Crack.
She’d shown me the shooting range, alright. It was nothing more than a long and somewhat narrow room with thin black dividers set up along a white line.
Crack.
One after another, each bullet embedded itself into the target at the end of our lane. It stared back at us, ridden with fresh bullet holes.
Crack.
After each crack, yet another smoldering casing clattered to the floor before Shada was once again firing another shot. I watched, wide-eyed as yet another bullet hit the bullseye. Within a minute, the magazine was emptied and already being dropped into the palm of her hand. Twelve out of the twenty rounds had hit the center which, as much as I’d hated to admit it, was pretty impressive. I’d seen my unfortunate father miss targets far closer than that while hunting.
Though, at the rather smug expression on her face, my eyes only narrowed. If only she were as humble as she was skilled.
“How’s that?” She all but grinned as she began reloading the rifle. I watched as she slipped each brass bullet into the magazine before jamming it back into the gun. When I didn’t answer, the girl merely snorted. “Better than you could do, anyway.” Once again, Shada hoisted the rifle up into her arms and backed it against her shoulder. Her cheek rested itself against the sleek body, eyes staring down the scope.
“Amazing,” I deadpanned as I made a reach for it. “Now quit showing off. You’re here to teach me, remember?”
She jerked the rifle out of reach, shooting me a withering look. “Coming from the girl who just tried to take a loaded gun from someone who was aiming, I think that just further proves that you shouldn’t be handling a gun at all.” Her gaze flitted between my outstretched hand and my face before she finally sighed. The gun was back against her shoulder and with a crack, the chamber was emptied into the target. “Fine,” she muttered. With a quiet click, the magazine was removed and she jerked the bolt. The casing clattered to the floor as she set the rifle on the ground, propped up against the wall.
How nice. I retrieved the weapon with an eye roll as she leaned her back against the rough concrete. “Isn’t the point of the rifle to be able to shoot it?” My eyes flitted down to the gun in my hands. It was heavier than I’d expected it to be; she’d made it look so easy, after all.
“As if,” she scoffed, jostling the loaded magazine for emphasis. Her amused, though still somewhat annoyed, gaze never wavered from mine as she pocketed the magazine. “Yeah, we’re gonna see if you can handle holding and aiming it first, and then we’ll go from there.”
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After maybe twenty minutes, I was in charge of the loaded rifle and firing it on my own. Though, the cracks that pierced the air hadn’t been near as satisfying as hers. The bullet hit the wall somewhere to the left of the target. The only indication was the metallic ping that sounded from the far end of the room. I winced as I once again ejected the smoldering casing and locked another in the chamber. All the while, the sound of bootsteps paced along behind me.
I heard a scoff and my grip tightened on the rifle, shifting it a bit in my grasp and resting my finger on the trigger. Would’ve been easier, I’d imagined, if my hands weren’t so damn sweaty. But I felt that wretched gaze on me; a fact that certainly wasn’t helping.
“Finger off the trigger ‘til you’re ready to take the shot.”
“Do you mind?” I snapped, resting my cheek against the stock once again. The target swayed through the glass of the scope, bouncing in and out of the crosshairs. “You’re not making this any easier.”
“You asked for my help,” she fired back. Her footsteps came to a halt behind me and I sighed, shooting her a look from the corner of my eye. All I could make out was part of her shoulder and her arms that were folded over her chest. “And you’re not gonna get any better by dancing around the problem, which is you not listening.”
“I am listening,” I argued with a groan, returning my attention down the scope. Still, the target wouldn’t stay put. Though stationary, the bullseye mocked me from where it sat at the far end of the room and its refusal to remain in the crosshair.
“Safety.” The low drawl was enough to tell me she was rolling her eyes, and I switched the safety back on as she took the final few steps to stand at my side. Lowering the rifle slightly, I dared a glance in her direction. Her gaze flitted me up and down, her arms still over her chest and looking just as annoyed as ever.
“What?”
“Gonna wanna balance out the weight, otherwise you’ll just keep missing.” Shada stepped forward, lifting the barrel back up towards the target and I shifted it in my grip the way I’d been holding it before. That earned me another snort and I shot her a look. “Move your right hand forward. No, away from the trigger guard.”
The rifle swayed a little less, but it didn’t ease up on the ache that was growing in my arms. Everything about holding the weapon was unbearable; from the weight to that set of eyes watching and judging my every move. With a huff, I leaned my cheek back against the stock and stared down the scope. At least this time, it stayed in view.
“Safety.”
“I know.” Switching the safety back off, I gave myself another moment to steady the crosshairs on the bullseye before pulling the trigger once again.
The shot rang out and I scowled. Closer, but still not enough. It hadn’t even hit the target. “Keep it up, Vanderwaal,” Shada snickered as she sauntered back up to my side. “Might be able to startle a Russian one of these days.” Without waiting for a response, she reached over and flicked the safety back on with a pointed glare in my direction before jerking the weapon from my hands altogether. “Probably about time we wrap this up.” Her gaze flitted up to the clock up on the wall.The numbers glowed a dim green against the shadows from the concrete pillars. Somehow, it only made it all the more ominous.
4:37.
“Meredith will be making the rounds soon.” She shrugged the rifle over her shoulder and nodded back towards the weaponry. “I’ll get this back. You get outta here. Take the back way. It’ll lead back upstairs and let you out by the mess hall. Should know the way back from there, right?”
Shada had rather pointedly ignored the look I’d given her, though I didn’t bother to give her much time to respond as it was. After following her gaze to one of the three doors along the adjacent wall, I caught sight of the one labeled mess hall. I’d turned back to her one last time. To what, thank her? Doubtful. I doubted that I even knew what I’d wanted to say. But that hadn’t mattered; she was gone by the time I’d turned around and all that was left was the door swinging shut behind her.
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The following days had passed much faster than the dreaded crawl that they’d been before. While Sage’s time had become occupied by the daycare that she’d started volunteering at, mine had started looking far different.
Crawling out of bed well after Sage’s shift had started and about the time lunch had rolled around. Perfect timing. Idle conversation with the kitchen staff as I collected two trays and pushing through the crowds filing in through the doors. Ignoring the chatter and laughter that echoed off the walls. Meeting those familiar green eyes and pretending I hadn’t.
An hour or two spent with Sage in the daycare while she nibbled away on her lunch, going over the events of the day and asking what I’ve been up to. Just cooking, I’d tell her with a cocky grin. Slaved away all morning on this. She’d punch my arm and maybe I’d even get an eye roll. Sage had, more times than I could count, suggested I find a way to pass time, myself. A position somewhere. Anywhere. And I’d bite my tongue. Tell her I was fine the way things were.
Back to the mess hall or my room after that; I’d still have a few hours to kill before her shift came to an end. Watching the TV’s in the mess hall or lounge area were mindless activities; I’d heard enough on the war in passing. Talk of treaties and tension. Lies and propaganda. Nothing ever changed.
Time was easier to kill once Sage’s shift came to an end and before I knew it the lights would be dimmed. Time for bed. And while everyone else retreated to their rooms or the lounge, I’d be waiting in the silence of the mess hall until the clocks changed to one in the morning. A few hours in the firing range wouldn’t hurt, right?
Four-thirty would come along sooner than expected and I’d be back in bed by five.
Lights out, rinse and repeat.
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Children toddled about, tripping over stumpy legs and clinging onto toys with sticky fingers. For the first time since I’d arrived at the daycare that day, not one of them screamed. They all seemed far too entranced by the colorful movie that played on the TV that Sage had set up. Meanwhile, I had joined her in the plastic chairs at the back of the room to watch the movie from afar.
“And here I thought they’d never settle down,” I commented as I handed her food over to her. Which, of course, she accepted gratefully and wasted no time in digging out her silverware.
“They’re not all bad.” Her response was accompanied by a small laugh under her breath as she rested her tray in her lap. “They’re cute.”
I could beg to differ, but the way that her lips were still curled up in a smile as she cut into her chicken had kept me quiet for the time being. And so, I began digging into my own tray of chicken and shoveling a forkful into my mouth. We ate in relative silence after that, just watching as the movie played and her voluntary pack of unruly toddlers coughed and sneezed on each other.
“Think you could’ve picked a better movie?” I eventually broke the silence. I didn’t recognize it; it looked like something my mom might’ve grown up with. Maybe even older. But my girlfriend only laughed, knocking her shoulder against mine.
“I highly doubt the government was thinking about what movies they should choose to entertain kids with,” she pointed out with a hum. Her brown gaze flitted back down to her tray as she mixed together her chicken and potatoes into a pile. “At least I have a break from doing puppet shows. Hey-” I winced as her voice had taken on a dreadfully chipper tone. “-You could join sometime. Might be fun putting on a puppet show together.”
I didn’t bother to look at her as I took another bite of chicken. If nothing else, it was to buy myself time to answer. I knew one look in her direction, and any resolve would’ve crumbled then and there. So I kept my gaze on the movie. “Wouldn’t count on it,” was what I’d eventually settled on.
“Come on, Ro.” The huff my silence earned had told me that there was a pout on those perfect lips of hers, and that those dazzling eyes were just waiting for me to look her way.
But I watched as a rather sticky looking kid snatched a toy from another and I knew that no amount of begging would change my mind. And she knew that by now. Maybe she’d refrain from asking again that day, but I knew she likely wouldn’t drop it. Maybe, just maybe, one day I’d fold. I doubted that, too.
The rest of the movie we’d spent in silence, finishing up our lunch and soon enough, she’d rested her shoulder against mine. We stayed that way, fingers tangled together in the space between us until the credits began to roll. Her eyes were half-lidded at the group of kids, that gentle upturn still on her lips.
“I’d love to have kids one day,” she eventually sighed. That wistful tone was back; the same one she had when she talked about seeing the sun again. A loud screech broke the quiet, and the sticky kid was wailing rather dramatically, earning a sigh from Sage.
“Sure about that?” I nudged her, watching with mild amusement as she stood and crossed the room to tend to the offending child.
Once I climbed to my feet and gathered the trays, I’d taken that incessant wailing as my cue to leave. By the time I’d reached the door, the screeching had only gotten louder and I winced. Sage was already hoisting the noisy toddler into her arms, and I wrinkled my nose at the sight of the glistening cheeks and the obvious running nose. Maybe a better girlfriend would’ve stuck around to help, but there was absolutely no amount of anything that would get me to stay. Sage didn’t seem to expect me to, however. Instead, she merely offered me a grin and a wave as I paused in the doorway, blowing her one final kiss before making my escape.
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It was around five by the time I’d made my way back down that same stretch of hallway, the same as I’d been doing for around the past week or so. The daycare usually was emptied out a little after five, depending on when the parents deemed it time to pick up their unruly offspring. But I’d never minded the waiting; by then, they were usually too tired to bother putting up a fight. Now, at least, the screams of energetic children had ceased, thus leaving the long hallway to the humming of the lights above.
Now, that had become a welcomed sound. More so than the shouts and screams from the daycare, that was. The windows of the room were in sight, complete with badly drawn pictures and various crafts taped to the smudged glass. A few parents lingered outside, either with their children already collected or waiting until the crowd inside had thinned a bit.
I hesitated, stuffing my hands in the pockets of my jacket and leaning a bit against the wall. It wouldn’t be worth it to try and squeeze my way in. Not yet, at least. I shifted against the cold of the bricks that bled through the thick fabric of my sleevest, casting a lazy glance in through the doorway of the room to my left. The gym.
As usual, it had been cleared out for dinner. Only a few stragglers remained, gathering their things from the lockers that had lined down the center of the room. They acted as a wall, essentially blocking my view from the other half of the gym. I watched for a few more moments as the remaining crowd filed out and into the hall, all except one. I’d caught a glimpse of that mess of red hair from on the other side of the lockers and I cast another glance in the direction of the daycare.
Still busy.
Now’s a good a time as any, right?
With a sigh, I pushed myself off the wall and stepped through the doorway of the gym. Mira paid no attention, of course, and had instead been more focused on pulling her jacket and bottle of water out from her locker. Though it wasn’t long after the metal door slammed shut that her eyes landed on me and she stopped in her tracks. For a moment, neither of us spoke. I hadn’t even known what I’d been thinking. A dozen thoughts had gone through my mind since the night I found myself in her room. Night after night, they’d plagued me. Thoughts of what I should say or what I should do. But I’d yet to actually bring myself to seek her out again. Instead, I had told myself night after night to think it through for another day. Get my thoughts in order.
And yet, now I’d found myself faced with her and nowhere to go. My decision had been made, and the moment Mira offered me a mischievous looking smile, I knew the silence would be broken eventually. Might as well be me, after all. “...hey.”
“How’s it hanging?” I watched as she took a step back, tossing her jacket on the steel bench before taking a seat next in the space beside it. Meanwhile, I still had yet to will my feet to move in either direction. “I take it you’ve been keeping busy since you broke into my room?”
Shit. That deadpanned tone was betrayed by the upturn of her lips, which was quickly hidden as she unscrewed the cap of her water and took a drink. Finally though, I’d managed to take the few steps into the room. I dropped down on the opposite side of the bench, body facing away from her as though that would be enough to save me from the inevitable conversation.
“What gave it away?”
Mira snickered as she twisted the cap back on, dropping the bottle on the pile of fabric between us. “Picture was moved,” she merely answered with a shrug. “Simone wouldn’t have come in uninvited, and you’re always too much of a coward to stick around.”
“Jackass.” I huffed out something between a scoff and a laugh. “I am not a coward.”
“Sure. Keep telling yourself that.”
I should’ve been annoyed. Aggravated. Offended. But no, I met her gaze and saw that same upturn to her lips. This time, she hadn’t bothered to hide it and I laughed at the bluntness of her tone. “Fine. Maybe I did stop by the other night.” I admitted, waving her off as she snatched up her water bottle again. I watched as she lifted it to her lips, taking a long sip. I’d gone to see her, and she wasn’t there. Where there should’ve been something, instead I only felt the corners of my lips curling as I angled myself towards her. “So…?”
“So?” With a pierced brow raised, she cast me a look over the bottle as she lifted it once again.
“Who’s the guy?”
“What?” Mira croaked out, choking on her water. Wide eyes landed back on me as she coughed, immediately screwing the cap back on and resting it between her thighs. “Who said anything about a guy?”
“You weren’t in your room when I came to see you,” I shrugged. I raised a brow at her, a knowing smirk curling at my lips. If there was anything I knew about Mira, it was that she only valued two things above sleep; a guy, or a good time. In most cases, the two could be one in the same. The scoff she’d offered in response had been answer enough that this was, in fact, both. I couldn’t help but laugh at the rather perplexed look on her face before she finally sobered up a bit.
“Okay, fine. You caught me.” Her gaze dropped to the bottle between her legs, nail dragging along the ribbed plastic of the lid. She trailed her tongue along the inside of her lip, toying with one of her snakebites. “His name’s Dante.”
Dante. Hadn’t I met a Dante somewhere before? I shook it off, forcing it to the back of my mind for the time being as my smirk widened itself into a grin. I shifted across the bench to knock my shoulder against hers. “I knew it,” I cooed, leaning my weight a bit against her arm. “So, do I get to meet him? Does Simone?”
Mira tossed me a look, nudging me back. “Simone’s already met him,” she answered. Before I could say anything else, she was already cutting me off. “I wanted to introduce you. You were just making it impossible, like you always do.”
That comment had been enough to elicit a wince from me, and I shifted my gaze back up to the TV’s still playing in the corners of the room. The typical news broadcast had been temporarily paused, leaving the screen black with the time displayed. I watched as the numbers changed, trying to come up with some response. An excuse, anything. Anything that sounded good. Anything at all. But I was coming up short on all fronts. Though really, what had I expected? I was the one who’d pushed her away, after all. My fault, my cross to bear.
I shifted a bit, putting some distance between us on the bench. “I’m sorry,” I finally settled on. It was my turn to lower my gaze, tugging at the singed cuffs of my jacket. “Just…you had Ryan and now Lydia and…I’m happy for Ry. Really, I am. And…and you, too. So happy that he’s okay, but-”
“I get it.” I felt her shoulder knock against mine again and I lifted my gaze. She was grinning, as though I hadn’t spent the entire previous month being the absolute worst friend ever. “Like I said. You’ve always been a coward.”
“Shut up.” But I was laughing again, allowing that pressure in my chest to finally dissipate. The familiar weight of her shoulder resting against mine, that warmth, that familiar laugh and that grin that met my eyes when I looked at her…how I’d missed it all. It was almost enough that I could forget, and for those few seconds, we could’ve been at the gym down the street from the highrise.
“Hey.” The fantasy was short lived and cut rather short when she nudged me once more, effectively bringing my thoughts to a halt. I blinked myself out of it, ignoring the ache that had threatened to creep into my chest. “Speaking of Dante, his little sis works down in the greenhouses. She could probably score you a job if you’re down. Or in the laundry departments, overnight.”
Job. Greenhouse. Overnight. Two weeks ago, I’d barely been able to drag myself out of bed. Maybe I would’ve jumped at that opportunity back then. Both of which now, however, would greatly cut into my training with Shada. Something I wasn’t willing to risk compromising. Not when the future remained painfully uncertain.
And so I shook my head, leaning myself back against her without much further thought. “I’ll pass.” The response came out more deadpanned than I’d intended, enough so that Mira barked out a laugh.
“Seriously?” She shot me a look that I was all too familiar with. That perplexed, almost dumbfounded, what are you not telling me look that had me repositioning uncomfortably in my seat. I ran my fingers through my hair as though that would ease the heat that was creeping into my cheeks. “It’s not like there’s anything else to do around here.”
There was something about her tone. She knew and was trying to drag it out of me. And hell, I’d wanted to tell her. The spy, Shada, the shooting, Meredith…it was all on the tip of my tongue. I could taste it on my lips. There was a freedom to that thought. After all, that had been why I’d shown up at her room to begin with, hadn’t it? So why now was I holding back? My teeth raked along my bottom lip as Mira spoke up again.
“What, is the cheerleader afraid to break a nail? Scared to get her hands dirty?”
“No, it’s not that. It’s…” I sighed, shaking my head and glancing back up at the TV. The screen was all black by now, likely preparing to resume their typical mindless propaganda. “Complicated. There’s something going on, Mira. Something messed up and-”
“And here I thought you guys would never speak again.” I snapped my mouth shut, whirling in my seat to face the doorway where Sage was standing. Those bright eyes flitted between the two of us as she grinned ear to ear. She’d wasted no time in crossing the room to plant herself directly next to me on the bench, throwing her arms around my neck and greeting me with a kiss on my cheek. When she finally pulled away, her grin was somehow even bigger. “Did she tell you about Dante?”
I barely had time to nod before she was continuing, barreling on as though I hadn’t spoken. “His sister’s got a job for you, too! All you have to do is go down there and sign in when you’re ready.”
“Uh, hey guys-”
“Might even make some friends, if you’re lucky-”
“Guys!”
Sage fell silent, effectively cut off by the increasingly concerned tone in Mira’s voice. Our attention snapped to the girl on our right. Green eyes were wide as she nodded up towards the TV on the wall. The screen was still black, as it had been before. Now though, there was a white text that sat in the center of the screen. My blood ran cold at the fuzzy lettering that stared back at all three of us.
American armies to surrender. Invasion imminent.
America has fallen.
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