Depth of Silence (LSoE Series)

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

12 April, Year 660

North-Eastern Campsite, 04:00 — Rei Marcotte

A crackle came over Celia's H-Rs through the silence of the camp, and I could hear the words perfectly clear. "Thomas, get out here." "We lost him." "He's gone." Celia threw her goggles over the camp's fire. The orange light wrapped around the sides of her arms. It was only Celia and me, and the tightening in my chest returned. I knew I didn't want to see what became of Riley, and Celia definitely didn't want to know, so I wasn't exactly sure of what to say at the moment. Truthfully, I was shocked. I probably wouldn't have been able to form a coherent sentence! Up until now, all the deaths and casualties were a result of the Shadows' violence. Riley was the first suicide. The bubbly boy who spoke of unheard terrors was the one to kill himself. Any book written about this apocalypse when it was over, if that day ever came, would remind everyone that the first self-inflicted death was Private Riley Vega of Division 001. I would hate for my last memory of him to be of his unbeating heart.

"Um, hey," I forcingly smiled while sitting beside her on the log she set up. "You doing alright?"

"Yeah, absolutely spectacular, thanks," she muttered.

As bitter as she tried to make her words sound, the venom she held drained from her body and sat in a pool at her feet. Her petals were withering, crinkling and peeling at the edges.

"Alright, well, I'll be here if you need me," I quietly told her.

"Oh please, stop pretending we're friends just because you feel sorry for me," she responded, her narrowed eyes focused on the fire before her.

Ignoring the annoyance that twitched inside me, I took a breath and attempted to see it her way. Maybe acting nicely was... offensive. Somehow. Because, you know, we couldn't act like decent people to each other. Not the two of us!

"I'm just trying to pretend that we're normal people. Would you rather me ignore it all together and be a jerk to you?"

"I'd rather you leave me alone!" she snapped.

I groaned and ran a hand through my already bumpy ponytail. "Okay, what is it? Why do you hate me? There has to be a reason if you've been able to keep it going for this long."

"This is not what I need right now. If you really want to help me out, just... just sit here with me so I feel less alone!"

Not going to lie, I think my heart stopped for a second. Was that... was that an invite? She wasn't pushing me away for once? One second she was snapping at me and the next she was saying that I'm not terrible? I slowly reached my hand across her back and latched onto her furthest shoulder, nearly jumping when Celia leaned lightly into me.

She let out a short laugh and then sniffed. "It's hard."

I didn't know what to say, but then again, maybe that's not what I was here for. She wanted me with her physically, not mentally. Maybe that's all I've been wanting with her. We clearly didn't think similarly, so what's so bad about being there in a more no-strings-attached kind of way? A few minutes passed by with us like that, my mind switching between buzzing and fast-forwarding. Light snapping echoed from off in the woods, but the only movement Celia made was to wipe her eyes a bit as the approaching person came nearer to us.

"Never thought I'd live to see the day you two didn't get in a fight when you were within a three foot radius of each other."

Thomas emerged from a path leading from the forest, the warm light of the fire illuminating his dark skin. The tense look on his face hinted that something was bothering him more than a death. He was a medic, after all. He should be used to his.