The Transfer ✔️

Chapter Four - Vulnerability

The pounding on the windows woke me up the next morning. Initially I thought it was an attack but after a few breathless moments I realized that it was in fact mother nature coming pouring down in the form of rain drops.

I hated rain, it drove people inside and made communication more likely. Not that I don't like communication. I do, just in the form of tactics and methods – not in how crazy the weather is. I can't stand small talk.

So, when Ruby and Evelyn eventually wake up, I get changed quickly whilst hoping that the weather would clear its mess up.  I slip over a loose cropped jumper that Ruby included in my bundle and make my way out of the bathroom and back into the room. I don't like changing in front of others. What if they saw a previous injuries and use it against me?

Evelyn looks me up and down and smiles at my new wardrobe choices. Ruby comes bouncing in before I can ask her why she's smiling.

"Big day. Pancakes." She rushes, grabbing my hand.

"Pancakes? Really?" I ask incredulously, not believing it.

Food at Marchwood was basic. Energy providing yet bland. Nobody cared, though, if it meant we could keep going and keep training then what's the point in complaining? We are in this program to become the best soldiers, not the best food critics.

"Yeah, they do it every few weeks once they've saved up enough flour. Ruby is usually the first one to notice." Evelyn sighs with a smile on her face.

"How can you not? It's pancakes." She stresses before guiding me out of the room.

I assume she wanted to run, judging by the bounce in her feet but my steady pace and overall majority in strength over Ruby means that she has to settle for a controlled walk. I feel as though I'm walking with someone younger, someone who hasn't been dragged down by this programme yet. Her feet still bounce and her eyes still shine.

It's naïve either way. Being energetic won't keep you alive, being focused will.

Walking out of the residential corridor which was empty due to the arrival of pancakes and making our way through the entrance and into food corridor, we reach the canteen quicker than usual. There's no silence this time which I take as a good sign, walking into the area with more confidence than I did before.

I was wrong to assume. My first major mistake of the whole day was expecting to be accepted.

As soon as I walk in, eyes are on me in an instant. Which is fine - I'm used to it. I straighten my back, raise my head and make my way over to where they serve your food. The person serving it looks me up and down before handing it to the person behind me, bypassing my tray with an air of defiance.

I understood it. I wouldn't want to waste resources on a possible enemy either.

I shrug and move away, dropping my tray down on an empty stack of them and moving to where I can see Evelyns dark hair. Sitting down into a seat, I look at them with confusion as they observe me hopefully.

"Did you just eat it quickly on the way over here?" Ruby asks.

"Oh yeah, in the ten steps I took with your eyes on me," I muse, shrugging. "I'm not hungry."

"If you're going on a hunger strike, I will debate with you until you change your mind." Evelyn butts in severely, raising her eyebrows.

"Don't. She'll do us all a favor by becoming useless." A voice taunts from behind me.

I go to spin round in my chair but other murmuring voices stop me. The one comment seems to have broken a dam and I cross my arms across my chest as others come flooding in.