𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗚𝗢, monty green

Chapter Seven

Eleven months ago...

Avery's father had missed two visitation sessions. Every time it came around for family and friends visiting, she was left with an empty heart upon figuring out he wouldn't be seeing her.

And so, every day since the second missed visit, Avery had interrogated the guards checking her room to tell her where he was. And it seemed that she would finally get her answer.

"Prisoner 302, against the wall."

They barged into her room one morning, ordering her against the wall so they could check that she had no weapons - or whatever excuse they liked to use - before allowing her to stand freely in her room once again. When she turned back, she found that she was face to face with Abby Griffin.

Her face set in stone, her fists clenching beside her and a harsh chuckle threatening to leave her lips. There was no one that she wanted to see less. Abby only looked patient in return, albeit a little downcast.

"What's going on?"

Instead of replying immediately, Abby turned back to the guards hovering behind her, asking for them to step out so she could speak to the girl alone. The guards both refused and Abby was forced to talk to her with the unfamiliar men both present.

"Avery I really didn't want to have to tell you this." She began gravely. "Your father's condition significantly worsened over these past few weeks."

As Abby began to explain what was wrong with her father, Avery could feel everything going on around her becoming too much. She felt as though time was swirling to a stop; sound becoming muffled, the floor swaying beneath her feet, her vision blurring ever so slightly.

"Unfortunately he passed away a few days ago."

Oh.

There was a moment of silence in which Avery didn't know how she was supposed to respond. She had never lost a loved one before. Well, she had lost her mom, but she was practically a baby when that happened, so she wasn't even able to respond.

"Why didn't you tell me he was dying?" She eventually asked, her voice quiet but edging on anger.

"I didn't think you would-"

"-What? That I wouldn't want to know? You didn't let me say goodbye!"

Tears were thick in her eyes, and she was desperately trying to blink them away. Her head was a mess, and her heart felt like it was about to pound out of her chest.

She wasn't close to her father, but she deserved to say goodbye.

Abby had nothing to say. She hung her head for a few quiet moments, and then looked shamefully to the girl staring back at her and still trying to suppress her tears.

And then Avery couldn't take it any longer.

It all happened in a flash. Abby beginning to speak again, giving her a pitying look, and Avery yelling out some insults even she wouldn't repeat and then trying to lunge for the woman.

It wasn't a proud moment.

The guards reached her before she could push Abby. In less than a second, she had been sent stumbling towards the wall with a stinging sensation in her right cheek.

One of them slapped her.

Avery's trembling hand rose to her cheek to try and feel the numbness the slap left on her skin. She was barely zoned in on her surroundings: in which Abby was shouting louder at the guard than Avery had ever heard anyone on the Ark shout.