Shards

Mind Marsh

As Shard shoots the woman who shot Tam in the eye, Octavia is slipped from his shoulder. Shard whips around, ready to shoot who took her.

A Chromy took her.

"Come on!" the Chromy shouts. Running down the hall with Octavia, she says,"All y'all need Blue Coats."

He's tempted to take Tam's advice and leave Octavia to stay with Tam, but Octavia is too important in all this. He has to know where Octavia goes.

Shard follows Octavia like bait while another Chromy goes to Tam. Blood leaks through a hole in her vest.

Damnit, Shard thinks, they got access to the heavier artillery.

He trails the Blue Coats through halls and floors to an OR unit in the Hospital Sector where they close the grey door on him. Other Blue Coats already outside the door block him from entering.

"You need treatment, too, Sir," a woman with a papery mask matching her coat says.

"I'm not leaving this door," he says.

"Then we'll treat you here," she tells him.

Shard crosses his arms. "Fine."

The woman and man Blue Coats pop in and out of the OR room to grab some supplies. After coaxing Shard to sit on the ground, the two work to pour alcohol on the bleeding streak on his head and dab up blood that made its way into his ear. A couple stitches go into the wound. Shard doesn't flinch.

As the two work on cleaning Sals' blood off him, Raul comes speed-walking down the hall.

"Good. You're alive," he says.

"You should be on watch for Angel Bird or Techie," Shard tells him.

"The Twins are on Techie. Hatchette and others are on Angel Bird."

"Others? Y'all just put others on her, especially her, during this time?" Shard's words are sharp.

"Others we can trust," Raul says without reacting to Shard's distress. "They checked out. They don't have the tat and they're people Hatchette trusts."

"The tat?"

"Things are calming down in the hostage area. Still counting casualties and picking off stragglers. While looking at the dead Tarnished, we realized they all have a small tattoo generally around the nape of their neck. A brownish-blackish dot with a 'T' in it. The tat can hide under the hair or makeup and can look like a mole or freckle thing from a distance."

"It took this long for us to find their unifying symbol and it's that simple?" The two Blue Coats move out of Shard's way as he stands. He swings for the wall. Pieces of cement chaffe off. "The hell is wrong with us?" He growls at the wall.

The Blue Coats sigh as they'll have to treat his hand now, too.

"Yeah. We're all feelin' it right now," Raul says. "But at least we found it and can pick these bitches off easier now. What do you want to do? We can't get the Grounders together right now so it's your call."

A shadow leaks from Shard's pupils, spilling over his irises and the whites of his eyes - darkening their colors.

"Gather people you know who are ours and check everyone you come across for the tattoo. As soon as you see the tattoo, shoot it. Shoot them straight through the tattoo. They made their choice and could've left anytime if they didn't like what we were doing. It was their own stupid choice if they chose to stay and make hell for us.

"Also, after all this, we need an inventory done on artillery. Put trusted security on it ASAP. Tarnished go ahold of armor-piercing weapons."

Raul gives a nod and pulls out his pager. Rushing off, he says Shard's orders and info into it.