THE NEW WORLD ↠ TERRA NOVA [O.H]

6| MAINTENANCE

     It was as if a large weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Emmy finally felt relaxed, for the first time since arriving in Terra Nova. The piece of paper in her hand flapped against the wind as she made her way down the stairs of the Command Base and towards the stone path. She folded it in half and placed it in the back pocket of her jeans, walking passed people. A hand clamped down on her shoulder and she froze, she grabbed hold of the arm and twisted it as she moved the person in front of her. Her left arm wrapped around his neck from behind as her right arm pinned his behind his back.

     "Oh god, Emmy!" Mark choked out in surprise.

     Emmy quickly released him, stepped backward. "I'm so sorry," she spoke quickly as he rested his hands on his knees before rubbing his throat.

     "Warn a guy next time."

     "How about not putting your hand on a former prisoner from behind?"

     "Yeah." He nodded. "That works too."

     Emmy blew out a deep breath, quickly looking around noticing that the others had stopped to watch them. Her jaw tightened as she pushed Mark around the corner of the one the building and between two of them, into a small alley way. Mark let out a small yelp as he stumbled and stood up straighter. Emmy stepped back until her back was pressed against the other wall of the building. It wasn't the exact impression she wanted to give people, she could have handled that situation with a bit more grace and finesse, but she couldn't go back and change what she did.

     "So, how'd it go?" Mark asked her, seemingly unaffected by what just happened.

     "What?"

     "With Commander Taylor? Is everything alright?" Emmy could tell that he was worried but she wasn't sure why, it wasn't like they were exactly friends. They hardly knew one another.

     "Yeah, everything is fine," she replied.

     "What did he want to talk to you about?"

     Emmy touched the piece of paper in her back pocket. "He offered me a job."

     "Doing what?"

     Emmy groaned. She didn't really like how nosey he was. "Maintenance."

     "Well, that's cool."

     "You talk a lot." Emmy began to walk down the alley way and back out to the path.

     She could hear Mark following her. "Yeah, I guess I do." He nodded as he began to walk next to her. "Do you want me to show you where the maintenance department is?"

     Emmy sighed. "Sure."

     Mark nodded his head with a smile. He wasn't a bad kid, he just didn't know when to stop talking. Emmy thought to herself as they walked passed the infirmary where Tanya and Michael were.

     "Just give me a sec." She patted Mark's arm and walked inside the medical centre.

     "Emmy?" Malcolm asked when he spotted her walk in. "Is everything alright? You feeling okay? I was just heading to the Research Labs but if you need me to help—"

     "I'm fine, really. Do you know where Tanya is?"

     "She's with a patient right now? Can I give her a message?"

     Emmy paused. "Uh, yeah. Let her know I'll be down in maintenance."

     "Maintenance?"

     "She'll know what that means." She smiled at him before walking back out and over to Mark.

     "Did what you need to do?"