LEARNING TO FORGIVE YOU

11.

["Cobalt... it's the code name to initiate evac from the LA basin."]

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Alex wiped her hands clean, while Ofelia tenderly dabbed at Andrew's bloody face, murmuring comforting words to him. Meanwhile, Daniel spoke up. "Alex, return to the Clark family and tell them to be ready to leave. We'll get the exact location of our people from this man."

"Yes, Sir." Alex responded, nodding at Daniel with a stoic expression. She turned to head for the stairs, but before she could reach them, Ofelia stopped her by grabbing her arm.

The light-skinned girl turned back towards the older girl, but before she could react, Ofelia threw her arms around the taller girl's neck, hugging her tightly. "Thank you." the older girl whispered into the taller girl's neck. Alex was surprised at first but quickly melted into the embrace, returning the hug with her hands resting on the older girl's back.

"I'll come to you when we know more, okay?" the older girl said, pulling away from Alex, who nodded in response. She then raised her hand to Daniel, who looked at his daughter with a suspicious expression before giving Alex a firm nod.

The girl then turned around and walked back up the stairs before leaving the house. The walk back to the Clark house was peaceful and silent. It was only upon her arrival that a slight sense of nervousness overwhelmed her.

When she entered, she quickly found Madison washing dishes in the kitchen. "Can we talk?" Alex asked the older woman as she stepped into the kitchen.

Madison simply nodded, quickly turning off the faucet and tidying the kitchen. She then turned to face Alex, who leaned against the counter. Madison's soft smile faded to a small frown when she noticed the upset look on the younger girl's face and heard the sigh she let out.

"What's wrong?" Madison asked, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back against the counter opposite Alex.

"I'm going to tell you something, and you'll probably freak out, but you have to promise me you won't get mad." the light-skinned girl began.

"What? Alex, what are you talking about? What did you do?" Madison asked, looking confused.

"Madison, promise me you won't get mad." Alex insisted.

"I can't promise you that, just tell me wha—" Madison protested.

"Just say you won't get mad, and I'll tell you. Every little detail." Alex said, shrugging her shoulders in frustration.

"Alexandra Henderson, tell me what you did. Right now." Madison said sternly, shocking Alex a bit.

"Fine." the younger girl said, sliding her hands over her face, preparing herself for Madison's scolding. "Fuck." She sighed, before startinng to explain. "Okay, so basically, Ofelia, her father Daniel, and I, we tied up a... a soldier who kind of had a relationship with Ofelia. And we sort of... tortured him... to get information." Alex began, scratching the back of her head.

Madison stood up straight, dropping her hands to her side, about to speak, but she was quickly cut off by Alex, who continued speaking nervously, "A-and I know it looks bad, but bear with me, bear with me, okay? We-we know where Nick and Liza are." Alex revealed with a nervous and scared smile.

Madison was silent, just blankly staring at the younger girl, blinking slowly as she processed all the information she had just received before exploding. "ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE!?" the woman yelled, stepping closer to Alex and getting in her face. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE?" Alex's eyes went slightly wide, and she stepped back, finding herself trapped between the angry woman in front of her and the counter behind her.

"Madison, it doe—" Alex tried to speak, leaning back against the counter with one arm, looking scared, but she was cut off by the older woman. "NO, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE!?"

"It doesn't matter, Madison! IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER!" Alex yelled back, standing straight. "They're leaving. The soldiers are fucking leaving, and they won't take us with them." she said, watching as Madison paced back and forth in the kitchen.

"What?" the woman said, stopping in her tracks to look at the younger girl.

"Yeah." Alex mumbled. By this point, Travis, Chris, and Alicia had walked into the kitchen, obviously having heard the yelling. Each wore a confused expression on their faces.

"What are you talking about?" Travis asked, glancing between Alex and his girlfriend.

"I'm talking about Project Cobalt. I'm talking about the fact that the world is so fucked up that even the soldier's are fucking leaving." Alex replied. "We're on our own, Madison."

"How do you know this?" Travis asked, stepping forward and placing a gentle hand on Madison's shoulder.

"From the soldier she's been holding hostage." the woman scoffed, pointing at Alex.

"What?" Travis said, looking at Alex with a concerned expression on his face. "It's not just me doing it... Ofelia and Daniel, we—" The girl paused for a second, taking a deep breath. "We tied him up and tortured him to get information about what's going on and where Nick and Liza are." Alex said.

"Did you two know about this?" Travis asked, turning towards Alicia and his son, who looked back at him with wide eyes. "Answer me!" He shouted angrily, causing Alicia to glance at Alex with an anxious look.

"No!" Alex said, answering for Alicia and Chris, who looked extremely confused. Alicia's eyes widened further in shock and confusion at why Alex was protecting her. "Neither of them knew... I didn't tell them."

Travis shook his head, looking down with a sigh before turning back to Alex. "Take me to him." the curly-haired man demanded. "Right now, Alex!" He shouted, pointing at the ground when Alex didn't make a move to leave the house.

Alex gulped slightly before nodding, turning towards the door to leave the house with Travis right behind her. When she reached for the doorknob and opened the door, she came face to face with Daniel and Ofelia. She noticed Andrew standing right behind them, his hands still tied together.

"They left." Daniel said. "The soldiers are all gone. I know where we need to go, but we must hurry."

"You." Travis said, stepping in front of Alex to face Daniel. "You're the sick bastards that helped her? We let you stay in our house, and this is how you repay us?"

"We're the 'sick bastards' who know how to get the people you care about back." Daniel snapped back, causing Travis to take a step back.

"We need to leave, now." Daniel said, glancing at Alex, who looked at his daughter. Ofelia smiled softly at the younger girl, who smiled back. This caused Alicia to roll her eyes and cross her arms over her chest, but neither of the girls noticed. Chris, however, did notice and chuckled slightly under his breath. He knew of Alicia's little crush on the older girl, it was way too obvious.

"What about him?" Madison questioned, pointing at Andrew as she stepped slightly forward.

"He's coming to lead us there." Daniel spoke.

"Well, he's riding with me." Travis said, eyeing the three people in front of him. "It's clear that you've already done enough." he added, gesturing to Andrew's bloody face and bound arms.

"Okay, but we need to leave now." Ofelia spoke. "If the soldiers here left, then it's only a matter of time before the soldiers at the compound leave too."

"Who has a gun?" she asked.

Alex and Madison both raised their hands, to which Travis, Madison, and Chris all shot the girl a confused look, which Alex simply shrugged off. Like she'd really tell them she kept a gun in the house.

"Well, enough just standing around." Alex said, clapping her hands before pointing at the driveway. "Let's get the fuck outta here."

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