PROMISE ME, BEN PARISH ( 3 )

FOUR

ROGUE

Blonde hair, translucent skin, gunshot wound to the abdomen. Her name is Allison, but Sergeant Reznik had named her Teacup when she showed up to Camp Haven a couple of months ago.

         She's the reason Ringer is clinging to life in that shitty hospital room. She's the reason Ringer balances on the wire separating between life and death— the possibility that she can see her again.

Ringer shot her in the woods where the Black Hawk had found them. It happened moments prior, and Ringer knew the only way Teacup would survive was if they were brought here. That's why she didn't kill herself instead of being captured. She couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger when there was a chance Teacup could make it out alive.

It reminds me of Tommy and Sofia Rogers.

The thought is tossed away when Razor joins me. He's silent for a moment, waiting for me to say something, to start a conversation, and then: "Know her?"

My brow quirks up at the hoarse voice that erupts from him, but then I notice the bandage wrapped around his throat and realize why he's been MIA the past two days. Ringer must have injured him.

"Teacup," I tell him, because for some reason her former name doesn't seem to fit. He seems to take that in for a moment, and then nods in satisfaction with my answer. There's still a million questions looming inside of his head, but I can tell he's in too much pain to ask them now so I don't bother to wait for him.

I turn on my heel and leave.

__

Lieutenant Constance Pierce briefs me on what my crucial part of the plan is: stay out of everything until Vosche says so. The most annoying thing is that she seems to know a lot more about the situation than I do, meaning she probably wasn't enhanced and had always been an alien motherfucker. Awesome. Truly.

      Vosche assigns her to train me. Now that I'm much stronger than the other recruits, I need to train with someone of equal strength. Unfortunately for me, it's Constance. Once in a while, she tells me that we are going to join Squad 53 — or whoever remained of it — before I know it. Then a week passes and nothing changes. Now I know she's just been keeping me from asking questions.

Vosche assures me that we will be joining Squad 53 when Ringer agrees to help us, though at this point I'm not sure it's ever going to happen. Sometimes, when I can't sleep and the thoughts of Sofia and her baby brother are too prominent in my mind, I wonder if we should continue without her. It'll end with Ringer and Teacup being disposed of, but it's better than losing them all.

It's better than losing the one person I have left.

The next time I see Ringer, she's a hallowed casket of a girl whose name used to be Marika, of a girl who used to play chess with her father and spent his last few moments searching for the very thing that would kill him in the end. She's still rejecting the Twelfth System. Vosche tells me it won't be long now. He also tells me this will be my last visit.

I need to train, he says. To prepare for what happens next. Constance will keep me in line, will help me understand my vital role in all of this — which I'm still not sure of. If they have Ringer, an already fool-proof plan for someone like Ben Parish, then why do they need me?

Looking at Ringer now, barely clinging to life, I wonder if it's because Vosche secretly isn't sure she'll recover. She might not, Claire tells me. Something tells me that Claire is hoping for it more than anything. Bitch.

      "This is my last visit," I tell Ringer. I'm not sure why.

      She doesn't have the energy to raise an eyebrow, but I can see the sarcasm all the same. "How unfortunate."

      "Try not to kill Razor, will you?" There's a part of me that means it. "He's a little stupid, but it's not his fault he was born like that."

      Ringer looks like she's going to laugh, but then she's doubling over and heaving instead. I wait awkwardly until she collapses backwards, drooling, tears leaking down her cheeks, then ask her if this is worth it.

      She doesn't answer. I'm not sure she knows, either. I change the subject.

      "What is Private Ghost like?" Hesitation sinks in, grabs at her lungs, tries to pull the words from her vocal cords and shove them deep down, but they erupt all the same. "I miss her."

      Shock ripples across her face. "You knew her."

      Not a question. "Yeah. Before. She was..." Everything. Nothing. Sofia. "We were close."

      "She got shot," Ringer says.

      "I know."

      "She's probably dead."

      "I know."

     Ringer gets frustrated. She's trying to get a reaction, searching for my intentions, but I'm leaving her struggling on the edge of a cliff that will bring her no answers. "She's not the same."

      "No one is." Scoffing, I drag my gaze across her features and find myself locked on her eyes. Vosche is right. The fight is there. It's breaking that that's going to be the hard part. "How could they be?"

      Ringer is silent. Then:

      "Hope."

AUTHORS NOTE:
Um, what? I'm alive??? Surprise!!!

School is insanely hard right now, plus I started my first job a couple of months ago and I'm trying to juggle everything. I have been getting back into writing for my own pleasure again recently, though, so hopefully I'll be able to pump out some chapters before I lose energy again.

Let me know what you guys think of this chapter! What do you think is going to happen in the final book? I'm excited to hear your thoughts!