For The Many

Chapter 6

It's been a few weeks since I met Sarge, and I must admit, he is far nicer than I thought he was. He really does car about the people here, be they Ungratefuls or children, and he strives to help them all, a trait which I would not have attributed to him had I been in the Holding Unit instead of being allowed to roam freely.

They have also dyed my hair with that stuff – Alive Dye, they call it. Apparently, it actively tries to dye the strands of hair to touches, meaning that the roots will never show. Just like how the roots of their hair never does.

I was shocked it actually worked, to be honest, and the colour it turned my hair was so different from the blonde it had been... Luckily, it can be reversed, with something called Dead Dye. I look forward to using it, to be honest.

-Marta Pennyworth, June 29th.

Marta looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, unable to tear her eyes from the mass of purple that spiralled from her head. The Alive Dye had worked for the most part, the only part that hadn't been engulfed in purple being a single, small corkscrew shaped piece of hair which remained blonde. She had wondered aloud after it had been done if that was a problem, but Click had dismissed it, saying that it seemed like something she would do. “Some of our kind do dye their hair normal colours – you simply look as if you have done that to only a streak. If anything, you are less likely to be found out for it."

That had been days ago, though, and right now, she had something else that needed to be done. She was going on a rescue mission.

With one, last look at what had become of her hair, she sighed, shook her head, then departed, pulling at her dark shirt nervously.

“Are you ready Marta?” Click asked, running a hand through his blue hair. It was sweaty and shaking from how nervous he was. This was the first rescue he had ever planned, or taken part in. Every other resident of the complex that was not an alien had been saved from out on the surface, not from under the noses of those who would have them killed.

“More than.” She replied, the left side of her mouth jolting up into a smirk.

“Well, let's get going then.” He suggested.

Click lead her to the hangar where all of the vehicles they had were kept. Most were land vehicles, though some were instead water-bound or even flight worthy, but the latter were not the ones they were interested in. They instead got into a four wheel drive vehicle, with only two seats, but the back was open topped and somewhat like a pick up truck, only it was barred off.

Click swung himself into the driver's seat, running his fingertip along the display screen. It lit up, asking for a destination, which he quickly put into the display. “Come on then,” he jeered. Marta smiled, climbed into the vehicle, and clipped herself in. Click seemed to have neglected that. “Dayoh!” He called, then motioned for him to send them to the surface with a quick upward motion of his head. A lever was pulled, and skyward they went.

They were on their way as soon as they hit the surface, the wheels of their truck kicking up an obvious dust trail. At first, Marta couldn't help but be terrified. She was not used to making this much of an imprint on the desert-like terrain she had been living in for the past few years, and it felt wrong. She wanted to get rid of the tracks, but she knew she couldn't. There wasn't a way she knew of to do it, and they were moving.

Click noticed her looking behind every few minutes, and wanted to try to comfort her, but he knew about as much about comforting a jittery teenager as she did about covering vehicle tracks. “All will be well,” he said, turning his head but keeping his eyes focused on the road. “There is no reason for us not to travel to other complexes. It is entirely within the parameters of our laws.”