The Second Brotherhood

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 

After the altercation with Alex, I'd realized I'd forgotten to search his body for his employer's instructions. @#!*% , I thought. Can't fix it now.... 

After trekking for about 30 minutes, an old, abandoned hospital came into view. I, being supported by Hanna, was tired, but my wits were as sharp as ever. Roku had taught me well. "Let's get inside," Hanna said, as she stumbled to get me to the door. The door itself clanged shut behind us as we entered the gloom. 

I remembered the first time I'd broken a bone, almost 3 years ago now. I was in this hospital, being x-rayed. All I could remember was the pain. The indiscriminate, pure pain. I guess I was experiencing the same now, but with a bullet wound instead. I was jerked back into reality when Hanna set me down on a table. The pain came back to me again. I wanted to scream, but I held it under control. The lights flickered overhead, as if this was a horror movie, and at any moment, the director would shout, "CUT!" 

I saw Hanna searching the cabinets, and she pulled out a gauze bandage. "Sit still," she told me, calmly. "This is going to hurt. A lot." A sound came from my mouth that could be best described as a yelp, only less manly, as she put the bandage on. Then everything became jerky, and my memory was bad for the next few minutes.  

After my memory returned, I looked at Hanna. She looked VERY tired. She had the dark circles under her eyes. The hollow gaze. The rumbling of her stomach. 

"Eat. Rest," I said. "We'll camp here for the night." 

"But I thought you said hospitals were very dangerous at this point, as there could still be Zeds in the rooms." 

"Yeah. But none of that matters right now. You're weak and sleep-deprived. I'll take watch. But right now, you need sleep. If anything happens, I'm a strong guy; I can handle it." I sat down on the floor, and, leaning against the wall, took out my tomahawk, its steel glinting in the flickering light. 

"I guess you're right." Hanna took the blanket from her bag and settled next to me. She lay her head down on my shoulder and closed her eyes. 

"Look at you. You haven't had a good night's rest for a while. A small girl like you should get more sleep. I mean, if you ever want to be a skilled fighter, you need to be alert." I had meant this as a friendly tease, but apparently she didn't take it like that. She shot up and began to yell. 

"A skilled fighter? Have I not proven ANYTHING to you yet?! I spent two months pretty much alone fighting things I only knew existed in fiction novels, watched my family die and shot my best friend! Not to mention I pretty much dragged you out here by myself and patched you up. Ever since you found me, I've been trying to prove to you that I'm worth something. But if this isn't enough for you, then I don't know what else to do. You still see me as that shy, dependent girl you went to school with. But the truth is, Tom, I'm not her anymore. That girl is long gone. So accept it, or find someone else." 

I was very shocked, and yet had somehow expected this lash-out response. I was shocked even further to know that she was right. She'd relied upon me at school. I was someone she could talk to without shame or fear. She relied upon me to help; I was her shoulder to lean on. Now, I was relying on her. If she died, I would be worse than dead. I'd be clinically insane. Some of the things I saw in the Brotherhood training center still haunted me. She was my mental anchor.  

"Hanna. I'm sorry. If there's anything I can do..." 

She cut me off. "Don't apologize. Right now, there's nothing you can do to make up for treating me like a child. Just because I'm a little younger than you doesn't mean I need your constant protection. 

I can cross the street on my own. You don't need to hold my hand."  

I then lost control totally of my facial expression, and looked down in fear. I couldn't meet her eyes. She was as demonic as the creatures that haunted me were. 

"What are you lying about, Tom Harkonnen?" she asked, not inquisitively, but angrily. "It'd better be good." 

"Nothing!" I shouted back, my metaphorical backbone reforming. "Hanna, you know I'd never lie to you. Why would you suspect me of lying? I've kept secrets, but only for the greater good." 

"Oh? So now you're lying to me for the greater good. Right." 

"I'm not lying, Hanna," I said tersely, because if the Brotherhood found out I'd told someone, they'd kill both of us, and that was something I could not stand for. 

"Yes you are! I can tell, Tom. You're a terrible liar and I can see the signs." 

"Very well," I responded. "You really want to know what I'm hiding. Alright." I began the tale. 

"So, in my Brotherhood training, I decided to explore our large compound. I was very good at stealth, so I learned quickly that the Brotherhood was committed to not only killing Zeds, but supposedly to kill 'those who set these creatures on our world'. At the time, these words were merely regarded as small talk, less than unimportant. But my training began to mutate from killing Zeds to assassinating people who spawned a scientific project revolving around immortality. The experiment supposedly failed, thus unleashing these bestial creatures upon a small section of China. When the Chinese military arrived to apprehend the threat, they suffered severe defeats, and eventual isolation of the area. Now, some global terror operatives got their hands on the experiment, and decided they would use it against the United States as a threat. The threat was ignored by the @#!*% who control the government, and thus, here we are. That's about all I know. I was going to be assigned to killing humans. Not Zeds." 

"And that's why you ran away?" she asked in a small voice. 

"Yes. I'm not a monster, Hanna. I couldn't do that. So I ran away." 

"Tom, I'm so-" I cut her off. 

"No. Don't apologize. I'm the one who should say sorry. I've treated you unfairly and I shouldn't have. I'm sorry, Hanna. I truly am. If there's anything I can do to make it up to you, please, don't hesitate to tell me."  

"You don't have to do anything. I know now that you were just trying to protect a friend." 

"Not a friend. My sister." I smiled and took a step towards her. 

"I was selfish. I'm so sorry. I was too caught up in my own problems that I forgot that you have them too. I just hope you can forgive me." Her eyes began filling with tears. 

"I was never mad. I just want you to be safe. Because, you see, I'd be nothing without you. I love you like my sister, Hanna Priest." She rushed and embraced me tightly. 

"And you like my brother." She began to sob and I ran my hand gently through her hair, calming her down. 

"Get some sleep. You need it." She nodded and sat next to me on the floor. Nuzzling under the blanket, she resumed her previous position, resting her head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her in closer. She closed her eyes, smiling. I smiled as well, and settled into watch mode, looking out into the flickering hallway.