Chapter 20: Chapter 9.1

The instant I entered the tent, I wanted to turn around and walk out. Five men stood around a table littered with paper maps and digital projections. Cigar smoke gathered up in the top of the tent and floated around lazily. Nigel, my father and three others I didn’t recognize. A short man stood next to my father with a head of short blonde hair and pale skin. Next to him, at the head of the table, a burly man stood with a cigar hanging from his lip and a scar through his eye. Directly to his left stood the most peculiar of the group; a young woman with neon blue hair and a swirling tattoo wrapping her right eyebrow.

“—irresponsible, subordinate bit—” Nigel cut off as he locked eyes with me. I could feel the tension in the air. I glanced back at the door, maybe I can leave before this gets too bad. I went to take a step back and one of the men held his hand up.

“Thanks for your concerns, Nigel,” he said. “We would like to speak with Ms. Jameson ourselves.”

“She’s not to be trusted,” Nigel snarled.

“You are dismissed, Nigel,” the woman said.

Nigel scowled in my direction, striking his shoulder against mine as he brushed past me and out of the tent.

“Ms. Jameson, we have heard a lot about you,” the same man said. He walked over and extended his hand. I went to take his hand, realizing I still had my boots in hand. Shifting them to my empty hand, quickly, I took his hand cautiously.

“Tawny, please,” I said, finding my voice.

“You can call me Cole, that’s Jason and Luna,” he said. The man with the cigar nodded his head at ‘Jason’ and the woman smiled at ‘Luna’. “You already know Nathan. So, now that introductions are out of the way, down to business. Everyone we have talked to has said you are an active member of the military.”

“I am, yes,” I said. “Though I wouldn’t call being a mechanic active.”

“You are in current military employ, you’re active as far as we are concerned,” Cole said. “Which puts us in an interesting position. Kai never mentioned you were active military when he proposed you accompany the strike team on the assault, only that you were Hacker trained and of great skill. We assumed you were a deserter, but now it has come to our attention that you are active and under Dead Head investigation.”

“That wasn’t exactly my fault,” I muttered.

“Regardless, we are put in a tough spot. Active military members who come here are forced to stay in the camp, there have been no exceptions,” Cole explained. “We can’t have them going back to their jobs and risk them telling someone where this camp is. But, if you are not returned to your job, we could lose a valuable position inside the mechanics.”

“And then there is the issue Nigel brought up,” Jason said. He took a long drag off the cigar and knocked some ash off the end with a tap before biting back down on it. “Communicator transcripts do show that she was subordinate.”

“I only said that if we expose our prisoners to chemical weapons and beat them senseless when they aren’t even resisting makes us as bad as the people we claim to be fighting,” I said. “All I did was clear the air in the car and clean her face.”

“And we aren’t saying we disagree with you,” Luna said. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Just that you voiced your opinion at the wrong time to the wrong person. Don’t worry, we all have issues with how Nigel treats the prisoners we take but we have graver concerns than the treatment of resisting military forces.”

“She wasn’t resisting, that’s the thing!” I argued. “She was cowering in a corner!”

“We can discuss this later,” my father said. “If I had my way, you wouldn’t leave this camp again. If you were to return to the capitol and your job as a mechanic, it could be dangerous for you as well as us. However, it’s not solely my decision.”

I swallowed. “I, uh, don’t really have anything that makes me of any importance, but know I wouldn’t give you up,” I said.

“Everyone breaks eventually, it’s a threat we are constantly under. Which is why the people who leave camp are chosen carefully,” Jason said. “We will have to discuss this further. We just have a few questions about you personally. Beginning with your bionics.”

I sighed and began to tell my story again. It seemed to effect Luna the most as I continued through training and into my accident. She held her hand up and I fell silent.

“Thank you, Tawny,” she said. “Like Jason said, we will have to discuss what we are going to do with you. You are staying with Nick, correct?”

“I am, ma’am,” I nodded.

“No need to call me, ma’am,” she shook her head. “May I accompany you back? I wish to ask you some questions of my own.”

“Of course, ma’am,” I said dipping my head. “I mean, Luna.”

“Luna, are you sure these questions cannot be asked here?” my father asked. “Maybe we are interested in hearing her answers.”

“These questions mean nothing to the resistance,” Luna said. “You need not bother yourself with them.”

“I want to know what you’re asking my daughter,” father asked.

“It’s girl stuff,” Luna said. “Now, do we have permission to leave?”

“Don’t take too long, Luna, we need you back here to discuss how many vehicles you need to transport,” Cole said.

“That will depend on how many of the freed ferals decide to seek safety across the front lines and how many decide to stay and fight,” Luna said. “I won’t be gone long.”

I followed Luna out of the tent, eyeing the woman’s neon blue hair. As soon as we were out of earshot of the tent, she looked at me and smiled. “How about we take the long way around? It’s super stuffy in that tent and I can only take the testosterone for so long.”

I giggled and smiled. “Sure,” I said.

She motioned for me to follow her. We started walking towards the soldiers we had taken prison. “So, which is the one you took?” she asked.

A/N

You guys are like amazing, seriously. nearly 500 reads and 50 votes in four days, I cannot thank you enough. Digital cookies for everyone!! *holds out a plate*