I Collect Red Stars

Frowns

(October year 2)
The natural one left the cabin she was staying at and walked up to the main building, running into Vasily on her way there.
"Look at zis!" He chirped happily, waving his newest firearm in her direction, a red dot appearing on her chest in the dark of the night. She jumped, heart racing and stepped to the side with a startled protest but he followed her motion, despite her discomfort. She growled angrily as instinct took over and she swung her blade at him, hard. She told him she didn't like when he did that. It's his fault he didn't learn. He's lucky she stormed off instead of finishing the job. She hurried past him, the two swapping profanities until she was out of earshot. Though, entering the main building shouting "FUCK YOU!" Does tend to gather attention.
***
Yakov had spoken with her. They had tried. Vasily had tried. Not hard but he tried. Unfortunately she felt this betrayal too fresh to forgive immediately. at the moment he was off the favourite list completely. Once she had calmed he was moved back up to fifth.. no sixth. On her list of favourite people. Maybe seventh. She hadn't decided yet.
***
Some Ramirez family came through looking for Nation of Accensorites, Hearing this hedge found her favourite accensorite (third favourite person on her list) and warned him. He announced that he wasn't moving. Ten minutes later as salt was explaining that they would help pay for a tank heart surgery to give Hedge another chance, the natural one observed the the scientist running through the main hall repeatedly shouting nope sans-labcoat and assumed he had changed his mind, hurrying to help. Jameson also assisted and when all was said and done Julian had evaded the Ramirez and Jameson had contracted TB. Greit.
***
The tank heart surgery was set to commence any minute now, Vasily and her weren't on speaking terms, and salt had just apparently died getting a vivisection and had not returned yet. Needless to say Hedge was stressed out. As she sat at the table, suppressing her trembling as best she could and watching the large zodiac calmly seated at the table, she did her best to stay calm. Then he spoke the words that set her mind.
"For this surgery to be a success, there is two things you must know. Who is willing to die for you. And who would you kill. Who would you ask me to rip infection from to strengthen your own." Kill? Rip infection from? Nobody! N-no one... she couldn't. She wasn't worth that. She wouldn't kill someone who hadn't wronged her and she wouldn't ask anyone to die for her. She just.. wasn't worth it. She declined the surgery, and left on wobbly legs. She returned, trembling, to the main room and explained to Jameson what had happened, Curling up in his arms. He approved of her decision. He supported her. A short while later she heard her name called, she recognized the voice as Salt and leapt to her feet, hurrying to meet them, to see if they were okay. Salt took Hedge by the shoulders and looked her in the eye.
"How did it go? The surgery?" The natural one rushed to explain, babbling.
"I didn't- I declined I didn't go- Th-they said someone had to die and I couldn't- I wouldn't kill someone for myself- I- I'm not- it's not.. it's not worth it I'm not worth it-" The lascarian looked at Hedge silently.
"I died... I died so the surgery would be successful.. they gave the choice.. live and take one of the next group's lives.. or die and ensure success.. I knew you were going next. I couldn't let you die.. so I did what I said I would..." the purple haired natty one froze, her blood running cold. Something inside her broke, and left her unable to reply. She stared at the other, wide eyed in horror. Jameson wrapped a concerned arm around hedge but she didn't feel it. She was numb. "I said I would pay for the surgery." Salt sounded.. calm. Too calm. Too neutral.. almost numb herself, but their eyes defied that definition. Their eyes burned into Hedge with intensity. Hedge thought the worst things that could happen to her were in her past. Exile... Brutal live dissection... but this.. this was, definitively, the worst thing to date.
"I'm sorry- I'm so sorry- I didn't want anyone to get hurt- I just- I didn't want anyone to get hurt.." Hedge stammered when she finally found the words, releasing herself from Jameson's grasp and lunging to embrace the laskie. "I'm so, so sorry..." she sniffled, giving the other a vice-like hug that couldn't possibly be comfortable. "I couldn't- I didn't want anyone to get hurt-" she sobbed, her mind unable to provide other words to say, forcing her to repeat the few she could manage. Once she dropped her arms from around the cook, they went their separate ways for a minute. Hedges mind had gone from frozen to overdrive in one second flat and now it raced to find a way to make it up to salt. There had to be a way. Yakov knows things, ask Yakov- she hurried to find the red star and explained in a jumbled mess, his best solution was to set hedge on the couch and give her the log she'd been carrying around for whatever reason, assuming importance. She sat, brain racing, for all of 70 seconds, before two things happened. One, she let out a cry of frustration and punched the log, causing it to splinter and sending shooting pains up her arm through her fist, to which she responded by throwing the log as hard as she could across the room; and two, Vasily approached his commune-mates with a happy exclamation of "guess what!" Only to be met with the aforementioned log hitting him directly in the gut at full Natural one force, leaving his coughing and gasping as he turned heel and walked the other way, which barely registered in the natural one's cluttered mind. She muttered to herself for a short while and sprung to her feet, pacing the room as the events of the last few minutes finally caught up, and she startled, looking around hastily for Vasily. Logs hurt he could be hurt what if she hurt him that could have cracked a rib at the very least she had to- there he was. She sprinted across the room and stopped short in front of him, touching the presumably injured spot. "Er du- are you okei I didn't meanitareyouhurtimsorry-..." He dryly assured her he wasn't hurt and she made the executive decision to remove herself from the situation by finding zed to hit. She fumbled to grab her weapon and headed for the door. Someone had mentioned zed right? Yes. There was zed. She went out the front, one of the first to spot them. There were many, a horde, ..perfect. She squared up to go, letting out a fierce battle cry in their direction, unwavering. Then one of them cried out in response and the entire horde charged. She scrambled to respond but suddenly felt herself jerked back by her shirt-collar and roughly tossed inside behind a shield wall. She growled, who had- whatever she had to hit things before she hit people. She looked around the room and her eyes locked on the back door. She bolted to it and burst through, sneaking around the side of the building, and peered around at the large mass of zed besieging the door. Then she spied someone on the ground, being gnawed on by half a dozen zed, and darted toward them, landing several precisely calculated hits on the group busy snacking. She rounded to double back and continue her strike, however as she completed another volley of hits, a zed charged her and got a solid hit in. She needed a medic fast. So she bolted inside again, breathlessly sliding to a stop in front of Jameson. "Could you fix me?" She gasped, while he gaped at her.
"Fix you- Hedge where were you!?"
"Please just fix me." The doctor begrudgingly accepted and as soon as the final stitch was done she sprinted out the back door again, but this time he followed, not paying much attention she continued her running assault. She saw an opening and ran in through the front door, looking around. Jameson was not here. Fæn. She darted out the door again and rushed to find him. Around the same time she found him, a large group of zed had done the same. She whacked a few of them out of the way but she ran out of space and the next thing she knew her leg crumpled under her, and she was being dragged away by Vasily who had come out of nowhere. As she looked back she saw Jameson go down in the group of zed, and urged Vasily to go help him while Jackson returned her inside.
***
Yakov was taking forever and her leg still burned with pain where the zed had hit her, but Jameson wasn't back- and where was Vasily? And salt- salt couldn't die again on her watch, where was Salt- with this forced time-out enforced by her not being able to use her leg, she thought about what she'd done. She'd been reckless with her life, but more importantly her friends lives. And right now any of them could be dead.
***
She saw a familiar silhouette and called for Jameson, he was set on the couch with Yakov between them. He was fairly beaten up and both his legs had been injured. That was her fault. This was her fault. Her eyes burned and she wanted to cry. At least he was alive. She called for Vasily next and located him amidst the chaos. Then she thought of Salt. She usually didn't worry for Salt, they could certainly handle themself but they had just been through the grave mind (also her fault) so she was frantic not to lose them again. Salt took her hands to calm her... their hands were so cold. Hedge tried to warm them, frowning.
"Your hands are cold.."
"It's cold down there, under the ground." Came the eerily calm reply, which only caused the natural one to redouble her efforts, the words echoing in her head.
***