*Part Two*
"Mel," a voice begins. I look around. "Mel!" I look around the room. The mid-afternoon light shines through the window panes. "Huh?" I respond with a groggy voice. We've been forced to change our sleeping pattern throughout the week so that we can be awake and ready to launch the mission overnight.
"Get over heuh." Mother Maria whispers. I look around, and see her stout frame in the doorway. I get up quickly, and soon realize something I wish I hadn't: Tonight will be the end for some of us. About 300 soldiers on this mission will be blown up when they cross one of the sensors at the wrong second, not including those who may be killed inside the base. There are a little over 1,200 soldiers here, so I don't have much more than a fifty percent chance of living. There's no escaping this, and we have no idea when each system will reboot.
Once I reach the exit, Mother Maria begins guiding me down the path the same way she had almost a week ago. My assumption is that she'll be taking me to see Anne again. I've been wondering why its taken so long for her to get better... it was just a reaction.
"I need yo help," Mother Maria begins. I look down at her in the sunlight. Her wavy black hair is settled in a heavy bun. "What is it?" I ask. She clear's her throat as usual. "Y'all need tuh tell Anne tuh stop talkin' like she's crazy or somethin'." Mother Maria responds. Puzzled and still very concerned, I ask "What do you mean?" The tall willow trees sway around us in the wind. Shiny green grass surrounds the path that leads us into the building Anne has been staying in this week. I'm surprised she hasn't demanded to be let go by now, she hates sitting around all day.
After making it down the long hall way once more, we turn right and walk into Anne's room. "Mel!" she screeches just as she had last week. That's not like her. She's not very loud most of the time, and she's much more mature than that. I rush toward to her and give her a hug. Her face doesn't look right either; deeper bags form under her cloudy, pale green eyes, and her skin is much lighter than normal.
I look over at Mother Maria. "Is she still sick?" I ask. The woman I have spent my whole life tolerating finally feels a bit sorry for me. "Sort of." she responds. I look at Anne. "Are you okay?" I ask her. Anne sits up next me on her bed and stares at me wide eyed and a bit out of character for a few seconds, then finally gives me a strong nod. Feeling a bit more comforted, I try to smile. But on the inside, I'm dying. I've missed her so much. Kris and Jorie have spent a lot of time with me at camp over the past week, but I've only felt more lonely since Anne has been taken away from me.
Mother Maria looks at me a little awkwardly, and then signals me to come and talk to her in the hallway. Reluctantly, I get up and follow her out the door.
My sore body leans against the off-white brick wall. Working all week seemed to be a waste of time. Many of us have been wondering why the Tri-Retaliators haven't tried dropping explosions from above, but the Pristoni government believes that would be too risky, because the security system trenches high above the military base, but they don't know how high. If we drop explosives at a high enough point for comfort, its not likely we will be able to directly hit each base.
Mother Maria looks at me with some sort of serious face, or at least what passes as a serious face for her. "Look," she begins in a much quieter tone. I feel my stomach churning at the taught of getting killed tonight. I haven't wanted to really live anymore, but when it all comes down to really dying and ending it all, I'm terrified. My eyes, still trying to get used to the light after waking up, look back at Mother Maria. "Anne ain't doin' good, okay?" she says. I sort of frown, not really knowing exactly how to react. Based on how long Anne's been kept in the care unit, I could already tell something was really wrong. But that doesn't mean I'm not shocked over this occurrence... I couldn't keep my mind off of her or Darrel this entire week.
