Cry to Me

19.

The journey was passed mostly in silence. For Taylor, she knew that everything they said would be overheard, so she mostly stared out the window as the landscape whipped by, with the occasional glance at the occupants of the vehicle. Every time she glanced at David, he was staring at the front of the vehicle as if in a trance. She was scared, and wanted to grab his hand for reassurance. But every time she felt herself about to do it, she saw his cold stare and stopped. What was he thinking about?

After hours of driving, they finally arrived back in Capital City. Instead of the skyscraper facility, though, they were taken to a warehouse on the outskirts of the city. They parked in a garage, and each of the officer's got out and opened either door. Four other guards approached the vehicle, two on either side. Taylor got out and one guard escorted her to a nearby door, the other two following close behind. She quickly glanced behind her and saw David in a similar formation, being taken to the door nearest him on the opposite side of the vehicle. She looked back in front of her and swallowed hard.

She walked down a hallway and was brought into a boardroom, which she was instructed to go into. There were a few people already sitting at the table. One was a mid forty-something year old sitting at the head of the table, with brown slicked back hair, and a scraggly beard.

Officer: Commander, this is Officer Jones. Officer Jones, Commander Cooper.

Commander Cooper: Good afternoon, officer Jones. Please, take a seat.

He indicated to one of the chairs and she walked towards it and sat down.

Commander Cooper: You're probably wondering why we brought you all the way back here. You were with your mother, right?

Taylor: Yes.

Commander Cooper: Sorry to take you away from her, but we need to recruit for an upcoming mission. Your experience and achievements here are invaluable to us, which has made you an ideal candidate. And as you probably know, we suffered many losses from the recent events that took place in the heart of the city. The mission will deploy within the next 24 hours – we just need to finalize some of the details and then we'll let you know when we're going. I will be leading the mission, so you'll be seeing me more than anyone should!

She was caught off guard by this quip, and everyone in the room began laughing.

Commander Cooper: I should also let you know that I have a terrible sense of humour, but as you can see laughing at my bad jokes is mandatory!

Everyone laughed again, making Taylor question for a moment whether he was actually joking or not. She decided that he was, as everyone around him seemed to be more at ease then she had ever seen anyone be in the presence of a commander.

Commander Cooper: You will get more details en route, but I will let you know that we'll be together for about six months – that's a typical tour of duty - and our location is overseas. You of course will be part of our medic team, I think we've managed to scraggle up one other medic as well...

He looked at one of his assistants next to him, who nodded in affirmation.

Commander Cooper: Great! So there will be two of you! Do you have any questions right now?

Taylor: No offence, but why couldn't you guys find someone else to do this? And why so far away – don't you guys need people to help here after everything that's happened?

His face changed and looked more somber.

Commander Cooper: Most of our medics worked on the same med ward you worked on. When that was destroyed, we lost a lot of good people. We don't have many options, and the situation at our destination has escalated. If we don't get in there, we may lose the region. But you'll find out more about that with everyone else a bit later. Until then, eat, drink, do whatever you can to fill your time!