Torn

3

3
Halle

After we finish training for the day we are sent to our assigned dinner period. I sit next to Hudson, as always. We are having the same spartan meal we've always had, a pile of brown, chunky mush they call vegetables and a slab of dry, tasteless meat. The only thing that's different about today's dinner is the fact Markus is sitting on the bench behind me, his back to me, eating with his comrades and squad members.
I slide some of the pale slop into Hudson's dish, not feeling very hungry at the moment.
"Oooh, thanks, Halle. Training really took it out of me today." I don't know why he's so thankful for it but I can't help but laugh a little. Then it sets in. I'm supposed to be trying to find out if Hudson really is the traitor. "Hey, Hudson? Who do you think th-"
Before I can finish my sentence, the sound of rapid-fire ballistics and screams of pain and terror fill the room. The whole commissary descends into mass chaos, those who are able to make a mad dash for the exits whilst others shout for help, holding their hands against the gaping wounds bullets have left behind.
As my heart pounds in my chest, I hear a thud from next to me. I look to my left to see Elenoar, a girl in my squad, fall to the ground with a gasp, clutching her bleeding side. She looks at me with tears in her eyes, "Please Commander Kaiser, Halle, please don't leave me here," she looks desperate, her voice so quiet only I can hear her pleas.
I watch her body slump and her hands fall from the mortal wound as someone rams into me while trying to get to a door, pushing me away from Elenoar's body. I lose my balance and almost fall into a pool of blood from Hudson's lieutenant. I barely manage to catch myself on the edge of the table. I steady myself and stumble towards the nearest door, avoiding the many mangled, limp, bodies littering the floor, pools of red forming around each and every one.
"Get down!" I hear a voice shout. I automatically drop to the floor, ignoring the blood I land in. The second I hit the concrete floor I begin to army crawl for the exit, a trail of blood smearing behind me. I'm too busy focusing on my own survival and safety to even begin thinking about whether or not Hudson and Markus made it out.
When I get to the door I jump to my feet and start to sprint outside, but to my surprise, the doorway is blocked. I slam into a man's chest and stumble backward. He takes a step towards me and wraps his thick, hairy, muscled arms around me and holds me tight against his chest. The man holding me then shouts out, "I got her!" He struggles to pick me up as I wrestle and fight against his hold. His arms only tighten around me, pushing the air from my lungs, making me gasp. All of a sudden I feel something warm dripping onto my head and soaking into my, now tangled, hair. As it starts to trickle onto my face I catch a whiff of a strong metallic scent. The man's grip on me loosens and I push his arms away with all the force I can muster. I hold my chest and gasp for air as I turn around to look and see who was restraining me.
I watch the man who was just holding me slump to the floor, his head hitting the concrete floor with a crack, blood dripping from his mouth. Markus stands near the doorway. He looks horrified as he looks down at the bloodied knife in his shaking hands. His gaze won't leave the pale, unmoving body. The man looked young and when I look into his vivid green eyes all I can see is Hudson's body lying there.
"I-I..." Markus stutters, waking me up from my daze. He backs up until he hits the wall, sinking to the floor, holding his head in his bloodstained hands, leaving a dripping, red handprint on the side of his face. "I didn't want to hurt him... I didn't... I-I..." He's shaking, staring at the body, not blinking, not meeting my eyes.
"Markus, you have to get up." I frantically grab his arm and try to pull him up, bullets still firing at the few of us left in the commissary. "We have to go." I can hear the panic creeping into my normally calm voice, we need to move now or we won't be moving again.
A choked sob escapes from his lips as he struggles to stand up. His feet flounder beneath his weight and his hands grasp the wall for balance.
Empire soldiers storm in and start firing at anyone who isn't in uniform. More shouts and cries of pain fill the room as Hudson runs over and throws an arm around Markus. "We better go!" He shouts over the sound of gunfire and injured people. "We don't wanna get caught in the crossfire!" Hudson helps me keep Markus from falling as we stumble out of there as fast as we can.
I finally take a deep breath once we're outside in the cool, evening air. I start shivering, I didn't realize how much I had been sweating in there.
"Are you two okay? You're both covered in blood," Hudson's voice sounds a lot more panicked than usual. The only blood to be seen on him is on his boots from walking through the commissary and on his shoulders from where he was helping Markus.
Markus, looking like he feels a million times better, chimes in, "We should grab our guns and help them. We've been training our whole lives for something like this." He shrugs Hudson and me off and starts to jog through the snow to the barracks for his gun.
"No students will be getting in the way of the soldiers." Lady Sandoval walks out from her office, beads of sweat on her forehead and her breath ten times faster than her normal slow, deep breaths, and her voice isn't collected as usual either. All her words are rushed and she sounds urgent.
She looks at the three of us. Markus stops dead in his tracks. "Is that understood?" She looks directly at Markus.
"Yes, ma'am," Hudson and I reply in sync.
"Mr.Galloway?" Her voice is harsh and demanding as she speaks to him.
Markus bites his lip and nods once.
"Good. Since that's understood, the three of you are dismissed to the barracks, bring anyone other student you see with you." Lady Sandoval turns around and goes back to her office.
The three of us look at eachother, Markus getting angrier by the second. Hudson is constantly glancing back to the chaos of the commissary.
"Come on guys, we should get back and clear the way so the soldiers can do their job...' I say, my voice trailing off.
Without a word Markus walks into the barracks. Hudson and I look at each other before he lets out an exasperated sigh and follows the large figure into the loud barracks, filled with the sobs of students young and old.