A new Dawn (Clementine x Louis)

Chapter Fifteen - Forgive me (Part 1)

(I can't switch the PoV in the next chapter, now that we know how Sophie and Violet find each other... Sorry about leaving Clouis behind a bit but don't worry, I'll make up for it eventually!"

The next day started way better for Violet. This time she was prepared for getting woken up in the morning to be trained. When the man arrived, she was dressed and awake already, much to his surprise. It was the same man she had met the day before during training, he seemed to be much more nice than the others.
"Hey girl, awake so early? The meeting with Mayor Sophie has boosted your self esteem didn't it?", he asked her while gently shaking her sleeping companions, telling them to get dressed afterwards.
"Yup, she was very proud of my skill, I don't want her to lose this confidence with me...", Violet answered in with a smile.
The soldier responded with a smile himself.
"You seem pretty nice, you will be one of the best in this months group. You should be proud of yourself that you joined us voluntarily...If you need me ask for Lars, I'll be there to help."
Violet flinched, her smile fading, the man had said voluntarily... and he didn't seem to mean it ironically or anything.
"Yeah, thank you...", she answered, unsure of how to react to this statement.
"Then come with me, standing at the fields first makes a good appearance as well."
And with that, the man walked out of the tent. Vi followed him to the courses they had done yesterday, this time they had installed something that looked like a tower, constantly spinning around its own axis. But the girl wasn't there mentally, she was buried in her thoughts again
-This man... he doesn't seem bad like most of the others. Why is he here and why is he thinking that I came here because I wanted to? What game are they playing?-
This didn't make any sense to her, why would anyone say that they would join the delta voluntarily? But who knows, they were a criminal military organization, what plans they had was only visible for themselves.

The yard stared filling up, soldiers screaming at the children to stand in a rectangular military formation and keep their mouths shut. They obeyed immediately this time, scared of what could happen if they wouldn't follow the rules, they didn't want to end up like the little boy from the day before. Quiet ruled the field, no one was talking, staring in to the front bluntly. Like she had done the day before, Sophie arrived a couple of minutes later, surrounded by her guards.
"Good morning cadets!", she called out to the crowd in front of her.
The kids answered like in a school, a choir of small voices answering her with: "Good morning ma'am!"
Sophie looked pleased by their reaction.
"Very good, you seem to have learned your lesson in following the rules we made. Today's going to be a special day! If you aren't blind you have seen this big new tower in front of you. This will be your task today. We will split you up into new groups, the best with the worst and the other way around. You will be screened while racing against your friends, lets see if you have the guts to leave them behind, to betray them for the greater good. You may get the chance to get into a barely good group, allowing you to climb up the ranks and fight for your nation, stand in the front lines of war against filthy raiders that endanger our home! Are you ready to leave your old life behind and start a new one, a better one for the best of all?", she announced, screaming out the last words like a war cry.
The children cheered, infected by the fiery speech of the woman in front of them. -She's become a powerful orator, I'll give her that...-, Vi told herself.

They were split up to groups of six and told to wait until they were named to start the race. Violet was in one group with Willy, he seemed creeped out by Sophie, he walked to Vi's side and held onto her right arm, seeking comfort in the middle of the muddy and rainy field.
"Vi, how...? Sophie was always so nice to me, she helped me in every bad situation, but what has she gotten herself into? She changed so much, I don't think she even knows us anymore. You saw her face when she shook your hand, she didn't show any emotion!"
Violet looked down to him, seeing the fear and disbelief in his eyes.
"I don't know Willy, like you said, she looks like she has changed...I..."
She hesitated, remembering the words in Sophie's message: Don't tell anyone.
-Shit, how can I explain that to him?-, she asked herself, Sophie may not be that bad after all.
"What is it Vi?", the boy asked.
"We haven't spoken with her in private, maybe she is still the little girl from Ericson's..."
Willy looked at her, concern and fear in his voice: "We thought the same thing about Minnie too, remember? I wouldn't trust her anymore, she was presumed dead by her own sister, this should be a warning to us all."
Violet wanted to disagree with him but he was right in some way. She had trusted her ex-girlfriend to still be the one she ever was, she had been manipulated into trusting Minnie, even considered to join her and the deltas if Clementine hadn't showed her the pure evil behind Minnie's fake face. Vi would have become the one thing she swore to destroy, as a part of the Delta's raiders she would have betrayed her family.

The two were rudely interrupted, one of the soldiers yelled at their group to get into position.
"Don't leave me Vi, I won't make it!", Willy pleaded, but that was what Violet hoped for.
She bend down to him and whispered: "Try to be as bad as possible, it will increase the chance that we will be in one group together afterwards."
His eyes widened, surprised of her idea but he knew it was a good one. The whistle's sound echoed through the air, causing Violet to make a big jump of surprise, she started to run, her body taking over control. The part of the trial from the day before seemed to be even easier to beat this time, the building made out of wood now towering over her head. Small ladder sections made out of ropes were strapped to the towers walls which rotated wildly, some of them clockwise others counterclockwise. Since one of the boys in her group was greedy and desperate to win she had to be quick about examining the structure. She jumped on one of the rope ladders climbing up to the top of it and grabbing the next one swinging her direction. After the third section there was not much distance left to the top but Violets powers started to faint, her hands slipping from the rope's surface. The small boy behind her saw his chance to win, using his last power supplies to overcome the space between him and the girl in front. Violet reached for the last ladder, the boy on her heels, pulling her leg to let her fall off. Without thinking, she kicked in the general direction of the boys face, earning a loud "crack" and a scream of pain that got cut off abruptly.

Vi reached the top panting, turning around to see the boy lie in the mud, his face painted with droplets of blood coming from his broken nose.
"Oh fuck!", she yelled, shocked by what she'd done. A soldier ran over to them, picking up the boy and carrying him away, grimly nodding towards Violet, signalizing his approval. She held a hand in front of her mouth, screaming inside her mind,
-What have I done?! I could have killed him!-
The men at the bottom of the tower pressed a button, causing it to stop with loud creaking.
"Come down to us, you won! You are an outstanding soldier, able to betray a comrade if needed, you will be one of our best recruit since our Mayor came here!"
Violet obeyed, even if she didn't want any respect for the atrocity she had done. Since she was declared to be one of the best she was supposed to get people into her group that weren't the best at all. Ruby walked past, whispering into Vi's ear:
"I hope we get into a group together, you seem to have a little bit too much faith in this program here!"

At midday everyone was finished, the soldiers were grouping up with Sophie to discuss who would get into one group and the other kids were allowed to eat lunch. Violet teamed up with Willy, Ruby and Aasim, all of them exhausted and broken by the hard training. They ordered their food and sat down on a small desk not far from the toilets. After some minutes, Violet slipped away, telling the others that she needed to go to the bathroom. Technically this wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either. Passing the small portable toilets she sought around for one of them that looked superior, something like a stone building with a toilet in it. She found what she was seeking for, a small shed with a shield that said "Superiors only".
"Well, they got all the luxury and we kids get crap only, that's fair.", Violet murmured to herself.
"Violet, get in here, quick!", a raspy voice whispered, Sophie was suddenly standing in the sheds door.
Violet did as she asked, slipping past the girl while it closed the door. Then Sophie turned around, her face changed, leaving the hard military expression behind, she smiled, tears welling up in her eyes when she opened her arms to hug Violet.
"I'm so sorry that you had to come here, but it's so good to see you!" Violet couldn't hold herself back, falling into her best friends arms.
"It's so good to see you too, Soph. Tell me, what happened, we thought you were dead?! Why do you fool everyone with your appearance?"
They parted, Sophie crying and Violet at the verge of tears as well.
"It's a long story, sit down, we don't have that much time. But first of all, you need to forgive me..."