Fanfare

Irrationality

The light doesn't blind her as it would others; she is used to the defiant glare of the flames, the heat of them. This light has no heat. This light is provided by a large rock on the ceiling, a hundred times larger than the small ones throughout the corridor. The room is large, a rectangle concrete bunker that stretches far into the distance. There are doors at the far end, placed close together, so she suspects there are small rooms closely packed, most likely containing beds. They will not have room for anything but sleeping, thinks Trenna. It's quite practical of them, but she's ashamed of thinking of the rebels as practical.

At this end of the room, there is a small bench behind which lies a kitchen, bustling with people, and many long tables; almost every chair is filled. There are people as young as her to people as old as her mother, and older still, all interspersed, no order as to where they sit. The young and the old feast together, talk together, laugh together. Turn as one to stare at her. Together. She has never seen so many people act in unity. It scares her but also, conflictingly, heartens her. It's nice to see so many people work together. It's terrifying to see so many people glare at her with suspicion.

The room is silent. Pierce grips his gun tighter. Everyone looks at him immediately, though a few level poisonous glares at Trenna. She holds back her emotions, leaving a blank slate in place. She doesn't quite know what she's doing here, or what will happen. But she wants to know what is going on, and what part Pierce thinks she has to play; he wouldn't have brought her here for no reason. Her curiosity betrays her as she leans to the side to catch a snatch of the room past Pierce's shoulder.

"What have you got, Pierce?" someone calls out, a man a little older than him. He has short brown hair and a kind face, and regards Trenna with interest. He seems to be the only person who doesn't look willing to kill her.

"This is Trenna. She'll be joining us." He says it without hesitation. Trenna takes a moment to process this before she realises he's talking about her. She opens her mouth to say something, then closes it; she doesn't think it wise to say what she wants to in front of all these people.

She waits in silence as Pierce says something else she can't hear through the ringing in her mind. All the people get up and file into rooms, whispers passing between them til there is no one left. Even the people who were in the kitchen are gone. She turns to Pierce. "I'll be joining you?" she says, her voice rising at the end.

Pierce turns to look at her. He raises an eyebrow. "What else could I say? No one who isn't one of us comes in here, let alone knows we exist."

"Then why did you take me here? Why didn't you just tell me to go home?"

"I did," he says.

"Right." She is quiet for a second. "Well, I'm leaving. I'm not a part of this." She turns to go, but Pierce appears in front of her. She frowns, perplexed. She didn't hear him move, see him move. One second he was behind her, and now he is blocking her way to the exit. "Move," she tells him.

He shakes his head. "I can't. You can't go."

"Well, I could. But you're in the way." She moves past him, towards the door. Again, he is in front of her. She frowns. "How did you do that?"

The corner of his mouth turns up. He swings his gun over his shoulder, so it hangs on his back. "See, Trenna? This is why I let you follow me."

"You- you let me-" she splutters, her face flushed.

"Your curiosity always overwhelmed everything else. Even rational thought."

"So now you're calling me irrational?" She puts her hands on her hips. He raises an eyebrow and she lets them drop.

He sighs. Shakes his head. He steps past her, so close they're a breath apart, and keeps going. She frowns as she watches him walk away. First he tells her she can't leave, then he leaves the door unguarded, open, ready for her exit. She frowns and looks after him, her mind telling her to go, to leave, to take the exit he's left her and never come back. Her curiosity pushes her body towards him.

In the end, her curiosity wins. Her feet pad silently after him through the concrete room.