G.U.A.R.D. Book #4: Tracked

-17-

    The next morning, my thoughts weren't any clearer. One of the bunks had been taken by a random guy who I assumed was here because of Base 5. He slept soundly, looking exhausted. With a glance to Alek's bed, I saw it was empty. As I picked out some cargo pants and T-shirt, though, the bathroom door opened and Alek came out freshly showered.

"Wanna hit the cafeteria before going back to the infirmary?" he asked me in a low voice.

I gave a silent nod, then showered and brushed my teeth in the bathroom. As we walked out of the room, we paused.

"Do you know where it is?" Alek asked.

I told him how I had only been through the base blindfolded, and even then, the elevators opened nearly directly to the prisons. That seemed to catch him a bit off guard, but he quickly recovered.

"Guess we'll just ask," the metahuman said, already walking to the elevator. We both cast wary glances at the people passing. I wondered if they knew about me. Alek just looked uncomfortable.

"Are you asking or me?" I whispered as we stopped by the elevators.

"I've come to understand people dislike people they see as creatures," Alek murmured back, not without a hint of bitterness.

"If it makes you feel any better, I've come to understand people dislike people they see as traitors," I answered. As a man got in the elevator with us, I asked, "Could you tell us where the cafeteria is? We're not-"

"There's one behind the dorms," he interrupted. He didn't seem rude; in fact, his voice was sympathetic and tired, like he knew exactly what we were going through. "Then there's one down below in section twelve."

"Thanks."

Alek and I exited the elevator once we were on the first floor, then went out the backdoor. My stomach was growling, almost like it was scolding me for not eating enough yesterday. As images of Base 5 filled my mind, I quickly told it to quit whining.

The cafeteria only had one floor, though I'm sure the leaders were regretting that now. People packed the tables, eating breakfast as quickly as possible, then getting back to work. Others seemed to just be recovering from serious injuries and had to go as slowly as possible. Alek and I got trays, stacked them high with peanut butter and banana toast, omelets sprinkled with cheese and vegetables, fruity muffins, turkey sausages, and smoothies, then we sat as far away from the human beings as possible. Unfortunately, we still ended up at the end of a table occupied by five other people. They didn't pay us any attention, but we kept the conversation quiet, anyway.

"So did the people at your station really see you as a traitor?" Alek asked me, digging his fork under his eggs.

I snorted. "Well, last time I saw them, I had a G.U.A.R.D. agent sticking a tweezer in my hand and digging out a tracker. I have no idea what they're thinking, but that's what I'm guessing. What about you? Were you really a 'creature?'" My teeth scraped across my fork, sausage filling my mouth. The moment it went down, my stomach gave a shudder of appreciation.

"Definitely at the start," Alek said. "You remember how secretive Mustard was back when we talked about the metahumans?" I nodded. "I have feeling it wasn't just because the whole thing's classified. Most G.U.A.R.D. agents—or people in general, I guess—don't know about us, and when they find out, they act like... I don't know. Like I'm some alien."

"And your instructors told the others about you?"

"Yeah. They trained me next to the others for the most part, but I spent a lot of time with our head instructor for one-on-one time."