INTERIM · BEN PARISH | ✓

Ten + OHMYGOD

She's got a gun. She's about to pull the trigger. She has no one else with her; they're either dead or had abandoned the mission. She's all alone.

She's the only one who believes in the cause, the only one left to turn.

And yet...

She has nothing. No proof otherwise.

Ringer is right.

And this is her future.

This is my future.

•••

Private Bramble set fire to a body in the processing hangar. It was just the hair, but seriously? I ask one measly question of switching and she threatens to burn worse.

"Come on! Vosch said that negotiations should be taken into order. Please just do me this one favor."

"No. Say, we have three days until graduation. Maybe you can ask Zombie or whatever. Your boyfriend," she sneered. She put down the torch and folded her arms across her chest. "I'm not stepping down. I got this close to the top, I'm not letting you downgrade our team to border patrol."

"Are you kidding me?" I groaned in frustration. What was I going to tell the rest of my squad? I failed them yet again, but I couldn't step down- not when we were so close to graduation.

"No. If you don't back up right now, I'd be happy to singe your perfect eyebrows right off," she snapped and picked up the torch again. She popped a bubble right in front of my face.

I backed away slowly and turned the other way.

Great. Next to the last person I wanted to see.

"Red! Red!"

"What."

Stiletto stopped a few feet away to catch her breath. "I saw you in the processing hangar. Why?"

"Because..." I would tell anyone from my squad but her. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not? What's wrong?"

"What's with you suddenly acting like you care?" I growled, immediately regretting it.

"I always did," she muttered. I glanced at her hand, clenched in a fist. She's holding something minuscule, but by the way it's held, it must be something of a treasure to her.

After a brief moment, I sighed. "I'm sorry, Stil. I'm just... stressed."

"Did something happen?"

"Yeah, I let us fall again. We're third and we won't be deployed to enemy territory now. We'll be stuck bordering the grounds."

"Honestly, I'd rather do that."

"But all this time, everyone was so keen on destroying those Teds, especially me. They killed off our family!"