ALICE

Chapter 38: REVELATIONS

 Chapter 38: REVELATIONS

 Alice was standing in the middle of the Plains, just rocks, just overcast sky as far as she could see. George was there as she turned around. He was holding a bouquet of flowers, beautiful roses, white and red. He was in his blood-stained surgery clothes, the mask around hi neck, the blue-tinged white hat darkened from his sweaty brow. His eyes were blue, just as blue as ever, but they were, flat, duller, no longer the electric colour shade they were.

 "Alice. I don't know what I did to you, but I need to know..."

 "What."

 "We're not going to be together again, are we?"

 "You're dead to me George."

 "That's what I thought."

 George pulled a pistol out of nowhere, and pressed the barrel to his temple. Alice made no attempt to stop him, and in fact, felt a small smile curl onto her face. He pulled the trigger, and pieces of his brains sprayed as far as ten feet. His decapitated body hit the ground, and Alice woke up.

 "Ah... Oh my... George!"

 Alice wanted it all to be a dream, the terrible things she said to him, everything. She looked beside her. The other side of her bed was empty. It really happened.

 Alice cried. She cried for hours.

 When her tears stopped flowing, her head drained dry, she got up, put on an army jacket to protect her from the chill that was winter coming fast. There were no calandars in Landerwon, but Alice estimated it to be November. Late November. She grabbed her Glock, keeping it in her jacket.

 She walked outside. It was very cold out, and Alice nuzzled her chin into her coat as her teeth began to chatter. She zipped up her lean-to, and tried to figure out what she would do for the next couple hours before she could go to Big Top and start working. She remembered with a pang that Krew might be dead. She headed to the MedTent, remebering that George worked days most of the time, and so she most-likely wouldn't run into him.

 She entered the tent, seeing a few people. Redd was there, looking okay, and sleeping deeply. She saw some other people around, broken arms, a few peope who had been in here since before Alice had joined up with The Resistance. She looked for Krew, and found him. He was on the bed, shirtless, with a bandage around his chest. There was just a little blood, and it was dried. The majority of his head and face were covered with bandages, and his one arm was in a cast. Nearly every part of his body was treated medically in some way. He was asleep, his shallow breaths shaky but steady. Alice figured he'd be alright. Decommisioned for a good while, but he'd probably live.

 "He almost died a few times." A voice behind her made her jump a little bit, and she whipped around to see Kendo sitting there, in a wooden chair. An M4 Carbine was leaning on the side.

 "Oh... Really?"

 "Yeah. His lung dropped. George managed to figure this out, and he popped a knife in there so he could breath. He also almost bled to death as well. George realized he was A minus, and so was Krew. He gave him about two litres of blood. You're lucky to have him, he might just save your life. He's a hero."

 Alice went a little red. "We're uh... We're... We're not... Not anymo..."

 "I know."

 Alice was surprised. "You... Do?"

 "Yeah. I get it."

 "Then why did you say I was..."

 "Lucky to have him? No matter how much of a break-up you two had, he still knows you. He's a brave and happy young man. Even if he had dumped you, he would still save your life, or die trying, no hesitation." He smiled. "We're all brothers and sisters here. We can't afford to have fights within us. I won't say that we don't, you saw that with me and Nine. It shouldn't have happened."

 "He was gonna kill you."

 "Yes he was. It wasn't the first time, probably won't be the last. I've tried to kill him too, a few times."

 "But you act like friends usually."

 "We... We have a love/hate relationship."

 Alice laughed. "So... How are you? After that knife in you?"

 "Oh that, it's fine. Healing up. I've gotten a lot of knife wounds over the years, this wasn't the worst one."

 "What was?"

 Kendo turned so his face was in profile to her, and pulled the collar of his sheep wool lined aviator jacket down, so his neck was showing. A huge scar going down past the jacket onto his shoulder curved down his kneck. It had been a deep cut, and the scar was like a fat vein.

 "That," He began as turned back to her and pushed his jacket back over his neck. "happened in the forest. We were going on a Search and Destroy mission when we set up the Resistance base in the forest for the first time. We had spread their forces thin, but we were sure their were still LSF around. I was just leiutenant then, and still on fighting force. Anyway, I was sweeping an area, and a ragtag team of LSF popped out of a spiderhole they had dug. They killed a lot of our guys, and one jackass popped a knife in my neck. I was technically dead for a half-hour. Nine managed to wake me up."

 Alice gave a thoughtful hum. "Where's Nine?"

 "He got discharged. He sleeps in the command tent attic."

 "Why?"

 "That might be something you should talk to him about."

 Alice nodded understandingly, but resolved to talk to Nine as little as possible. Now that she was no longer with George, he would not stop trying to get with her. Now that George was gone...

 George.