Mines

Chapter Thirty-two

     We woke up first. Both of us, at the exact same time. Perhaps it was lucky for us to have woken up before Hercules or Lafayette could taunt us, or before anyone else saw. Alex opens his eyes suddenly, and then quickly pulls away from me, looking shocked. He jumps out of his bed, and I hop down next to him, blushing furiously.
     "Alex I can explain," I say immediately, blocking his exit. "Okay so I couldn't sleep last night and then it started raining and you were shivering and I didn't want you to wake up because I didn't want you to panic again and I went over to comfort you and that was the first thing I could think of doing and I'm so sorry-" I say all of this very quickly, without taking much breaths in between.
     "John! It's okay, calm down!" Alex cuts across me before I faint of lack of oxygen.
     "R-really?" I ask tentatively. "It was stupid, I should have done something else."
     "No, you were right not to wake me. Honestly, it's okay," he smiles at me shyly, and makes a motion with his hand. "So can I... um..."
     "Oh... oh! Right." And I step to the side so Alex can squeeze past me, and towards the door.

"Oh my god, you look like a tomato." Lafayette says as soon as he sees me.
"I agree, the resemblance is uncanny." Hercules agrees.
"Shut up." I mutter, but I can't help but smile as I take a seat next to them at the long dining table. Herc looks at Laf meaningfully, I have a shrewd suspicion I know what they're silently communicating.
"So... how's Alex?" Lafayette says causally, as if he's asking about the weather.
"He's fine," I immediately snap. "I mean- you saw him yesterday, why are you asking me?"
"Oh come on. Do you really think your best friends wouldn't notice that you spend almost all day with him?" Herc asks me. I feel my face going redder, if that's even possible.
"Yeah you and your sunburnt face seems to enjoy the company of a specific someone." Laf says grinning at me.
"Does it matter?" I question both of them. They look surprised.
"Of course it matters! We care about you." Laf tells me earnestly.
"Well you shouldn't. There are better things to care out, like winning our freedom once and for all!" I tremble, then stand up suddenly, and push away from the table. "I'm not hungry." And I walk away from their stares.

     "I- I just feel like- like I can't be myself and-" I stammer to Alex.
     "Why not? Haven't you been with Hercules your whole life?" Alex questions.
     "Yeah but... thats the point! Alex, all he's ever done is take care of me, I haven't done anything for him and the fact that- that he's- he just doesn't trust me at all." I quake.
     "John it's okay. All you have to do is prove they can trust you and you're not a danger to anyone and yourself." Alex tells me, cupping my face with his hands which effectively makes me listen to him.
     "Why should they? You trusted me with getting soldier uniforms that one time, remember? And look where that got me," I say, and then a wave of realization hits me to arm I almost fall to my needs in this damp forest. "Alex... so much has happened... I feel so different. Different from when I first met you to now."
     "Yeah, I feel that way too. But, we just have to keep moving on, right?" We stand in silence in the clearing where we usually meet, until I remember something.
     "Alex I- do we really have to spend a year getting ready?" I ask tentatively, because I don't want him to yell at me like he did with Jefferson. He nods vigorously.
     "Look John, face the facts. We don't know where the Captain is, but- remember what he said to us right before our fight in the mines? He said he's going to bring in new slaves to work in his mines." Alex tells me.
     "So?" I ask. "What does that have to do with anything?"
     "Well I just remembered this last night, after the fire. If we raid the mines with the amount of people we have now, plus all the slaves that Captain George is collecting, we should stand a fighting chance! But we still need to recruit more people to fight, and we also need to spy on them some more and take notes. You never know what might change at the last second." I sigh deeply. Of course, everything he's saying is true but I don't want to wait, it might be considered selfish but I want to get revenge on Captain George, revenge for everything he's done to me.

"Sir... all citizens from nearby towns are being transported." Lee says, bowing deeply in the doorway.
"Excellent." I say in an offhand voice, not turning around from the sight of the quarry.
"Is something wrong, Captain?" Lee asks nervously.
"No no," I say, waving an airy hand. "Leave me." and so he does, hurrying to leave my presence. So... those slaves have escaped me even after I warned them what would happen if they did. Evidently they thought that any new miners that I acquired would gladly join their cause, but they would be wrong. So, dreadfully wrong. I smile and turn my back on the quarry, and head down out of the room and down the hallway.

As I pass my guards, they all bow to me, as they should. I turn into a doorway, and face a completely blank room. Nothing inside, except a white door. I head towards that door, and pull out a small key, which I use to unlock it. Pushing it open, I'm faced with a large laboratory, and I see several doctors scampering around in lab coats, pouring mystery ingredients into the others container and then testing the effects on animals I have provided them with. I stop in my tracks hallway down the room, and examine a small, white rabbit with unfocused eyes, slightly blurred around the pupils. I hear the scientist in front of the rabbit say:
"Do a back flip." And the rabbit jumps around and turns in midair, landing perfectly.
"Interesting," I say, heading closer to the rabbit and the scientist. "But will it work on people? Multiple at once?"
"Sir!" The female scientist says immediately, "Uh- no sir, the potion has no effect on humans, or perhaps our specific test subject is rejecting it, but it does work on several animals once. I am confident we will find a way to make it work on your miners sir."
"Excellent, but get it done quickly. I don't know when the rebels intend to arrive. Our spy hasn't gotten back to us recently." I start to walk off again as she nods vigorously behind me, I head towards the door opposite the one I just came through.

As I push it open, I can hear hitched breath.
"Ah," I say nastily. "Is my presence unwelcome to you, Mr. Mulligan?"