The Transfer ✔️

Chapter Fifteen - Sheild

Chapter Song: Control - Zoe Wees

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We gathered in the main entrance. The strong, the tall, the prepared. Anybody who was ready to face battle in its most intimate forms arrived, regardless if they wanted to. War didn't wait for anyone and it certainly didn't give you the choice if you wanted to be involved. War would suck you in and spit you out, leaving behind only memories that would haunt you regardless of how well you thought you could block them out. There were no champions in war, only survivors.

I would be one of them.

Standing in the buzzing entrance, I know other people are thinking the same. The tight hunch of their shoulders, the way their hands curl into fists – waiting to be surrounded by enemies instead of allies so they can let their frustration out physically. I'm the same. Rolling my neck and bouncing on my feet, the adrenaline pouring through me brings the same excitement it always does. I thrive on danger and going to The Pen is as dangerous as my life an get at the moment.

Usually in Oakwood going to The Pen was a moment in a fortnight that you built up to. You were given the night off work and sent to bed to rest. You woke up in the morning and got into your assigned minivan. It was all independent and self-sufficient. Controlled. As usual, Marchwood is different and instead of building up the tension, they keep the whole event on the down-low. Nobody expect for the people who are going talk about it. Getting ready isn't independent, nor is getting yourself mentally prepared.

We stand like cattle in a field in the main entrance, our nerves and ambitions raking up and down the clusters of people. There was a team talk a minute ago, given by Matt and it's something I've never experienced before. I'm not entirely sure if I want to experience it again.

"Let's go, Marchwood! Time to win our pride back." Leonardo rallies, his tall frame at the front of the crowd.

The bus that delivered me here pulls up at the front of the door and we pour out of the building towards it. All thirty of us seem to sit in the same seats they were in last time, so I slot into my own, cautious of overstepping on such an important day. I don't want to be on the loosing side. I can't be.

Leonardo sits down, just opposite me when Greg drops into the seat beside him. For once, he seems like the fighter he's renound for being – sitting with his head titled back against the seat so no-one ruins his frame of mind.

I'm always in a battle frame of mind, there's no need for me to get into the zone when I'm already in it. I have to be prepared for everything, not just scheduled fights.

"Are you ready for this?" Leonardo asks once the bus pulls away from camp and most of the group dissolves into small talk.

"For doing something I actually train for? I don't know." I roll my eyes but a smile pulls at the corners of my lips.

"Better be. I don't think the camp could take another loss." He frowns, and despite my teasing, he looks down at the floor in deep contemplation.

"You won't fail. I mean, not now anyway." I joke, trying to distract his suddenly negative mindset. It's never good to have going into a fight. 

"You're going to save us all?"

"Somebody has to." I smile, my influx of adrenaline allowing my confidence to be boosted higher.

"I can take care of myself, Audrey Thompson." Leonardo smiles but he cocks his head towards a boy sitting staring out of the window, his knee bobbing furiously beneath him. "I'm not sure, Cameron over there can, though."

Cameron hears us through his anxiety and turns to us with a questioning look. Leonardo and I send him back reassuring smiles which I'm completely convinced do not do much to help ease his anxiety.