the bad one? The one of him chasing her? Couldn't that mean something? And it looked a lot more recent than the other flashback, since she was actually an adult...

"I'm going to grab some food, since we didn't end up getting any..." Kaya began, but then stopped herself.

She did not want to continue that conversation, especially since it involved the fact that Skye was injured badly.

"I will come with you," Joseph decided. "45, please take care of Skye."

Skye hadn't noticed him until now. He had been so awfully quiet, perhaps not even an eagle with its keen sight could've seen him. He was so peaceful, so quiet, perhaps he wasn't always like this... maybe he just started acting like this after his wife...

"So, they call you Skye instead of 160?" he asked, nodding to her wrist.

She was surprised that he had spoken to her. Not that she thought badly of him or anything.

"Oh... yeah, they call me Skye," she answered. "Is there something you would want to be called?"

He thought for a moment. After all, this was one of the most interesting questions he had been asked here, so far. Besides, a name was something that you would most likely have to stick by for the rest of your life.

"How about... Joe?" he asked.

Skye thought for a moment, but then shook her head.

"That could get a little confusing, considering 159 chose Joseph as his name," she explained.

"Hm... then how about... Gabriel?"

"That sounds good," Skye agreed, thinking about it. Yes, that was good. It had a nice ring to it too, and it matched him perfectly.

The rest of the time that they had alone was sat in silence. She was about to break it, considering she found it awkward the way they were gazing upon nothing, when the others arrived with some food. Joseph told Gabriel to go get Gloria, however, he said it using his old name, "45."

"Actually... I changed my name to Gabriel, just a warning for next time," he said, and then walked to get Gloria over so that she could share the food with them.

Skye looked down at her share, suddenly having lost her appetite. She did not feel in the mood for food, especially since... well, since her leg was wounded, and it was hurting her so badly.

"I'm actually not hungry..." she began. "I'll pass on the food."

Joseph raised an eyebrow, but took it back anyways, deciding to bring it back to the food area. The small feast consisted of cheese, grapes, bread, water, and strangely big amount of corn. Why there was so much corn, she had no idea.

After everyone finished eating, Joseph took back the remaining food that Skye hadn't eaten, coming back with a big bottle of something. After sitting down, he opened the bottle and whispered, "It's water. Just drink it, if you're not willing on eating."

Deciding it best to listen to him, she took the bottle and began to slowly take small sips. She watched as everyone ate their rations, still a strange edginess in the way they looked at each other.

She could practically hear the blurry figure's voice laugh in the back of head, hissing that there would be one person to betray everyone here.

And that was her.