War For The World

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

A piece of paper, scrunched and folded haphazardly to fit the shape of an aeroplane glided across the room awkwardly. Slowly fluttering down, it came to a rest inches from the rubbish bin.

"Gah! That's basically a point though. What do you reckon?"

Alice, lying back on her bed with her hands crossed behind her head stared up at Marcus. He was leaning back in his chair by his desk, staring vacantly into space.
She'd noticed he'd started to do that recently. Every now and then one of her jokes wouldn't receive the expected reaction, or their conversations would abruptly die. Alice had chalked it up to being his processing of grief in regards to their recent excursion the previous day, though she'd expected him to be a tad more talkative by now.

With no response from Marcus, Alice sat up.
"Who would've thought an apocalypse like this would end up being so boring. Can't believe they haven't sent us back into the field yet. After all we did to recover that stupid bloody dossier. Makes me suspect they think it was all a fluke"
"Yea..." was all Marcus responded with, coming out as a soft mutter. His hands were tinkering with some sort of electrical panel but his mind seemed elsewhere, there seemed no purpose to his actions and his hands looked to be running on muscle memory alone.

Her own nightmares had seemed to have stopped thankfully, though it had only been a day. Alice had chalked them up to simply being on edge. People like her didn't get effected by stuff like this. She was a hero. She'd just shrug it off.

Marcus on the other hand seemed to have been taking the events of the last day to heart. It made sense, of course it did. Alice understood completely. He needed space, some time to reflect.

"I'm gonna go get some food from the kitchen. Want anything?"

A sombre shake of the head was Marcus's only response. She shrugged to herself. Feeling as if she'd done all she could, Alice stood up, leaving her friend to deal with his grief whilst she went out hunting for something savoury.

To reach the kitchen of Yosemite Square one had to first pass through the main hub that made up the majority of the underground base. A doorway located on the opposite side of the hub to the living quarters would open up into a large metallic kitchen more appropriate for that of a school cafeteria or prison. The surface area was plentiful though the resources less so, a fact that had slowly been creeping up on people since the first day of the martian arrival.

Her back flared up as she walked and her right knee ached something fierce, yet she continued to be filled with a sort of adrenaline. Replaying the events of the last day over and over again in her head.
She'd done it. She'd saved the day if not by the skin of her teeth, and oh how exciting it had been! The thrill she felt running from the roaches. The heart pounding as they stalked through the red weed. Deep down she yearned for the chance to do it all again, for that feeling of importance to return even if for just a fleeting moment.

As such, she kept her head down but ears wide open as she limped slowly through the hub towards the kitchen. At one rather exciting moment she'd brushed past the General who seemed focused on reaching wherever he was heading.
Much to her annoyance, Alice found herself arriving in front of the kitchen with nothing to show for it. No secret mission at all. Not even a secretive glance or suspicious glare. It seemed, Alice realized, that if you wanted something done you did indeed have to do it yourself.
In a huff, Alice made a U-turn away from the kitchen and back into the hub. General Sharpe was still close by, she'd try her luck with him and see what sort of results that would yield.

"General Sharpe!" Alice called out, speeding her pace up until she was walking right up alongside the army general.

"Mrs Fletcher, for what can I do you the honour today"