The Rain (Book 1 - The Unprotected)

Chapter 17 - Les innocents interrogatoires et les séparation

The rain was hammering off the ground like nails. The wailing of the woman echoed through the halls. She kneeled on the floor with her palm against the window like she could just touch her child, but she couldn't and she never would again.

Jane and the others sat in the common room with a pained look on their faces. No one said a thing. They were trying to process what they had just seen. How she had crumbled to pile bones and blood in the field. How her clothes were lifted into the air like her spirit was being taken to sky above.

"Okay! I want to know everything you know!" A deep voice boomed, Ross looked up from Courtney's broken figure to the Colonel who marched in. His face red with anger and his strides large, he was closing in on them.

Nate could see the group of people timidly following behind him, this man meant business.

"Colonel!" Someone yelled out from the ocean of people. The man ignored him and kept stomping towards the group. His hefty, rough boots thumped off the ground, the noise was almost louder than the rain outside. Almost.

He stopped before them glaring at each and every one of them. Alex stood behind Ross, creating a barrier between him and the Colonel. This was the man that met them at the tree line and helped carry Drew inside. Now he looked as if he was ready to pounce on them and tear them apart limb by limb. Alex glanced around to find his mother and his sister crying from the previous sights amongst the people watching from behind him.

"I. Want. To know. Everything. You. Know." He said slowly, emphasising every word as if they were incapable of understanding English. As he spoke, his eyes travelled along the line of newcomers until they landed and stayed on Courtney. She was sat on a bed with her head in her hands. She was having trouble comprehending everything.

This was the little girl she seen last night. The one she'd smiled at as she walked past. The girl who was playing with a barbie doll secretly instead of eating her food. The girl who looking like she didn't have a care in the world, the one who hadn't been exposed to the pain and gore. The innocent one.

"We don't know much," Nate whispered remorsefully. The Colonel's eyes snapped to his like a snake. He looked down and bit his lip, wishing he hadn't spoke.

"He's right, we don't know much." Drew said, tearing his eyes from Nate to the Colonel's cold, penetrating glare. The guy was terrifying and he could feel his blood chilling in his body. After standing for a moment, Drew sat back down.

The Colonel didn't believe a word they said. He walked slowly over to Courtney and stood in front of her, watching the top of her head with expecting eyes. Her hands held her head and she stared at her lap. The Colonel's hands were wrapped behind his back and he could see Ross standing strongly behind her, watching him with an intense stare. He coughed rudely forgetting he was talking to a teenager who had witnessed a brutal death.

Courtney could feel his eyes burning holes into her skull. She lifted her head and looked at him with a tired, drained look. Her face was pale and her eyes were red. She hadn't cried but she could feel herself shattering like a pane of glass. Her eyes burned into his and she held his stare. She'd looked into colder eyes.

"We don't know much.." She started, her voice exasperated and her eyes kept contact with his. He scoffed and looked away shaking his head. "But," She said more harshly gaining his attention and everyone else's. "We seem to know more than you do." Her voice low and threatening as her eyes burning holes into his.

The Colonel wanted to argue back but he knew she was right. They did seem to know more. He looked back at her, her eyes boring into his. Her face was rigid and didn't show a single emotion. A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips, it didn't show any emotion, it only showed that she was right and he was wrong.