From Marley, with Love.

Chapter 65: A gun-toting asshole

///Violence

A small beam of light fell upon Rosanna's face, right into her left eye. She grunted, her head throbbing painfully. The sun seemed to burn her brain, worsening a headache that beat right behind her eye.

"What the hell?" Rosanna groaned, trying to sit herself up to take in her environment better. She looked around; she was sitting on a small pile of hay. The straws were dry and poked into her legs. The room she was in was small, maybe about four meters in width and two in length. Enough to sit and lay down. But there was barely room to walk. She twisted herself into a crouching position, carefully standing up. She wobbled; her ankles were tied to each other. Making sure it wasn't possible to take a full step, she huffed and sat back down on the floor. Using her teeth on the tight ropes around her wrists. She chewed on the ropes until a mere fiber came loose, getting stuck in her teeth. She spat, growling in anger. She slammed her feet into the wall opposite her, screaming in frustration. She leaned back into the wall behind her, panting, trying to catch her breath. She looked up to the ceiling, a small barred window was the only source of light... wait...

"Light?" Rosanna whispered. This wasn't a jail.

She pushed herself into a sitting position again, carefully pushing herself to crouch. The ropes on her ankles loosened due to the friction of standing up and sitting down.

Rosanna stood on her tiptoes, grabbing the bars on the window and pulling herself up.

"Wait... I am near the main square." She thought to herself. She saw people walk around, carrying ice creams and other exotic-looking foods. Her stomach grumbled; she could smell her favorite foods from here. Rich, rice dishes with meat and fish. Exotic fruits cooked in hearty stews and served with mashed potatoes. Pastries only the best bakers in the southeast could make, filled with sugar and cream that made your teeth feel like they were about to fall out. She felt her eyes water while smelling this essence of chili, nutmeg, and cumin. Her arms got tired from gripping the bars, and she dropped herself onto the floor, falling into the wall. She sighed deeply, burying her hands in her hair, softly sobbing into the palms of her hands.

The day passed, and Zeke watched the people around him walk to the main square. Excited for what was to come. Carrying wine, and the delicious food that they had bought at the market stalls. He frowned, was he supposed to feel something? All these people, his people?

"It is better like this..." a voice in his head whispered to him, "Everything is better than this."

He spotted Gabi pestering Udo and Sofia, those children would no longer have to suffer because of the Marleyan Regime. No more bad parents that would send them to the battlefield.

He saw his grandpa and grandma in the far corner of the square, he felt the urge to wave but suppressed it.

It's better like this...

He wondered where his comrades had dropped off Rosanna.

He could still feel the cold of the candleholder he had smacked her with, he was still aware of the warmth of her blood and body on his hands and in his arms.

It would be better for her to die; it would upset her too much to see her people in their last years.

"Captain?" a deep voice asked.

Zeke looked up, recognizing the tall soldier.

"You and the jaw and cart have been ordered to HQ."

Zeke slapped his thighs with his hands, reaching for a cigarette.

"Well, so much for the play." He said, lighting his cigarette and smiling at Pieck who stood up to follow the soldier.

The small woman stood up from her seat and said goodbye to the kids, following the soldier a few steps before turning to face Zeke.