Silence // Danger Days (Book 1)

23.

General Atomic Alien awoke.

She looked around with slight confusion, her blurry vision only permitting her to see an ocean of white light.

She was surprisingly calm given the circumstances. The last thing she could remember was—

It hit her.

She shot out of whatever she was laying on and rubbed her eyes frantically. She looked around again to find a sterile white room with no visible windows and a sealed door.

She'd been here before.

This was BLI.

She quickly reached to her forehead to find that her signature metal goggles were gone. Her normal clothes were also removed in favor of a stark white hospital gown-looking thing. She pulled a strand of hair in front of her eyes and sighed with relief to see that it was still purple.

Her memories of her capture were blurry, but she did remember some fuzzy images: speeding down Route Guano, headlights in her rear-view, a shattering behind her, a blast hitting her neck.

Before that—

Ven.

Her eyes began to fill.

She had never been one to hold grudges. Even after a fight with someone she barely knew, she would always give them a second chance. But it had never been Vendetta she was fighting with. Sure, they'd had a skirmish here and there, but never of this scale. He had always stuck by her, no matter the cost.

She loved him. She knew that, she'd always known that. But she'd never questioned whether he loved her in return.

She sat back down on the cot she had been laying on and let the tears fall from her eyes.

Suddenly, there was a loud click, and the door in front of her opened.

There were two Scarecrows standing in the doorway. Their masks covered their heads completely, preventing them from showing any emotion.

She chuckled to herself as she had been in this exact position two years ago when she had met him.

She wiped the wetness from her face and smirked slyly at the Scarecrows. "So what're ya gonna do?" she laughed. "Kill me? No wait, you can't! You need me. I've got all the information you asshats need right in here." She tapped the side of her head referring to her brain. "And you know what?" She stepped closer to them so she was staring into where she presumed their eyes were. "It's right in front of you, but you can't get it. Why? Because I'll never give it to you. Ever. I don't care what you do to me; you won't get it."

The Scarecrows seemed to ignore every word Alien said. "We have been instructed to bring you to the Director for interrogation," the one on the left said monotonously.

"Alright, I get it. I've already done this once, I don't need a step-by-step tutorial." She jumped around a bit, waiting for them to storm in and grab her. "What're ya waitin' for?"

They did exactly as she expected, and she didn't struggle. They pulled her out of the cell. It felt to her as if she was reliving the moment of her initial capture in 2016.

After passing through a few identical hallways, the Scarecrows stopped at a door that was identical to all the others. One of them slid a card into a slot beside the door and pushed the door open, and the other pushed Alien inside.

The room was a bit larger than the cell she had been in, and there was a small table in the center of the room. Two chairs were placed on opposite sides of the table. The Scarecrow led Alien to one of the chairs and pushed her into it.

"Geez, you don't have to be so violent," she said, reminded of Vendetta when she said violent.

A woman sat in the chair across from her. She looked Japanese, wore business attire, and had neatly styled black hair.

"Hello," she said calmly. "I am—"

"The Director," Alien cut her off. "Believe me, I know who you are."

The Director ignored this. "I am going to ask you some questions and you will answer them quickly and without resistance. Do you understand?"

"Of course," Alien replied, mocking the woman's calm tone.

"General Atomic Alien," The Director stated. "That is what you are called by the Killjoys, is it not?"

"The one and only!" Alien winked.

"What is your name?" the Director asked. "And before you say that your alias is your name, that is not what I mean. Your parental units would not have given you a name so harsh to hear."

Alien's eyes widened. "Wait, you mean you don't know who I was?" she began to laugh. "Really! Have I changed that much?"

"Yes. Your identity was not able to be identified by our scanners."

Alien laughed louder. "Ha! For once, there's something you don't know!"

"Answer the question, please!" The Director raised her voice.

"Oh really?" Alien commented. "You actually think I'm going to tell you what my name was? I actually have privacy now, do you really think I'm going to give that up?"

The Director sighed. "Alright, moving on. Where is the main base of the gang known as the Fabulous Four?"

"I'm definitely not telling you that."

"One more for you to think about, then," the Director began. "Do you know the whereabouts of the children of Edward Castellan?"

Alien hesitated. She couldn't give Storm and Sunset to BLI. Even after what Sunset did, Alien wouldn't wish what BLI did on her. "What do you mean?" she feigned confusion. "Why would I know that? They're here in the city, right?"

If the Director knew Alien was lying, she wasn't showing it. "Lucas and Hailey Castellan evaded capture by our operatives."

"You tried to capture them? Why? Haven't they 'complied' to your rules?" Alien made air quotes around "complied".

"No, the Castellan family were found to have been committing treason against Better Living Industries. The parents were eliminated, but the children escaped."

"Well, I have no idea where they might be," Alien lied, "and even if I did, I wouldn't say a word."

The Director looked up at the Scarecrow. "Take her back to her containment unit. We will resume tomorrow," she said to Alien, "so think about your answers."

Alien sighed and let herself be led back to her cell, where she sat and thought about nothing in particular.

She really hoped that the Killjoys had noticed she was gone. If they didn't get here soon, BLI would probably enforce harsher punishments, as in torture. Of course, being the diligent general she was, she vowed to herself not to say a single word about anything even related to the Killjoy army, other than the fact that she was no longer the little girl who ran from the city three years ago.

She was going to fight, and nothing could stop her.