Marionette (A 'The 5th Wave' Fanfiction) [COMPLETED] #wattys2017

11. 22; Chapter II.

    P&D Center looks like a giant grey warehouse or factory with two pufs of smoke flying from gigantic chimneys. Stitch, being the superstitious weirdo he is, said the black puff is coal and the grayish white are the bodies. Of course Sling corrected him. Nobody was truly sure which was which. It's still creepy.

    Inside I stood next to Slingshot and watched him work stripping the bodies of their belongings. Most of the objects were deemed unnecessary. I saw Domino pocket a few pieces of valuable stones from a Ted's suit. As far as valuable goes.

    We were in a line with more squads, working in silence. There's a healthy rivalry between the squads. Nothing unfriendly, we just don't talk. We're in a sort of competition you could say. At the end of the semester four squads will graduate. Two will stay and guard camp and other two will go out on a mission to kill the leftover Teds. We call the infected Teds. I think Camp has a name for everything.

    The place smelled really bad. How many times does air get in? Not much I guess. Nausea rose in my throat. All those dead eyes staring at me weren't helping.

    From afar I heard Mono telling Barbie to stop making faces at the Teds. I poked Slingshot's side. "I-I'm not feeling too good."

    Sling's hands didn't pause even then. "Do you want me to escort you out?"

    I shook my head. "I remember the way."

    Now that was a lie. Fortunately I got out on my sixth attempt. My hands kept slipping on the hatchets of the mask and I yanked the bloody thing off. I sucked in a breath so desperately it was like it was the first oxygen I've had in weeks. What has gotten into me?

    I slumped onto the ground and nearly smashed my foot with the helmet. Great. Just great.

    I sat there for a while longer and when I was about to leave I realized I wasn't alone. I groaned internally. How was I supposed to get past them? They weren't blocking the path or anything but if I wanted to go back inside I would walk by them. What if I tripped or something and made a total fool of myself? I should just walk around the building. That'll take a while.

    Deep breath. I got this. I brushed leftover grass from my suit, raised my chin and went for the entrance, keeping my distance from the other recruits.

    That is until they spoke up. "Hey, I know we shouldn't talk with other squads but you forgot your helmet."

    I stopped dead in my tracks. What was P&D rule number two? Bullocks. I am such an imbecile. Still, ignoring my idiocy, it was awful nice they stopped me before I did anything potentially stupid and might regret. "Oh, yes. Thank you," I replied sheepishly.

    There are only two boys despite the fact that I thought there was a whole army there. The older boy—probably older than me—had messy cinnamon brown hair, deep brow eyes and a well-built figure. If his features weren't so sunken and empty, and less bones were unnaturally showing he would have been cute. Handsome, even. He's still good looking, though.

    The other guy was about five. He was still chubby and his jumpsuit was about half a size too big for him. He had something like a military haircut. And he recognized me before I him. "Rose!" little Sammy called.

    I bit my lip. I wondered if I would ever see him again. He's in a bloody military camp training to kill! And he's five buggin' years old! This world is messed up.

    "It's Marionette, actually," I whispered, correcting him.

    He's a smart lad—he caught on quickly. "Well I'm Nugget!"

    I wasn't sure what next to say so I chose to stay quiet. The oldest guy looked between us in confusion. "Rose? I thought your sister was Cassie."

    My mouth dried. Sammy- Nugget still waited for her. Nugget beat me to answer. "She is. I met Rose on the bus," he explained.

    I didn't bother to fix him. The older guy nodded. "That makes sense." He stood from the patch on the ground and and held out a hand. "I'm Zombie."

    "Marionette," I replied, awkwardly shaking his hand. He had a tight grip. Indicating a strong personality. Ma would say this all the time. She would determine a person by small signs like eye contact, colours the person wore, manicure and more. Weirder is that most of the time she would be correct.

    "You're not from here, are you?"

    My cheeks reddened. "Is it that obvious that I'm new? Anyone could forget their helmet, right?" I asked in embarrassment. Probably not. I'm the only non-amnesiac capable of that.

    He laughed and it was like I got shot. Somebody should put a warning sign on that guy because damn. I did not see that coming. "No, I meant like from America," he clarified.

    "Oh." Thank god. Paranoid much? "My accent, right?" As if it wasn't the only thing I ever heard these days.

    "Also you're super pale and . . . I don't know I just can't quite picture you with the Statue of Liberty."

    "For the record I once made a full-blown presentation of it and passed two classes."

    That laugh again. Seriously, man. That should be illegal. I'm suing. I would like to know what judge would take on that case, since 98% of the human race is ca-poof! Your problem? This boy's smile! Exile! It's hard to imagine those aliens with big heads and tiny green hands in robes with white wigs on.

    "I have to get going now," I said and continued off after waving to Nugget.

    I didn't get far this time either. "Rose?" Zombie called. Seriously, is Marionette that tough to remember? I think I'll never see the end of this. I turned. What could he want now? "You still don't have your helmet." Bullocks.