The Cure

The Conversation:

Derek:

"That was completely unreasonable Gwen, and you know that." I walked forward until I stood directly in front of her. I towered over her small, strongly built frame. I could see that look of stubbornness appear almost immediately on her face. I knew she never liked being told she was wrong, and some guys didn't find it appealing. But it was one of the things I loved about her. I stared at her beautiful, freckled face. Her dark curly hair framing it perfectly, I knew she what she thought of her appearance and I know that whenever she looked at herself in the mirror she frowned a little. I had no idea why she would though she seemed perfect and flawless to me, but I would never tell her that. Or at least not while we were still friends. But I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard her voice, "I'm sorry," she said sarcastically. "But did you see what he said to me? That is disrespect to me as his teacher and instructor. He insulted me! Besides, you know I could've done worse than that!!" She looked positively livid. I stayed calm and thought things through. I didn't want to upset her more than she already was. "Gwen, it was his first day!! He didn't know the rules and I think that you are were to harsh on him. He probably didn't know what it was to be a squad leader and how you had to take that test." I said. I saw her whole body get rigid at the word test. She told me that the test was horrible and terrifying but I never knew it would affect her this much. She had gotten a little more serious after it. "Well he should have known to keep his thoughts to himself." She said calmly. It was strange how she could go to furious to serenely calm. I heard the metal door open and I turned around. I saw one of our army's messengers come up to us. "The General would like to talk to you Gwen. You can come to Derek" the messenger said. He was tall and lanky but I knew he had to be fast to be hired as a messenger. They wanted some of the fastest people to spread information quicker. "Alright, tell him, I need to pack up my things and I'll be there as soon as possible." Gwen said. I saw the messenger nod his head then take off and close the metal doors with a bang. I stood there for a second thinking of the things he would tell us. "Are we in trouble? Did we do something wrong?" I thought. "Derek," Gwen said with her arm on the handle of the door. "You ready?" She questioned. I picked up my duffle bag and slung it over my shoulder. "Yea. Let's go."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Our feet pounded against the metal off the hallway and created a sound that echoed off the walls. I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw Gwen clench and unclench her jaw repeatedly. Our talk was obviously not over yet. I understand that she felt angry at what he said, but that didn't mean she had to embarrass him in front of the whole class. "Gwen is obviously qualified just look at her." I thought. Gwen had a strong, small frame, her arms were muscular and lean. Her legs were long and thin but I knew that they held power in them. I let my gaze wander over her whole body, it was no doubt even when she was furious she was still breathtaking. "What?" Gwen snapped at me. I shook my head, clearing it of my previous thoughts and tried to pretend like nothing was happening, when my cheeks were burning slightly from getting caught staring at her. "Nothing. Nothings wrong" I rushed out. I wanted to slap myself so hard. "So much for trying not to be suspicious!" She looked at me strangely, like she could see through my lie but kept walking til we met the large, etched doors that lead to the General's room. I pulled out my dog tag and ran my thumb over the rough side. Everything that they knew about me was embedded in a code on this tag. No one but the chief and other officials could see what was inside. "How much do they know about me?" But that wasn't the question I should've been asking. The real question should have been "What don't they know?"

I inserted my dog tag into the scanner and the thick doors pushed open. I looked around before taking a step inside carefully. Their were two large screens on the wall opposite from us. It was supposed to simulate a large, open meadow and it was supposed to make us feel like we were still up above, on ground level. It only made me homesick to see the actual Sun again and not just pictures. The army had thought that it would be better to have our facilities underground away from the monsters threat. I couldn't blame them though, those monsters were ruthless and demolished everything in their sight, not having a single drop of mercy in the cold blood their hearts pumped through their misshapen bodies. The olive green walls were covered in old battle strategies that the General had most likely written himself. But something else captured my eye. I turned to my left and saw glass display keeping five objects from harm. It drawed me closer and saw that they were the Generals official berets. They had an increasing amount of stars and were all olive green except the last, burgundy colored beret. That hat was the goal every soldier wanted to achieve, we all wanted to be General's of the Army. I leaned in until my breath fogged up the pristine, clear glass. It was a deep, rich red with five stars formed in a circle at its front. I placed my hand on the glass carefully like I could feel it underneath my fingertips. I stood there in awe with my jaw dropped before I heard a deep voice chuckle and say, "Don't make the glass dirty son. You don't know how much it takes to keep it that clear. " I whirled around and in an instant, my pale face was inches away from teh tan face of our Army General.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Sir, could you please explain to us why we're here. We were discussing something very important before that we need to finish talking about." Gwen said. I could feel her gaze on me when she said that last sentence. The General just frowned but quickly changed his expression before saying, "Anything you we're discussing before can't be as important as this." How important could this really be? Was it more training exercises? I had no idea what it could possibly be when I was snapped out of my thoughts. The General stood up from his seat at his desk and spread his large fingers on the mahogany desk. "It's about the cure," he said. His voice was quiet, much different from the large booming voice he usually had. His voice was as muted when he stood up and leaned in as far as he could to us. My eyebrows furrowed. They were working on the cure, I knew that but what was so important about it? I looked down at the floor as if it would give me an answer. "The cures not real." The General said. My head snapped up so fast I was surprised it didn't break. The cure, they had to be working on it. What does he mean? I looked at Gwen and saw her shift uncomfortably. "What do you mean? They said they were close to a break through!" Gwen said angrily. Her face tightened and her arms automatically folded across he chest. The scientists working for a government had told the army that they were close to solving the epidemic. "I mean that those monsters out there are what the Culling was for. It was never for a cure!! They wanted to start another war!! They made those army men and women into the savages they are now!!" He said. The General was steaming and I saw the same look on Gwen's face. "What're we gonna do about this?! We have to stop it!! This is against the law!!" Gwen said. That look of stubbornness and determination passed through her face again. Now that she knew what they really did to her father, their was no way she was going to let those scientists win without giving her all. I was positive that her parents would have been so proud. "Gwen. I know you won't like this but I need you two and 4 more squad members to stop them," The General raised a hand up stopping Gwen from interrupting. " I know that this is dangerous. That's why," he reached down into a drawer of his desk and pulled out a thin, clear piece of glass and what looked like an ear piece. I had no idea what the glass was, I'd never seen anything like it before. "I'm giving you this. It's a cell phone. I'm sure you've heard about them once or twice in school. It'll let you talk to me when your on the mission. I'll give you some supplies of course but I need you to do this Gwen. We can't afford to have more men and women gone forever. It's not right, it's not natural. I need you to bring justice. Understand?" I saw thousands of emotions cross Gwen's face. Anger, confusion, pride and all of them in between. She let out a sigh and slid a hand in her hair. She turned her chocolate brown eyes back onto the Generals blue ones and said, "Alright. When do we leave?" She obviously had a lot on her mind right now. She had to pick four soldiers to bring with her, make a plan with the General, and pack for this trip. Luck wasn't exactly on her side right now. The Generals face tightened like he knew she wasn't going to like what he was about to say. "Tomorrow. Choose your soldiers today and we'll notify them. We'll give you supplies before you departure." Gwen gave a nod and headed to the door. "Thanks. For serving our country." Gwen turned around at that and I knew exactly why. That goodbye should've sounded confident and encouraging, but the way he said it made it seem like it was the last time he was going to see her.

I turned and walked to the door. My mind was filled to the brim with thoughts and I felt that if I said one more thing that it would explode. I let my eyes close and took a deep breath before I pushed the door open and followed Gwen to her room to try and figure out what just happened.

END OF CHAPTER FOUR

- Hey guys!! It's Vicky here!! I feel like I haven't updated in FOREVER!! (Even though it's only been five days...) I hope you liked what happened in this chapter guys!! Tell me what you think in the comments below!! Did you like it? Did you hate it? Let me know!! Anyways did you see the new cover :D? Yea the background could use some work but I think it turned out pretty good :)!! Anyways as always guys stay awesome!!