Lands of Ash and Dust

Claire felt nerves bubbling up again as she got ready to go back to work. She was only folding laundry before. What would they make her do now? Sit there and stare at a wall? She hardly got a chance to see Jake in the morning before he had to leave, but she supposed he was just making sure he worked hard to stay on Shriner’s good side. Just living in New Eden felt like walking on glass.

While Claire didn’t get a chance to see Jake, she ended up leaving around the same time as Marley. She was surprised when Marley decided not to walk with her friends, and instead walked with Claire. They didn’t talk much, but at some point during their walk, Marley reached out to hold Claire’s hand. Claire felt herself stiffen slightly in surprise, though she quickly relaxed again. She and Marley were friends, but Marley had never actually made such an affectionate gesture towards Claire before. Claire squeezed her hand lightly and smiled, walking her the rest of the way to school. She was even more surprised when Marley hugged her.

“Bye, Claire!” she said, before running off to join her friends.

Claire just gave her a small wave and half smile, a little bit emotional but trying her best not to show it. As she walked the rest of the way to the medical center, she started to think about Jake and Marley. She’d never felt like she was so wanted in a family, and it wasn’t even her own family. She had only known them for a little while, but she was sure that she belonged with them. And she believed that they wanted her, too. She loved them.

The idea of love felt weird to think about. Especially when it came to Jake. She didn’t even know what to think. She’d only been getting along with him for such a short time, after all. She pushed the worries from her mind as she swiped her card to sign in at work. Those thoughts would have to wait.

The rest of the doctors and nurses gave her strange looks as she walked down the hall. Some looked smug, some angry, and some almost pitiful. She just kept her eyes down until Jane got to her, giving her a reassuring smile. Claire couldn’t help but notice a slight look of concern in the woman’s eyes. Concern for Claire?

“Don’t worry, I made sure they’d leave you with me,” she said quietly. “Come on, you’re going to help me pass out breakfast to the patients.”

Claire hovered close to Jane as they worked, making sure to watch every move she made, in case someone tried to accuse her of something again. She was lucky to get off the hook for the other one, though she was surprised to hear that they weren’t even going to give her a small punishment, or even a stern talk about it.

“I’m glad to see you, Claire,” Jane said while they worked, sort of suddenly.

“Oh,” Claire said. “Yeah. I’m glad to see you, too.”

“Things didn’t look like they were going to turn around,” Jane said with a shrug. “As much confidence as I have in you, I knew that Miss Shriner didn’t have the same confidence, and well... I just thought- Well, nevermind. I’m just glad to see you.”

“You thought they would kick me out?” Claire suggested.

“Yes, and no,” Jane said, with a sigh.

She paused for a moment, then glanced up to the corner of the room, up at a security camera nestled there. Claire followed her gaze to it, then looked back to Jane, finding her smiling and shaking her head.

“It’s silly, really. Come on, let’s go get these trays out.”

Claire helped her pass out breakfast, though she kept her eyes down to avoid making eye contact with the suspicious patients. Most of them were still nervous that she’d attack them out of random, too. What surprised Claire the most was that the guy she “pushed” in the first place wasn’t among any of the patients.

“Jane?” Claire called nervously.

“Yes, dear?”

“You know that guy that I- Well, the guy that fell down the stairs?” she asked. “Did he... die?”

“Goodness, of course not,” Jane laughed. “He checked out the next day. Walking like he was fine. It was interesting, I had never seen him before. I assumed he was one of Dr. Warren’s patients. Dr. Warren takes care of the patients who require accelerated healing. Usually people who work with Miss Shriner. They’re separate from everyone else.”

“Oh. Okay.”

It was a long day, but Claire managed to get through it without murdering anyone. She was relieved to sign out and get to go home. There was little outside light that came into the dome, but they did dim and brighten the lights and adjust the heat to simulate the outdoors. The healthy outdoors, at least. The light was dimming as the sun set outside. There weren't very many people out, by there wasn't much reason for people to be out in the first place around the medical center. It was a bit out of the way, likely so injured and sick people would be out of sight if everyone else.

“Claire? Claire!”

Claire turned when she heard her name, brow furrowing when she saw none other than Richard Pritchard jogging to catch up to her. He looked frazzled and concerned.

“Jesus, I've been looking for you,” he said, taking a moment to catch his breath. “It's the kid. Marley, I think? She fell and hurt herself and she's been crying for you for an hour now.”

“What?!” Claire gasped. “What the hell, you didn't come to get me sooner?!”

“I'll explain later, but you need to come right now,” he said. “The poor kid is hysterical. Come on, we’ll take the security hall. It's faster.”

Claire followed him, back in the direction of the medical center. They went past the medical center, which surprised her. Way to the back, where there was nothing left but the wall of the dome. Claire paused, giving him a look.

“Is this some kind of mean joke?” Claire questioned.

Pritchard had moved behind her at some point, shoving her forward with a light, nonchalant shrug.

“Hey, at least you know the kid is okay, right?” he chuckled.

Claire felt her blood turn to ice, regaining her balance and backing away from him.

“This isn’t funny,” she repeated, glaring at him. “You’re a weird guy, but this is freaking me out.”

Pritchard glanced over his shoulder, then shrugged out of the jacket that displayed his security title, as well as his badge. He glanced up at a security camera on the wall and made a slight gesture to it, and Claire noticed the blinking light that signaled the recording turn off. This made her realize that it wasn’t a joke. Whatever Pritchard intended on doing, he wasn’t alone, and someone else wanted it to happen. Furthermore, they wanted to make sure there was no proof of it. Claire reached into her bag, desperately digging around for something to defend herself, but New Eden was a “safe community” and things like pepper spray were only given to security. She eyed the bottle of the pepper spray on Pritchard’s belt, then took out a small, black comb, pointing it at him threateningly as she tossed the rest of the bag aside.

“What are you going to do with that comb?” he chuckled. “Relax, Claire. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“It sure as hell seems like you are,” she snapped.

“I’m not,” he said. “I promise, it’s going to be quick. You won’t feel any pain.”

She noticed then that he had some kind of hunting knife in his hand. Not even security got to carry weapons like that. Not within the dome, at least. Claire backed up, but was caught between the medical center and the wall of the dome. Pritchard didn’t seem to be panicked at all. He was going to kill her, and it clearly wasn’t the first time he’d done something like this.

“Before anything happens,” he said, stepping towards her and looking at her like a poor, scared animal, “I just want you to know that it’s nothing personal. I really do think you’re a nice girl. And you look like a Barbie doll. It’s just orders, okay? If the boss lady decides she doesn’t want someone around, then we need to grant that wish before she throws a hissy fit. No one wants that. It’s awful. And to be fair, we did try to do this completely painlessly when Donnie pretended to get pushed down the stairs. You would’ve been exiled, but at least it’s not violent. You just got too many people on your side, so we couldn’t go through with that plan. This is plan B.”

“Get the fuck away from me,” Claire warned, holding the comb like some kind of knife. “I’ll leave on my own accord.”

“Sorry, princess, it’s a little late for that now,” he shrugged.

He lunged at her, and she shrieked and jumped out of the way, just in time. The knife made an awful screeching sound and left a mark against the wall of the dome, annoying Pritchard.

“God, I hate that sound,” he shuddered. “Also, we need to talk about the screaming. I really need you to not do that, please. It makes me feel like Jack the Ripper or something.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want you feel like a murderer or something,” Claire said through clenched teeth.

He genuinely laughed at the joke, sickening Claire even more when he acted like it was all a fun game or something. She waited until he casually lowered the knife to suddenly make a move towards him. He wasn’t expecting it, but stepped to the side, making Claire lose her balance. She managed to get him in the cheek with the comb in her hand, which left a scratch. He blinked a few times in surprise, reaching up and touching his cheek. When he pulled his hand away, there were a few droplets of blood on his fingers.

“Wow, that comb isn’t as dumb as it looks,” he smirked. “Plastic. I’ll keep it in mind.”

He grabbed Claire by the shoulder when she tried to get up, forcing her back down and pinning her to the ground. He took the comb out of her fist, keeping his knee on her arm to keep her down.

“I need to make this look like you fell and hit something sharp,” he explained casually. “Don’t worry, I’ll move your body later so people can find you before you start rotting. I kind of like to do the messy part here, where I have time to come back and clean up.”

He traced the tip of the blade down the side of her face, nose wrinkled in thought. It rested for a few terrible moments on her throat, but then he seemed to decide against it and moved it to the right side of her stomach. In a sudden rush of adrenaline, Claire yanked her arm out from under his knee and reached for his belt, managing to grab the pepper spray. He realized what was happening too late, and Claire managed to get a good spray in his face. He yelled out in pain, his free hand letting go of Claire to cover his face. With the pepper spray in the air, Claire also felt her eyes water, and a stinging pain. Partially blind and in a lot of pain, she rolled out from under him, switching positions and this time pinning him down. At least, she pinned him down as best she could considering he was twice her size.

She couldn’t see a thing, but she curled her hand into a fist and punched him in the face. The back of his head hit the concrete, and he seemed unfocused. He grunted and reached for something, but Claire couldn’t see what. She just felt something cold plunge into her side, followed by a strange feeling. It was such extreme pain that it wasn’t even painful. She gasped, stunned as Pritchard weakly got up and shoved her off of him. He dropped the knife and wobbled as he tried to stand. She watched him try and walk away, but he only took a few steps before he fell over. Then everything went black.