Camila
Camila woke up the sound of something slamming. Her eyes popped open and her hand instinctively tightened on the racket she'd picked from the store two days ago before she remembered yesterday's event.
Her heart sunk again and she felt drained. All the life had been sucked out of her at the sight of her code.
She looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror and flinched. Her face was pale and her eyes and nose were rimmed red. No concealer in the world could hide her shattered appearance.
Still, she washed her face in an attempt to fix her face. It worked a little, some colour had returned to her face but her eyes and nose were still red. Giving up, she grabbed her racket and snuck downstairs.
She entered the kitchen, ready to maim whoever she saw when she spotted Lauren sitting at the table, chewing on some breakfast bars. She slipped her tennis racket onto the chair.
"I thought you'd leave." Camila admitted, startling Lauren. Lauren cracked a weak smile.
"I have nowhere else to go." Camila nodded and then quietly took a seat next to her and reached for a cereal bar as well.
"Lauren, did you feel like this when you found out?" Camila asked bluntly.
Lauren chewed slowly on her cereal bar and swallowed, a thoughtful expression on her face before hae answered.
"I was worse actually. Mani-" Lauren grimaced at the name.
"-had to hold me down I wanted to go back to the storing units and get myself reinjected. Like you did. Except I fought her." Lauren sighed, staring up at the ceiling. Curiously crawled into Camila.
Who was this Mani?
"I- I pushed her off me and ran back into the unit. There were Glitcheds everywhere. Hoarded in the dark hallways."
Something clicked in Camila's mind at those words.
"Hold on, when I woke up it was dark and then the lights came on." Camila remembered. Lauren nodded at her.
"Glitcheds have triggers. Their senses are their triggers. The ones in the storage units usually have sight triggers. Only people with functioning codes can trigger the motion sensor in the units and get the lights on." Lauren explained.
Suddenly Camila felt light headed.
That noise in the storage unit she woke up in wasn't her imagination or an animal, it was a Glitched.
"There was one in the storage unit. The one I woke up in. I didn't see it but I heard it growling so I ran out."
"Smart move." Lauren told her. They lapsed into another uncomfortable silence.
Camila hated silence.
"What happened to Mani?" Lauren tensed. Camila noticed her jaw was ticking.
"She wanted out of this town." Lauren mumbled finally.
"Is she...?"
"I don't know. I hope not. She was a good friend." Camila nodded, too awkward to say anything back. She stared impassively at the window instead.
With a gasp, she pulled herself up.
"It's almost sunset!" She said. Lauren looked at her like she was crazy.
YOU ARE READING
Badlands (Camren)
Fanfiction"But what is that?" Camila questioned, pointing to the pink sand dunes in the horizon. Lauren's face hardened at the sight. "Those are the Badlands. We don't go there." Camila looked terrified, she didn't know where she was or how she got here but n...
