Breathe

Chapter 29 - Corporal

 The air was tense. We were still crouched on the ground, warily watching the ambushers. Still, we didn't make a move. We were waiting for them to make a move. Thus, we stay in our positions, hands on our weapons, ready to fire if duty called.

Suddenly, one of them emerged from the bush. I reached for my pistol. However, the person who emerged was someone I recognized, someone I knew somewhat well from the Liberation Alliance.

"Corporal Cilla?" All tension in my body loosened up. By the way her mahogany locks were tied low in the back, the way her muscles bulged, and how she seemed to tower even with the trees behind her, I knew it had to be her. Only she could look that badass.

Luckas released a relieved sigh. "Renee, it's good to see you again."

She made a fake gun and winked at him. "Good to see you, too, Vail. Life been treating you well?"

"I'm alive. I see that you are, too."

"Holding on—just holding on." Looking at Phil, Esmae, and I, she smiled. "Looks like General's son and the Adairs are holding on, too." Eyes glazing over us, she eventually stopped at Newvy. Eyebrows raised, she asked, "Newvy's with you, too? I knew you had a pretty good team lined up here, Vail, but I didn't know that you had Newvy, too."

"If he wasn't with me, where would he be?"

"I don't know," she said, scratching the back of her head, "I thought that was the final straw for him—thought he would finally run off to a more peaceful country like he always wanted." Still, she bore a grin as she looked at him. "Anyway, good to see you again, Newvy! To be honest, I cried a little when I thought that we lost you."

He didn't say anything.

Turning back around, she beckoned for us to follow her. "Anyway, let's get out of this open air and talk business—I've been expecting all of you since the day my son started talking about finding you, and I have a lot to show you."

"Your son?"
She looked back with a perplexed look. "Didn't Kirk tell you?"
I shook my head.

She grinned. "He may not look like it, but Kirk's my son." Turning back around, she added, "I'll tell you more about it later, but for now, we ought to go down before anyone else finds us."

Following her, we arrived at a little latch behind a bush. She pulled it up, revealing a tight ladder underneath that was thick enough for a lightly-armored person to go through. She went down the latch, and we followed suit. The people who were with us went in last and before I knew it, we were all going down a sweaty, dark, tight hole that felt all-too familiar.

We made it to the base of the ladder and found ourselves in a cave-like structure. Except there was something a little off—something a little too human. Perhaps it was the bridge of wood that we had to scale. Leaning against the rock, we carefully walked on the planks of thin wood until we reached a lit part of the cave.

As we walked, Cilla said, "This is the new Liberation Alliance."

Immediately, I was struck with nostalgia. It was just like the Liberation Alliance. There were walls and floors made of sculpted stone, yet there was a homey feeling to it, a welcoming feeling to it. The attire was the same as it used to be: black shirts and white shorts. The people walking around were evidence of that. Walking past the dining hall, I was struck with that familiar smell of mystery meat and undercooked eggs.

It was just like home. It was like nothing had changed but the location.

If only it were true.

"How did you find this place?" Dani asked.

"Only the higher ranks knew this, but this place has existed for as long as the previous one did. It was created as a refuge place in case the other one failed to support our lifestyle. To be honest, this would have been a better location than the one in Lower Libentina—since this place is more centralized, we have better access to the entire country. Also..." She walked over to the wall and pulled a lever. Immediately, the metal in the wall moved, revealing a breathtaking an underwater view of the ocean. "The view's much better here."

She pulled the lever again and started walking again. She took us further down the hall, where conversations were bustling and people were moving. As we navigated through the halls, she led us to a more exclusive corridor. Stopping, she gestured to it and said, "This is the residence hall exclusive for families of high-ranking officials." Looking down it, she added, "This is where all of you will be staying."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Esmae exclaimed. Everyone looked at her. With her eyebrows furrowed, she said, "We never said that we were going to stay."

Groans were heard. Cilla, obviously not amused, asked, "Then what was the point of coming here, Adair?"

"We came to check it out—not necessarily join." Looking at the rest of us, she said, "We never agreed to that."

Sighing, I stated, "That was the reason for our entire argument two days ago, Esmae. How could you not understand?"

"We were talking whether we could trust Kirk's information or not two days ago, not whether we wanted to move all of our things to some weird, new place miles away from our house!" she retorted. "Besides, why do we even have to move? Our house might be small, but it's been working well for us! We don't need to move."

"Sure, we don't need to, but it's not going to hurt to move here and have more protection," Dani replied. "If we stay here, we'll have all the rations that we need. Unlike our house, there's also protection, too. Don't you remember seeing those guards standing all around the entrance? If we move here, we don't have to worry...we won't have to worry like we already do."

Esmae shook her head. "Okay, you have that, but what about our memories? We've spent so much time in that house and we have so many memories of it, too. Why would we want to abandon it? It's already fine as it is. And if we worry about protection, we can make someone or two stay at home and protect it—good. Also, it's in the middle of nowhere, so does it really matter? It's not like people like our forest to begin with. First of all, it's by a cemetery and second of all, it's way too big and there have been stories of people getting lost in it. So really, even if someone finds our house and tells people about it, our house will just become another myth!"

A little irritated, I asked, "Why do you have something against moving?"

"I just... I just don't like the idea of it! If we change this, what else will we change? Will we change our school again? Will we change how much time we spend together? Will we no longer spend breakfast and dinner together? Will we be split apart?" She looked towards the floor and twiddled her fingers. "I...I just don't want us to be split again. We've lost enough people. We don't need to lose more." Looking back up, with a soft voice, she quietly said, "The Liberalists are good as they are."

"That doesn't matter," Luckas said. Her face fell further. Looking back at Cilla, he asked, "How many bedrooms are there?"

"Four. All the same size."

Turning back to us, he asked, "What are the room assignments?"

Quickly, I declared, "I'll be with Newvy."

"Mae and I would be fine," Dani remarked.

"I'll stay with Chris so I can keep a watch on him," Axel said.

That only left one person.

Not having a choice, Luckas said, "I'll stay with Kingsworth."

With that finalized, Cilla began to walk away. As she went, she said, "Someone will come by shortly to give you an official tour of the headquarters." Then, turning around for one last time, she said, "It was nice seeing all of you again," and walked away. She was gone—going to be gone for likely the rest of the day, too.

Examining the walls, I let it all soak in. It was unfamiliar, almost cold looking. The place was all around rather small and tight, so much more restrictive than the halls that we had back in our abode in the woods. Still, it was surely going to prove to be for the better and I knew most of them wouldn't want to have it any other way, especially with the perks that the facility was going to provide us. I suppose this is going to be our new home, isn't it?