Where did Kaydense put the recorder? ... Ah, here we go.
It was a short drive to the edge of the war. A house was taken over by the O.G.A. (Other Government Agency) and that happened to be where the headquarters for this side of the war was.
We all walked inside, all to meet Kaydense's superior. Which just happened to be their mother.
The tension in the air between those two was so thick I could cut it like butter. I tried to ignore that, though.
"These are?" The boss lady asks.
"New recruits." Kaydense says, a little too cold and clinical for my liking. "David and Shara for the front lines, Sybel a combat medic, Kiara a fallback medic, and Tyler for the containment barrier."
At least their voice warms up around our names.
The boss lady just nods, and Kaydense leads us out of the barren room, leaving the boss lady to her desk and her thoughts.
David opens his mouth as if to ask, 'dude what the heck was that?', but before I can wave him off, he closes his mouth. We both know they don't want to talk about it.
We follow Kaydense for a while, looping around the confusing layout of the ranch house and into the basement, which holds not much more than the entrance to a veritable catacomb. We follow them through the entrance.
"Where are we going?" I ask, to rip to shreds a hole in the awkward silence.
"The dorms. You can place your belongings on a bunk, the people around here aren't thieves, and they also know not to mess with me, and by proxy, you." Kaydense looks down a little, so that their hair covers their eyes in shadow.
"But I can't lift Dave. He's too heavy." I joke.
Shara snickers, but that's all the reaction I get.
"Never mind then..." I mumble.
We continue to walk down the concrete hallway in silence, until we reach a fork. We take a left, and we find at the end of that hallway the dorm rooms. David picks a bunk near the door, and I lay my only real belongings on his bunk. My necklace. I sit down next to it, and run my hand through my hair.
"Why'd you take it off?" David asks. "As a combat medic you'll need it, as you're more of a target."
"I'm bunking in your bunk too, idiot." I say, but I don't really put any oomph into it.
"While I appreciate that you want to sleep with me," He says, using this tone that's both arrogant and yet seductive at the same time. (What the heck, me?) "Seriously. Why are you taking it off?"
"I want you to have it back, to protect you." I mumble.
"Sybel." David makes me look him in the eye. "The front lines are less dangerous than the combat medic job. Worst that happens, some non magical humans catch us off guard."
"What if they get ahold of guns?" I ask.
"O.G.A. already cleared the area of all guns. It'd be hard to contain a war if gunshots were going off." David says.
I silently grab my necklace, and clip it back on.
"Do we have to go to war?" I ask.
"Only a week, and you've changed your mind?" David asks.
"The threat of losing you, of losing the rest of my family, it's become very real." I mumble.
David sits down next to me, and pulls me against him. "I know that it's not always gonna be up to me, but I promise you, we'll survive this."
I lay my head against his shoulder.
"We better." I sigh.
YOU ARE READING
The Others
Teen FictionOriginally a sequel to a book I wrote passionately as a child, I decided that "The Others" should be it's own book, and I never ended up publishing that other book. It has switching P.O.V.s, and is written as if just a playback of a voice recording...
