The Fence

Chapter 78: Dying Stars

~Jeremy~

I don't know Neveah or Luci, so I don't go inside to visit them. It would feel weird, and I would be out of place. Besides, Donte said that only a few people could go in at a time so that Neveah wouldn't feel stressed. I didn't need to be the cause of any myself.

A girl sits beside me, her red hair tucked behind her ear. Merida maybe? She's sketching something in a notepad. Where she got it, I have no idea. I do know that she's the girl that Chancellor was scolding not to long ago, along with an olive skinned girl with black hair.

"Why haven't you seen him yet?" I ask her. She looks up from her sketchbook, searching my face.

Her voice is soft and high, almost like she hasn't seen anything bad in her life."I'm not on the squad anymore," she murmurs, a hint of sadness in her voice. "Donte said that only squad members can see him right now." She goes back to sketching. "Why haven't you seen him?" she inquires without looking up.

"I'm not on the squad either," I shrug. "I'm just a lowly guard. Besides, I don't really him that well. I'm glad he's okay, whatever happened."

"He was shot with a poison arrow," Merida sighs, scribbling something on the paper. "Donte didn't think he'd survive, so Luci's been glued to him ever since." She drops her pen in the book to mark her page, and then looks up at me again. "Did you say you're a guard?"

I nod, digging out my ID badge from my pocket. "Here's the proof."

She reaches for it, and I gladly hand it to her to inspect. "What are you doing out here then?" she asks, running her fingers over the engraved metal. "Shouldn't you, you know, be guarding?"

I sigh, slightly annoyed that I have to retell my story again. "Gambos was taken over by yukos. We got as many people as we could to safety. My commanding officer told us to get out of there, so I ran. I stumbled upon Grey and Bena fighting a squad of SnakeClan members, so I helped fight them off." I motion to the gun tucked safely in my belt. "And I ended up here."

"Did Grey get shot too?" Merida asks, her voice light. "His shoulder was all bloody when he got here. Has Donte looked at him yet?"

"Yeah, he did. I'm not sure...I don't think so. He came straight to the meeting with us, so I doubt it."

"He's...you know he's a yukos, right?"

I chuckle. "Yeah. I found out right before we entered camp. It was kind of a smack to the face."

"You're laughing." She stares at me. "How can you trust him?"

"Kirbena obviously trusts him."

"Kirbena is unstable right now."

I raise my eyebrow. "I find it's during these times that you figure out who you can trust most. The Chancellor trusts him, Donte trusts him, everyone else trusts him but you and Val. He mentored you, didn't he?"

"Yeah, but so did Ayumi. And where is she? No where to be found."

Ayumi is the girl who kidnapped Demi and Grey's brother... I think back to the previous meeting. "Well, didn't she leave midway through your training?"

"Yeah..."

"Grey is the one who didn't leave you. Don't you trust the squad?"

"They're not my squad."

I sigh. "They were. And everyone has faith in him. I'm sure he has plenty of faith in you. Why can't you try to get passed that he's a yukos?"

"I...don't know."

"You can't even give me a valid reason," I chuckle.

"I'll give you one," someone mutters behind me, making me jump. I turn in my seat, looking up at the annoyed girl in front of me. Her smooth black hair cascades down her back, and her tan arms are crossed. I recognize her as Val. "They have my brother."