Drabbles and Containment by A Forum User

Containment Part 14

Ben POV

I move over to the front door, but I don't follow Sang. I know the look that is in her eyes and I need to make sure that no one from the house tries to follow her now. I don't know these people, but we need to complete this mission and if anyone were to try and approach her right now, it would not be a good outcome. She gave the very public display to North, giving the impression that she no longer had or showed emotions, but the truth is that if we were at home she would have gone to her room and stared at the drawings for hours. I learned long ago that when she got the look in her eye to not follow her, to not try to speak to her, and most of all to not try and touch her.

Sang left the drawings behind when she packed to leave. She has no idea that I went back and got them. She might not want them right now, but I am hoping that one day she will take some comfort in knowing that I kept them.

North is standing up and runs up to the door but I block him. "North, you do not want to be around her right now."

North says, "Get the fuck out of my way. I am going after Sang."

I look at Marc and Raven and say, "You need to control him. You may think that you know her, but I have spent the last five years with her. She will come back when she has it under control again."

Raven looks at me and says, "North sit down. Marc, get everyone from upstairs. We will fill them in on the plan and that will give DA the opportunity to prepare for the mission."

A few minutes later more people join us. They all look shell shocked. It appears that Marc told them that Dark Angel, the runner they hired, was their long lost Sang. You can tell that they want to ask questions, but that Marc has told them that they cannot.

Raven speaks up and says, "Ben, I would like for you to meet the rest of my team, Axel, Kayli, Brandon, and Corey. From Blackbourne's team we have Kota, Jessica, Victor, Luke and Nathan.

Marc has already told everyone that no one is to approach DA. If you need to give her information, give it to me or Ben. We will relay it to her."

Luke looks at Raven and says, "This is crap. Why can't we at least talk to her? We thought that she was dead and now she shows up as a supposed assassin."

I look at Luke and say, "First, are there any more of you around that need to hear this because I am feeling like a broken record when I keep repeating the same statements?"

Raven looks at me and says, "This is the entire group for the rescue mission. I have heard this already so I am going to go check the supplies. Don't worry Ben, I have already had her knife to my throat once tonight, I will not do anything to have her repeat that performance. Marc, fill the boys in on their assignments so we can get this thing get your head in the game because we need to bring the rest of your team home. "Raven leans down and gives Kayli a kiss.

"You and me three days when this is done little thief, and to the rest of you, you interfere with me starting the three days...." Raven says as he walks out the door.

I am still piecing a few things together about your group. I look at them and say, "Let me ask you a question, does the facility that you live at have running water and electricity?"

Kota looks at me and says, "We have solar panels on the buildings, so yes we have electricity around the camp."

I look at them and say, "You are lucky. At Emperton, we have basically been forgotten. We don't have electricity; we receive five days of food rations for a seven day week, the ground is more clay than soil so not much food can be grown fresh, we have a place at the back of the compound called the bone yard and it is where we pile the bodies of the people that die in and around the camp. The best entertainment for the locals is The Ring, which is where fights take place for ration cards. A is one of the best fighters in the camp, and she does not fight woman. I think if you look at the conditions that we have lived in for the past five years you might be able to figure out that the girl that you put on the bus in Charleston, is not the same girl that is outside right now.

I don't want to give you the impression that DA...er Sang has turned evil, or that the people in the community do not like her. In fact the opposite is true. I have never been able to come up with one phrase that describes her so I will just tell you the first thing that comes to mind. She is a loner, but she is willing to stand for anyone that is close to her, or that cannot help themselves. She likes to think that she is invisible, but in all honestly there are very few people that do know who she is. She would never take a leadership role in the community, but she has the ability to organize people to handle the adversities that we face on a day to day basis. From the beginning she was a beacon of hope for our community and most that live near us would do anything to take the sadness from her eyes.

The past year has been the toughest. She would tell you that she has lost all emotions and that she is dead inside, but I live with her and hear the screams from the nightmares. I choose not to say anything when she emerges from her room with swollen red eyes from crying. It might sound cruel to you, but for now, it keeps her alive. This mission is our escape. The payment that you are making means that we can try to find someplace else to go. Hopefully someplace that is more self-sustaining and that just living from day to day is not a battle."

I look around the room and everyone seems to be struggling with keeping their emotions under control. I pause for a minute and then say, "I need for you to respect her request to not talk to her and stress that you should not try to touch her. I could go into detail about why she does not like to be touched, but I don't think that you want me to. I can say that she has defended herself against anyone that attempted to attack her, and that they did not live to try it against anyone else. She told me earlier tonight that she loved you all and that you betrayed her. If you don't listen to anything else that I say, now is not the time for you to try and fix what happened in the past."

Marc looks at the group and says, "Anymore questions or are you ready to find out how we are bringing your team home?"

I don't think that Marc noticed that North has left the group and gone to the window.