Verde

Chapter 11: Leaving

     No one had approached Cassidy.

     That morning, she had turned in her report to the superior agents, just as she would if she were an agent herself, and had just returned from a field task - or any task, for that matter.

     Her report would be processed along with those of all the other trainees, as well as the full agents who had actually been out in the field.

     With all the extra commotion outside from news of the Pulse, reports were pouring in from the Neighborhoods. Cassidy's was probably lost somewhere in the piles of papers that needed to be read. It wouldn't be read for at least a week.

     What a stupid idea, Cassidy thought. How did I ever think just turning in a report would help me? I need to talk to someone.

     Cassidy got up from her bed. Elle wasn't in the room. Who knew where she had gone, but it was alright. There were things Cassidy had needed to think over. Now she had reached her decision.

     The floors were carpeted, but not in the best quality. The ground was spongy and rough under Cassidy's socked feet as she walked to the door. She slipped on shoes as she went, the thin soles still allowing her to feel it every time the carpet sprung back up against her weight.

     Reaching for the door handle, she thought of what it would be that she would say. Her pulse rose to her throat. How will I even start? She asked herself in a panic. How do I explain why I haven't brought it up yet? She stepped back, returning to her bed.

     No. She couldn't do this. She would just have to wait until someone read her report. It would probably be Kate. By that time, there would be so many other questions to ask, no one would bother with the small things. 

     The door flew open. 

     Cassidy jumped off of her bed. Her breath stopped. She could feel her blood throbbing through every part of her body, and for moments she was just a pulsing beacon of a girl, until her heart stopped hammering and her vision cleared.

     "Alison," she said breathlessly. She had been so on edge, thinking of the communicator, the smallest noise would have scared her out of her wits.

     "Cassi," Alison Moiree's voice was as soft and open as ever, despite the way she had nearly broken down Cassidy's room door mere moments before.

     Alison held up a sheet of uneven, pulpy paper, with familiar handwriting scrawled all over both sides in thin ink. It was Cassidy's report. "We need to talk about this."

     "Yes," a weight lifted off of Cassidy's chest. She could breathe.

     Now that the subject had been broached, there was so much less for Cassidy to worry about. All she had to do was talk. Answer questions.

     Not that there were actually all that many questions left unanswered - her report had included every possible detail that she had thought of. Just as a good report should do, Cassidy's had left very little room for confusion or ambiguity. 

     There was no possible way that Alison had a burning question about how Cassidy had come across this information. So, she just stated everything back to her.

     "You found the booklet - the manual - on Saturday," she began, "and you went up to the Comms Tower to look for the device described inside - a communicator, that, judging from its purpose and power source, you deduced might still have been in working order. You found it there, among all the other abandoned equipment, most of which doesn't work. 

     "On Sunday, you wrote your report. But before you did that, you and your friend, Elle Jackman, went up to the Comms Tower to retrieve and test the communicator device." Alison paused before continuing with, "You tried it out, and discovered that the device did, indeed, work. In fact, you even made two calls from it. The first was to the former President of the United States, Valerie Foster." Alison's eyebrows rose, and she surveyed Cassidy.