ROT

Chapter 5

       An entire week later, thanks to whatever it was that had grounded me after the raid, I still wasn't allowed to leave the safe sections of the city. It was too dangerous, Danica said- I was too weak, and if I would come across the path of a hostile NDM member I would be nothing but a liability. So I had to wait until she herself was satisfied.

       My wounds weren't healing up right, or so they said, even though they looked fine to me. At least I was in my right mind again, but no one else seemed to think so because I was being a pain in everyone's ass. But I couldn't help it. I was bored, restless, and needed something more to my day than helping Schenck with her rounds of publicity. Unfortunately, I wouldn't get to do anything else for what seemed like an eternity.

       "Whatever happened to 'never give up'?" I muttered, ill tempered as I hobbled up the subway stairs and into the light. "And why the hell is Danica making me use these damn things? It's an inconvenience, at the very least."

       The crutches rubbed ungratefully against the underside of my arms, biting and scratching like some wild animal. Like that radioactive dog from before.

       "This is shit," I commented dryly to the group of about five others that I was with.

       They practically sighed in unison, and Kevin, who had probably pulled a few strings to get himself in one of Schenck's groups too, butted in before I said something that would really upset them.

       "Just calm down, will you? Think of this as another mission, even if it is a boring one. This is the side of ROT that the people see, and if you keep having a bug up your ass, they won't like us very much. So just calm down or I'll make that infection worse."

       "Worse?" I laughed cynically, but my mood was already starting to lighten up a little thanks to his lecture. "Being stuck here for God-knows-how-long, how is that worse?"

       We tromped past dilapidated buildings, wastelands of parks, and a few scampering people. There wasn't anybody at this part of Nashton because it was affected most by the Blasts: more radiation, more death, more bad memories. It was the perfect spot for our base because it didn't catch any attention from the NDM when they went on their civilian drug rounds; they didn't visit this part of the city either, or at least as far as we knew.

       Gradually I began to settle down. My head grew clearer, and the sharp pains under my arms grew to a dull ache. I was starting to go numb, but at least that would mean I wouldn't feel anything.

       "This's your first time out with us, so I'll give you the rundown," Ria, our young Mexican squad leader began. Kevin and I met her carefully maintained gaze. "It's just a basic… well, like you said earlier, mission. We're just going to meet up with a small group of civilians at a predestinated place, give them the food we brought for them, and answer any questions they have. It's a dropoff place that's been secure for years, so there shouldn't be any problems. If there are, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

       "Not smart," I muttered under my breath before speaking up. "So, what happens if the NDM or just some starving soul decides to show? We're not heavily armed, and if anyone decides to attack us, we're done. Especially with me around."

       "If we have weapons, it'll just scare the civilians away," Ria answered.

       "So basically we're just putting ourselves in a dangerous situation, voluntarily, because we're trying to look good."

       "Yes."

       That was just great- but that was probably one of the reasons why I was in the Armed Sector instead of doing this day in and day out. Ugh, it would probably kill me faster than a pissed off NDM guy with a machine gun.