Black Source #theWattys2016

CHLOE

She sat in the room with him for days, not eating or drinking, just staring at him. She couldn't hide from the truth anymore. He was dead. His face was as pale and ashy as hers, but there was no life in him. She had gotten used to the constant ach in her chest. Only she didn't quite know what it was. Emotions bled together the more intense they became. However one emotion rose above the rest, grew larger with every passing minute. Regret. It was the one feeling she couldn't ignore, the one pain she couldn't handle. Marshal was the fire that lit the wick to her bomb. Not only had she let him die, she let her mother and father die just the same. She sat there alone for days, not simply out of sadness, or grief alone, but out of rage, a controlled and tempered madness that grew like a cancerous mass in her chest.

"It's almost time..." her body quaked quietly in the solitude of the hospital room she sat in. Marshal's body was covered with white linen across from her. "Almost time to end this..." her voice was hollow and cold. A knock on the door to her left drew her attention. She didn't answer but he came in anyway.

"Chloe." Ellis stood beside her. "Are you alright." Her eyes were locked on the corpse of the once leader. "The others are waiting for us." She was unresponsive. "I'll just see you there, okay." Ellis's eyes looked mournful, and his tone was soft. He looked back at the corpse before moving to the door.

"Did I do this?" Chloe asked. There was a storm behind her eyes, a monsoon that thundered in her heart. "Did Mom and Dad die because of me?" Ellis knelt down and looked her in the eyes. She saw the same regret in his eyes that she had in hers. Before she could speak again, Ellis pulled her close and wrapped her in his arms. She didn't cry. There were no tears left to cry. All she had left was her dark resolve.

Ellis held her there until she hugged him back, then he reached in his pocket and presented it to her. She knew it was Marshal's.

"He was holding on to this in the end." Ellis placed the pendant in her hand. "I figured you might want it."

Chloe got up and walked over to the corpse. "I'll finish it." She said.

"What is it?" Ellis asked curiously.

She shoved the pendant in her pocket and spun around. "It's the key to everything."

Ellis led her outside into the sun she hadn't seen in days. All she saw of the Infidel headquarters was ruble, brick after brick thrown down. Nothing was left standing, not its walls or its people. Alpha base once looked like a city, fortified and strong, but when they arrived, all they found were the remains of war.

Their walk to the meeting place was long and filled with depressing sights of wounded infidels. There was nothing but muddy, grey hopelessness, and the sorry left overs of a hard fight. Chloe averted her eyes. She could feel their hurt and she knew she couldn't stand any more than what she already had. And yet, the sight reminded her of the Skull Crusher camp where she was bitten, where she lost her parents. The same hopelessness hung in the air.

When they finally arrived, Ellis ushered her into the room.

"How do we even know anyone will be there?" Maria's voice was challenging.

"We don't," Smith answered.

"Staying here isn't going to help us." Clyde added. Chloe walked up to the group. They stood inside of a roofless building in their usual circle discussing further plans. Ellis watched Chloe as she stood outside the circle. Wind tossed papers and files across the dusty cement floor. The discussion went on.

"You know how many people we've lost," Felix argued. "Hell, the kid is dead for crying out loud. We can't afford to take any more chances!"

"We've all lost people," Smith flexed his jaw. He was clearly angry about Marshal, and everyone could see it. "But we'll lose more if we don't stay together and head for New America."