Traitors

I make myself way too comfy in Gabe's office. I hike my feet up onto his desk which he silently scoffs at. He types away on his keyboard, scanning the monitor for files and neglecting to inform me as to why he's called me in here. I study him knowing he won't pay any attention to what I'm doing until he's ready. He looks just as worn out as the rest of us like he hasn't slept in days. His eye is healing nicely from when I scratched it. He's stopped wearing a bandage on it a week ago. A few of the medically trained rebels who work within The Tunnel check in on him to make sure he's taking care of it, but that eye still won't open as wide as the other. He glances over at me acknowledging my presence. He pushes away from the computer leaning back in his seat.

"How's Fierce?" He asks cracking his knuckles.

"I think he'll live." I offer a fake smile which he figures out quickly.

"I have a few things I want to go over with you before we all break for the holidays in a few weeks." I nod motioning my hands to let him speak. "You don't know all of his backstory, but the incident that happened today can take a toll on someone like him. He's been through a lot, Detope. You weren't here at the very beginning of this rebellion so you don't know what happened to all of us. No one really does." He squeezes the bridge of his nose trying to force memories out of his head. "Be cautious around him. I don't know how he is going to react."

"What happened before?" I ask scooting to the edge of my seat.

"I don't want to get into details, but after it was over, he was different. He disconnected from us and lost all emotion. He was just a shell. He didn't care about anything or anyone." Gabe looks up at me with sincere eyes. "Something changed when he saw your car crash." He sighs heavily, rising from his chair. "I just need you to make sure he doesn't revert back to his old ways." I nod slowly in agreement. "And if you would stay and help monitor the footage of the Mayor's office and help Hunter with training sessions again, I would greatly appreciate it."

"Anything else, boss?" I ask sarcastically. Gabe leans against his desk in front of me.

"You didn't handle today's incident correctly, but I'll reprimand you for that another day." I roll my eyes. "Go on," he waves his hand at me, "get out of here."

I rise from my chair and walk out into the plant. Very few are left and they're more focused on socializing than actual work. The remaining few wave at me as I head down the hall. I pass the training room peering in at Hunter who is busy at work on the punching bag. His face is tomato red and has beads of sweat shimmering on it. Curiosity has a hold of me and I want to know what happened before I joined the rebellion, but I know Hunter probably won't tell me. He's not known for talking much. Maybe whatever happened is the reason why he doesn't speak that often.

I drag my feet to my room where I enter silently. Fierce is fast asleep in my bed with a burnt out cigarette between his fingers which dangles off the bed. I admire him in his sleeping state, looking helpless and peaceful instead of intimidating and cocky. I slip the cigarette from his hand and throw it in the empty water bottle sitting on the table. I pull on his sweatshirt and nab one of his cigarettes. I trap it in my fingers as I make my way outside.

The bitter night air blasts in my face the second I open the backdoor. It instantly chills any exposed skin. I wedge the cigarette between my lips and light it. I pull it away puffing out smoke. Silent snowflakes begin to fall all around me. I stare up at the night sky slightly wishing things were different. I wish I was still close with my family. I wish I could be a normal teenager living in a country where freedom exists. I wish I didn't lose my best friend. I take another puff from my cigarette.

I whip around startled when the door behind me opens. Quela pops her head out squinting her exposed eyes. She steps outside shuffling her feet slowly until they hit the first stair. She steps up one and almost falls because of the snow sticking to them. I hustle down to help her out, but she only shoos my hands away from her with a chuckle. She latches onto a piece of my hair and examines it closely.

"Red hair and a scent of lavender. Hi Phoe." She says with a grin which stretches from ear to ear. "I thought I heard someone sighing out here." I grip onto her arm and help her up a couple stairs. "What are you doing out here anyway? You don't smoke." She says raising the hand with the cigarette in it.

"I used to." I admit placing the cigarette back between my lips.

"In your bad girl days." She giggles. "I heard you were a bit of a delinquent before you joined us. Causing some trouble and not really giving a shit about anything." She shrugs. "Sounds like Fierce back in the day." She nudges me. "I'm glad he's got you, though. He needed something good to happen to him." She reaches over nabbing my cigarette and stomping it out. "But you don't need to pick up on his habits." She jokes leaning against the railing.

"Quela, can you tell me what happened," I pause, "before I joined." The smile dissipates from her face. "It's just," I begin, "Gabe told me that today would really effect Logan because of what went down before, but the problem is I don't know -"

"- what happened." She finishes for me. She bites her lip and slowly nods. "Let's go to my room. I'll try to explain some things for you."

She clings onto me as we walk down the slick stairs together. I yank on the back door which is glued shut. The Tunnel isn't the warmest place on earth, but compared to outside, it feels exceptionally warm. I follow Quela to her room where she hurries me inside and closes the door behind her. She tosses her winter coat aside and whips off her boots. She tugs some hair behind her ear before she joins me on her bed. She twiddles her fingers nervously thinking of how to start. Quela is normally an upbeat and bubbly person, so seeing her so quiet and anxious means whatever happened is still embedded in her mind.

"What's the story you heard about the beginnings of the rebellion?" She asks knitting her brows together.

"Logan told me that he met the boys at a shelter and they recruited you even though you were blind." She scoffs shaking her head.

"That's the story we created so we would never have to talk about this." She runs her fingers through her hair. "The four of us we, uh, worked for this woman named Casandra. We would do little assignments here and there for her. They mostly were security hacks and infiltrating the capitol buildings. She paid us a lot, I'm talking A LOT of money for those assignments, so we kept doing them. We were just teenagers. We didn't know any better."

"What was she doing?" I ask trying not to sound too eager.

"She planned on using the stolen information to gain enough troops and support to start a war with China. She was pissed because we didn't retaliate after they bombed us or something like that. One day, she handed us our assignment which was to assassinate Mayor Fierce and that's when all of us put our foot down. We were thieves, not murderers and we decided to stop working for her. She didn't like that." She stops talking and looks away from me. I wait patiently for her and rest my hand on her shoulder for comfort. "She locked us away for weeks and tortured us. I don't know what she did to Gabe or Hunter and it's better I don't know, but I know it still torments both of them."

"What about you?" I bite my lip. "If you don't mind me asking."

"She took my sight from me." Her voice is soft and aggressive now.

"So, you didn't lose your sight from the bombings?" She shakes her head.

"Part of our cover story." She swallows hard. "For the three of us, she left us alone for a day or two and then she'd take us back to the darkened room down the hall and torment us for an hour and then let us go. But Fierce? It was hours for him. She especially enjoyed toying with him. It was agony just hearing how miserable he was. But he didn't give up. He was the one that busted us out of there. We took refuge here and stayed hidden until she stopped looking for us." She releases a heavy sigh. "He was different after that. He wouldn't eat, sleep, talk, or even show emotion. We all understood why, but when we started recruiting more members for our own cause, we decided on the story to tell in case anyone asks."

"Do you know what happened to her?" Quela shrugs.

"I haven't seen her since." I watch a smile slowly creep onto her face. "Then again, I don't see much of anything."

"I'm sorry that happened to you guys."

"I don't think about it often, but I know Hunter does. And as for Fierce? I think he puts on a brave face for everyone, especially you, but I know he's still pained. Honestly Phoe, just be there for him right now." She pushes me off her bed. "Go! Now!" She laughs loudly and I join in with her.

I exit her room leaving behind a simple good night. I close the door behind me and take in everything she just told me. I look down the hallway at my room. I slowly walk over to it and slip inside the concealed room. The light is still on, but Fierce is still passed out where I left him earlier. I rest next to him carefully trying not to wake him. I stare down at him knowing I'm looking at him differently than before. I grab onto his hand which is still hanging off the bed and wrap his arm around me. I place my head on his chest and rest my arm around him. I glare up at him until my eyes feel heavy and fall asleep.