Smol Women

Chapter Twenty

The following morning, the group all met in the dining room for breakfast. Not on purpose.

"Good morning, sunshines," Tank greeted everyone, sitting down gracefully in his chair.

"Hey. Nice clothes," Theodore smirked. He and Gibby laughed quietly, and Tank frowned.

"They are nice."

"Hey, leave him alone." It was Thomas who spoke up, which earned confused looks from everyone.

"Weren't you super mad and hated all of us yesterday?" Marianne asked him accusingly.

Thomas put his hands up defensively. "Maybe I was, and I'm sorry. I feel like it was reasonable, but whatever."

After a quick round of apologies from everyone, they moved their breakfasts to a bigger table where they could sit together. Finally, they felt like a proper squadron.

"What we do today?" Maxy Max asked through a mouthful of bacon.

"Okay, again, why do they serve that here," Selena asked aloud.

Marianne and Diamond Daisy exchanged a warm glance. "The pool here is really nice. Why don't we hang out there?" Diamond Daisy suggested.

Everyone agreed, and so when they finished their meals they convened at the poolside. Tank immediately dove headfirst into the pool, still clothed in his thawb.

"I don't get him," Gibby said.

Everyone agreed and turned to Selena, hoping for an explanation. In the background, Tank was practicing underwater handstands.

"Don't look at me," Selena told them. "What's there to get? Tank's Tank."

The water around Tank began to turn a murky brown colour. This was a combination of Tank being out of adult diapers as well as having not showered for over a month.

You may be thinking hey, they hadn't been in Syria for a month yet! I know.

"Tank! Tank, get out of there!" Thomas shouted, disgusted by the mess.

Before anyone could react, an intense whistling sound came from overhead.

"Oh no—" Maxy Max was cut off by a loud blast.

The group was thrown from their seats and everything was quickly covered in dust and rubble. Sirens blared in the distance and the sunlight had completely vanished.

All around, screams and sirens echoed through the air. Yet an eerie silence hung over everything.

Tank peeled himself off the ground. He was soaked with water, and a layer of dust coated him, turning to mud. "Uck."

Suddenly arms grabbed him, and he turned to see Selena. The cut on her head was reopened again and bleeding, and she was covered in dust, but otherwise unharmed.

"Come on," she urged him.

"Selena? Where are you?" Thomas's voice called out.

"Here!" she called back. Selena dragged Tank towards where Thomas was shouting from, and he noticed Maxy Max, Theodore, and Gibby with him.

"Where's Marianne? Diamond Daisy?" Gibby asked them.

"I don't know," Selena coughed. "I can barely see."

Thomas wiped the blood from her forehead and sighed. "There's no one else here. We need to get to the bus, where our guns are."

Dazed, it took the group a moment to orient themselves, and they dizzily made their way to where the bus was still parked.