BEYOND THE SEA. JAMES "MAC" MACKREIDES (THE MEG 2018)

LOST FRIEND #1.

Shaky hands.

That's all Anastasia Katz focused on while she sped walk to her living quarters, her shaky hands.

Toshi was dead?

Absolutely not, she refused to believe it.

Someone she knew, someone she cared about, she would never be able to speak to again.

What the fuck even happened down there?

She didn't believe that Jonas would leave Toshi, no matter what anyone else said or thought, she didn't think he was that kind of person. The kind of person who leaves someone behind for no reason.

Yes, she knew about Jonas's past, him "leaving his crew behind to die" as Doctor Heller put it, but she had to believe it was for a good reason, and besides, Doctor Heller didn't like Jonas at all. For all she knew he was making Jonas out to be a villain, you would think Heller would understand the pressure of being responsible for someone's life, being a doctor and all, but he didn't.

Her heart was beating quickly, she felt like she was going to throw up, and the tears came when she shut the door behind her. She slid down the door, knees against her chest, weeping as silently as she could.

Grief was a complicated thing, you could go through it a bunch of times but it never got easier, only seeming to get worse.

Was it better to talk to someone about it or keep it to yourself?

Act like you were fine, it didn't affect you.

Anastasia couldn't act like she was fine, she wasn't that fourteen-year-old girl anymore who hid her feelings behind a mask and only took it off once she was alone in her room, away from her father's judgmental gaze.

God, don't even get her started on her father.

That trash human wrecked his daughter's teenage years and made her "weak", as he called her when she cried. She was still that weak little girl on the inside.

"Ana, are you in there?" Her head snapped up, Mac was at her door.

For what?

Did he hear her crying?

"Yeah. One second." She grimaced at her watery tone, if he didn't know she was crying before he did now.

She hurried to the bathroom to try and make herself look decent and then walked to the door.

"Hi," She tried to play it cool once she opened the door.

"Are you alright?" He immediately asked, and she broke. "No." He quickly shut the door behind them and led her to sit down on her bed.

"Talk to me." Ana shook her head, suddenly feeling embarrassed, "I can't believe Toshi's dead. His poor wife, and The Wall, everyone. I don't understand why it had to be Toshi, why couldn't they all make it back safely? It wasn't his time."

"Death is weird, you know. I don't have a clue on what to say that will make this any easier. But I'll listen when you talk."

He was right. Did death pick and choose people? If so, why Toshi? Not that she wanted anyone else to die, but she didn't know why anyone had to die.