Annihilation

Strategy

Shelby and I spent the entire night awake, but unlike the nights where we amped up on caffeine with our heads buried in notes to study for exams, we were strategizing. She filled in the blanks on where their weapons were held and the protections of them by five men. She took me through everything she knew about the schedule of those who guarded the perimeter of the city, which apparently doubled at night. With at least three days until Gideon's return, I accepted that it would be safer to get out before.

Just as much as the university had been known for parties before the apocalypse, it still was. Apparently there was to be another party, more casual than the departing ball, to welcome the men home on the night of their return.

There was no way to get me to sleep in her and Gideon's bed so I convinced her to make a palette for us to sleep on the floor, her fluffy blankets creating a cushion thicker than the mattress I slept on at the prison.

"By the way, we'll probably be sleeping on the ground in the woods once we're out of here." I half smiled as we lay face up next to each other.

"That's the part I'm worried about." She sighed, blinking up at the ceiling.

I chuckled, turning my head to look at her. "You're worried about being without your fancy blankets?"

My mouth lost its smile when I noticed the tears in her eyes, spilling over from the corners down the side of her face. "I have no idea how to survive out there. There's this thing Gideon says to me." She started, ignoring the way I scoffed at his name. "This is as good as it's going to get for me. Him losing his temper will never be worse than what's out there."

"That's not true. Well, maybe a little part of it is because being out there is terrifying, but I'll teach you everything. Remember you're talking to the girl who used to stop everything to panic about a bug on the wall." I lightened the mood with a joke, remembering the many times I called her in a frenzy, standing on the couch in fear of the beetles that showed up in my apartment every now and again.

"So you're not afraid of bugs anymore?" She raised a brow in disbelief.

We were both giggling before I could finish my response. "I'll always be scared of bugs. It's in the top three reasons why I befriended seven men to kill them for me."

When our laughter died down her mouth turned down in wonder. "Seven?" She questioned.

It was a slip up that I made easily, still hard to picture them as six. "Yeah, we lost Hobi at the prison." I clarified, closing my eyes to rid myself of the stinging sensation behind them.

Shelby could tell it was hard for me to talk about, her hand meeting mind to hold in the middle of the covers. She took the reins, continuing our conversation with a confession. "The two fighters. They're in there because of me." When she felt my body move away from her she explained further, her voice carrying a soft pain. "On the day they got here they met with us just like you and the others when you arrived. One of them made a stupid joke that the only thing that could make Gideon more ridiculous would be a pet dragon. I laughed and he grabbed my arm so hard that I screamed. They didn't tie up the one you talked to first and he lunged at Gideon. I thought Gideon would just kill them after that, but I guess he figured he could do more damage by dragging things out. Anyway, I shouldn't have laughed at the joke."

I watched the way she seemed to carry the blame for everything, barely taking full breaths like she was punishing herself just for being alive. I squeezed her hand, cuing her to look over at me. "None of it's your fault." I confirmed, hoping that she could at least accept it from my voice until she was able to hear it from her own.

While Shelby slept I laid awake, racking through our plan for the next few days. The easiest part would be getting information to the others, but we'd be challenged in getting Taehyung and Jungkook out. I hadn't revealed to Shelby that there would likely be bloodshed.