REDEMPTION (3rd Book of FEAR)

- chapter four -

"What are you doing here?" Liz repeated for the second time. Locus had just finished throwing Jax out of the cave when she spoke. "I'm helping the Reds and Blues find their friend," the green and grey armored soldier stated in a calm tone.

Liz flinched visibly, "The Reds and Blues?" The mercenary nodded slowly, "Without the Chairman, I am not their enemy anymore." The corners of her lips slightly curled upwards, "Is it really that simple?"

There was a moment of silence after Locus decided not to answer her question. "Why are you here?" Locus raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Business," the girl stated hesitantly. Looked like something else to me... he thought to himself.

Locus chuckled under his breath in a bitter sort of way, "I thought you were done with mercenary work." Liz crossed her arms, leaning against the cold rock wall of the cave, "Oh, I was... Until I got kicked out of a refugee camp."

Something inside the mercenary suddenly unlocked itself, and rage began to flow through his veins. How dare she say that? Locus fumed, "You didn't get kicked out. You left!"

He took a step towards her, jabbing a thumb towards his chest, "At a time where I needed you the most, you left!" Liz lunged forward, a familiar fire coursing through her eyes, "You needed me?!"

She laughed, sarcastically, "Do you not remember throwing me to the floor because you thought I ki..." Her voice faltered, and she covered her quivering mouth from Locus. Her once intense eyes were now watery and hurt.

"Liz..." The man reached out to touch her hand, but she wrenched away. "No," she snapped, "I can't believe you would ever think that I would do something like that." The guilt Locus felt back at the refugee camp came flushing back to him.

"Please ju-" He began, but the girl quickly cut him off. She hissed, "What I saw at that camp was not the changed man you promise to be..." Her voice became brittle, and a single tear slipped out of her eye and fell upon her cheek, "That was the monster I knew on Chorus."

Locus stood, her heart breaking all over again. Liz hastily wiped her cheeks off, brushing the hair away from her face. She gazed at the mercenary in pure disgust.

"You haven't changed at all."

***

"Holy shit..." Liz freezes as soon as she marches into the underwater base, shocked to find a duplicate of the Blues and Reds. Locus is right behind her, and his hand immediately smacks his forehead in utter disbelief.

"Soldier! You are late to y-" Surge immediately stands up from the table, his tone patronizing and scolding. "Yeah, yeah. I'm late. I get it," Liz waves a dismissive hand at the gruff man, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

The other red soldier, who sounded almost identical to Surge, gasped dramatically, "Insubordination!" Liz's eyes widened, "I need to go lay down." Temple ran to her side, chuckling before wrapping an arm around her, "I know, I know. This is a lot to handle all at once."

Locus tensed at the sight, his hatred growing for the unknown man. "You mean, I'm not dreaming?" Liz gulped in dread. Temple laughed again, "It sounds weird but... I think we just found our team's twins!"

"Then, where's your twin?" Liz questioned after examining the rainbow of soldiers sitting at the table. Everyone looks down at their lap, coughs and mumbles suddenly erupting. The girl crinkled her brow in confusion.

"That's... what we're here for," the twin of Buckey speaks up, his voice low and solemn. Liz puts a hand to her forehead as her mind begins to spin.

"Ok, I'm definitely going to go lay down..."

ohhh myyy so we saw liz and locus confront each other about her leaving the camp. who is in the wrong here? was liz right to leave? or should she have stayed even though locus completely blew up on her? this girl has a habit of leaving... i wonder why?