Glass Planet

X A N D E R & V I V A

Xander

I'd do anything, to erase the sounds of her screams from my mind. Not long after I left her at that room with the examination table, it started, rough and relentless. Even though I ran out of the facility, the sounds are still ringing in my ears, and I'm regretting it all. I should've just taken her back to Ground Zero. Instead, I left her in pain.

Even worse, I left without seeing if she was okay. I think of going back in there, but never in a million years would I have to courage to walk into that facility without panicking. No matter how far I walk from it, closer to the exit, I still turn my head back to the buildings periodically, wanting yet not wanting to go back. When I finally reach the small, secluded parking lot, my neck aches from swiftly turning my head. And still, no matter how much it kills me, I leave her.

Days go by with no mention of her, no news, nothing. I'm allowed into more meetings at the Hayman Needle, but I'm never getting the answers I need. I'm told nothing of the attacks, the outbursts. Nothing about the oncoming war. All I know for sure is that security is constantly getting tightened around the city, more than necessary. Coolidge Sector is already under lockdown, with no one coming into that sector, no one coming out. About a month passes, and it's about three in the morning when I'm jarred awake by the screeching of my phone. I pull it from the table by my bed and try to piece together the information. The lab. It's been broken into. And... I can get her out. Pulling on a shirt, I rush into the garage and started the car. I'm getting her out of there. I'm getting to a safe place.

Running, running, running. But where? Where is she? I get my answer when I find bodies strewn in front of a door, seemingly wrenched open. No. Is she gone? Stepping past the bodies, I run in to find her lying limp on table. No, no, no. She better be alive. With a shaking hand, I press my fingers to her neck. Thank god, a pulse is still there. Faint, but there. Gently, I slide my hands under knees and her back, and run back to the car. I soon find, however, that her condition might be more severe than I thought. I'm going to have to pull over, and so I do, into a small gas station. It seems abandoned, so I climb into the backseat and turn her face up towards mine. "Hey, hey. Can you hear me?" Her eyelids are fluttering, and after an eternity, her mouth opens. "Xander?" I laugh, cupping her face. "Yeah, yeah, it's me. Are you hurt?" She nods and points to a spot in her abdomen, where her grey shirt is now soaked through with blood. Oh my god. I pause for a second, and gently lift of the hem of the shirt. There's a gash, prominent against her otherwise unblemished skin. Looking grimly at the first aid kit lying in the passenger seat, I apologize softly and get to work.

"Help me into the passenger seat," she groans. I carry her out of the car and set her in her preferred area, and I enter the highway. We drive a few miles in silence, until I break it.

"What did they do there?" She glares at me in response. "What, so you're going to leave me to them and then ask what they cut open and observed? You think you have the right-"

"I never said I had a right-"

"Why should I tell you anyway?" she snaps. "What have you done to earn my trust? Turn me into a lab rat, refuse to help me with the simplest things, and I could name a thousand other things!" I can almost feel the rage simmering beneath her, at odds with my steely calm. A few more minutes of silence, and when I reach the intersection between the roads to Washington Sector, Jackson Center, and Global Park, I have a few seconds at the single to make an almost impossible choice. I head for the park; we'll be alone there. Discreetly, I turn my head to her, and she's looking out the window. Long drive? Fine. I have some things to discuss with her.

Viva

Somewhere along the way to Global Park, I had fallen asleep. I wake an hour or two later and see that the clear blue skies have faded into a glittering sky. I'm back in the backseat, and my head rests against something soft. Wanting the feel of it more, I wrap my arms around what my head is on.

Unfortunately, it happens to be Xander. Oh, hell. I pull away and compose the best glare

that I can for when he wakes up.

When he does, a few minutes later, the glare has slid off my face and I'm staring up into the endless sky, painted with the stripe of the Milky Way and sprinkled with what seems like diamonds. Feeling him sit up behind me, I turn around. "Why did you bring me here?" I ask. He shrugs. "I didn't think it was a good idea to take you home. Technically, you're supposed to still be at the lab."

"This godforsaken place isn't my home. Now what questions do you have for me?" He stares out the window, and finally turns to me. "Do you know why you survived?" he asks, quietly and gently, and suddenly I feel safer out here. I wish I could give him and answer and go home, but I've got nothing. "I really don't know," I say, looking him right in the eyes. "I need to go back home."

"I understand, but this is not the type of thing we can ignore. These waves are our most dangerous technology, and with these oncoming attacks from an enemy or enemies, if some can resist our weapons..." I swallow. So I'm just here so the so-called rebels don't get their hands on me. "So you're saying," I begin slowly, "it won't be safe anymore for me at Ground Zero." He nods, sighing through his nose.

"Shit," I breathe, leaning back with a thud. "Yeah," Xander says. "Shit."

~

We sleep in the car that night, with no knowledge of what was happening in any of the sectors. I sleep in the back row, and Xander driver's seat. The next morning, I wake to only a dull pain in my abdomen. Looks like Xander did well with handling it. His warm, sleepy smile greets me from the front, and I can't help but smile back.

I've never felt so alone in my life. Even with that irresistible smile. Hell, irresistible. I'm probably on drugs right now. I want to go home, and with an ache in my chest, I think of Mom and Alura, wondering what they're doing now.

"Xander?" I ask. "Are you seriously going to keep me here?" He looks at me, and I think about how I'm going to react when he says no, because he will say no, and he's going to let me go home after all I've endured. He looks away from me, and I can see his ears turn a faint shade of pink. I feel rage start to replace the hollowness in my chest. "Look at me," I say, dangerously calm. "What the hell have you done?" He just leans back, still not looking at me. "Bad things."