The Symbol

Chapter 3-My Safe Haven

(A/N - Music was hard for this one, but hopefully this turns out ok! Zero was hard to write...)

Lily's POV

Queenie was pretty much a chatterbox the entire time she showed me around the base. That is, until a hallway, then she surprisingly stopped talking. I looked over at her. Her eyes were fixed on someone who seemed to be glaring at me. "What have I said about this, Queenie." He says, raising an eyebrow. He had an accent, Norwegian maybe. "I know, I know. But she needed to get out of where she was, and I was in the area..." Queenie trails off, seeing the sudden cloudy expression on his face. Well, the top half of his face. The mask that he wore covered his mouth.

"Queenie, you know how dangerous it is to be in a Red Nexus base. Especially after the skirmish with the Tempest." The way he said my last name made me shudder. I had an inkling about who he was, but I wasn't going to say anything. "A skirmish? Ha! And I'm a worm! Also, you're supposed to be in your room, that skirmish left you bleeding and unable to form coherent sentences, you were in so much pain." A Walker had come up behind him and had joined our conversation without skipping a beat. "Aaaaastriiiiid!!!" He groans, putting his hands over his eyes. Then he winces, putting a hand to his side. The Walker, Astrid apparently, told him to go back to his room. She called him Zero, which meant I was correct in assuming that that's who he was. She wore a hoodie that Queenie later called the World We Used to Know hoodie.

Astrid turned to me. "You the new girl?" She said, using a fake voice that reminded me of bullies from school. I try not to wince, but it comes out anyway. "I'm taking you to my office for a check up, as I do with everyone. And I will need some information on you too so me and Pandora can make your WID folder. " Astrid had grabbed my wrist and started to tug me to follow her. I know that she wasn't going to hurt me, but when Astrid grabbed me, it gave me flashes of the abuse I went through. So I flinched. Astrid gave me a confused look. "You good?" "Yea, just PTSD." I reply, putting my hands in my hoodie pockets. "I'll follow."

Now I was sitting on a couch while Astrid questioned me. She had seen my scars, but didn't say anything about them. "So your name is Lily, right?"

"Right."

"And you're 24."

"Yep."

"Alright, those were the basics I needed to nail down, and I got everything else." I sigh in relief. I don't have to tell her my last name. In thinking that, I swear I jinxed myself. "Oh, well look here! I didn't put your last name down!" Crud. "What did you say it was?"

"Can I not?"

"No, you have to. I know Zero's full name, and I haven't shared it." I looked at her, pretty sure I was going to pass out. I say it just above a whisper. "My last name is Tempest." Astrid stands there for a second. "Pandora, soundproof the room." "On it." Pandora replies. "Are you here for the same reason Adelaide was?" "No." "Good. You remember the grumpy guy in the hallway that was trying to avoid doctors orders?" "Oddly specific, but yes." "That was Zero. Don't tell him your last name. He was the one that killed Adelaide." "Oh." I start hyperventilating. "Hey, calm down. You're safe. I'll make sure he doesn't hurt you."

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart, hope to die."

"Thank you."

Queenie later showed me to my room. "I'm a floor down, and you will be able to tell which door is mine." "Ok thank you." I reply, setting the extra clothes that Queenie had let me borrow on the bed. Without thinking, I start humming an old tune. By old I mean it had been around since the time of the Vikings. It had been found in Norway, but Scotland claimed ownership over it. I'm half Norwegian, so I knew the lyrics. I start mumbling the words, just loud enough for the tune to be heard, just not the lyrics. I sit down on my bed, looking around my room. Then I jump up again, my singing coming to an abrupt halt. "Don't stop on my account." Zero leans against the doorframe, his deep blue eyes fixed on me.

"I don't like singing in front of people."

"That's understandable. May I come in?"

"It's your base."

"It's your room." He walks in anyway.

"I wanted to get to know you, Queenie brings in lots of people, but they always have a story." He sits down next to me, sitting on the other side of the couch so he can turn and look at me. "I'd rather not." I mumble, rubbing at my sleeves. In doing so, I accidentally pull up a sleeve, revealing my scars. I swear I was jinxing myself. "What are those?" Zero asks quietly. "I don't want to talk about it." "Does this help?" He rolls up his sleeve, showing scars that riddle his arm. "Kinda. I was beaten a lot." I say. "By who?" I take in a shuddering breath. "The Tempests."

He freezes, then starts shaking violently. I run over to the room phone (kinda like a hotel phone) and call Astrid. I tell her that Zero is having a PTSD attack. I walk over to him cautiously, sitting down next to him. I pull him into a hug. He starts sobbing against my neck. "It hurt." He manages. "I know." I pull off his hood and run my fingers through his (slightly messy) hair. When my hand touches the base of his neck he tenses, and I hesitate. He's been branded. Just like me. "I won't say a word about it." I promise, taking his hand to touch the same spot on my neck. "I have one too." He looks at me carefully, his eyes untrusting. I wipe the tears that I can see. "What did you do?" Zero asks. "Now and then I tried to run. I was a servant to them, nothing more. But I was a servant that knew too much. So if I even tried at what they saw as an attempt to share information, they would hurt me." Zero nods. "What about you? If you don't mind sharing." I ask, nervous about the response. "I haven't told Astrid any of this. My sister was killed in front of my eyes, and I relive it every night in my dreams. I was tortured. I was shoved into a time warp by my best friend. And it was all the Tempests. There's more, but I'd rather not go into details."

I shudder. "I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do?"

"Not tell Astrid?"

"Fair. Can I ask a question kind of related to the time warp?"

"As long as it's not details."

"How old are you exactly?" Zero stares at me for a second, then bursts into genuine laughter. Astrid chooses that exact moment to come in the room, looking panicked. "Is he ok?" Zero had fallen off of the couch, and was now clutching himself on the floor, unable to make a sound other than wheezing. "I think so..." We both stare at him until he gets up off the floor, wiping tears from his eyes. Then he collapses again, clutching his side. His eyes are squeezed shut, and, knowing what's about to happen, I give him a pillow. He muffles an agonized scream. After Astrid helps him into his room, she comes back in. "Zero is going to rest, but for some reason, he told me to tell you, quote, '109, I think.' Any idea what that means?" It takes me a moment to process. "Yes, but he told me not to tell you." Astrid glares in the direction of Zero's room. "Him and his stupid payback."