Sentinel

Linnea sat up. All merriment was gone from her face. She turned her eyes downward. “I just didn’t pay enough attention, that’s all.” She mumbled. She felt ashamed, dirty, like she was telling a lie, but she knew she wasn’t. She couldn’t tell Allen, not yet. It wouldn’t end well.
Suddenly Kai’s face peered around Allen’s shoulder. “But there has to be more to it than that, right?”

This time, it was Allen’s turn to jump. His shoulder collided with Kai’s chin and Kai fell backwards. Allen dived on top of him. Together they formed a laughing, wrestling tangle of limbs which Linnea took to a bed to avoid. Seven climbed up beside her and leaned against her arm watching the boys. Linnea looked out the window, over the barbed wire fences to the vast desert beyond.

“I just wasn’t quick enough, that’s all.” She muttered. Kai and Allen broke up their play and came to sit with them.

“Tell us what happened.” Allen pressed.

“There’s nothing to tell really,” Linnea began. “It was a basic mission. We broke up the rebel camp and spread out to hunt them down when they ran. I came upon a group of them. I think they were waiting for me, I don’t know. They knew they had no chance, but there was nothing else they could do. They tried to ambush me, attacking from all sides, but I was too quick for them. They were standard, easy kills and I took all of them down quickly, but…” Here she trailed off.

“But what?” Sev asked, wide eyed.

“I saw something shining in the moonlight. I bent down to get a clear look at what it was. That’s when one of the men that I thought I had killed got up and attacked. I wasn’t quick enough on the draw and he got me with his knife.”

“What did thing you were looking at turn out to be?” Kai asked.

Here Linnea hesitated. She licked her lips. “It was just a dog tag.” She quietly lied. “I got myself hurt for a stupid dog tag.”

Allen and Seven nodded and commented on the unfortunate circumstances, but Linnea caught the eye of Kai who was staring at her. She shrugged at him as if to say “it’s true”, but he continued to look at her as if searching for the truth in her face.

Mercifully Seven interrupted. “What are we going to do in the city anyway?” She asked, changing the subject.

“You know we don’t know until we’re in the air.” Allen answered.

“I just want to know what we should expect when we’re packing .” Seven said.

“We’ll travel light.” Linnea said rising from the bed. “There’s rarely ever any major action around the capital. We’re probably going as security for something, and in that case we won’t need much. I’d say whatever you can fit into your satchels will be enough. I guess we should start.” They began to pack. It was a fast process once they knew what they were taking, and they were done quickly.