Trashed

Chapter 2

My heart began rapidly beating against my ribcage as if it was trying to escape, the harsh pounding bouncing around my skull and pulsing through my veins.
"There's no time left," I murmured, wracking my brain to try and find where I had heard the words before, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Flashbacks of Baba arguing with Mama late at night about his research began resurfacing. Sammy and I used to lean against our bedroom door to try and catch the words as they flowed past our room. The angry words about Baba's research and how he needed to spend more time with Sammy, and I spilled from Mama's mouth, while he pleaded with her about his critical research. Mama and Baba had been fighting a lot during that time, and the peak was on one of the last days I had with them both. He gave me a necklace on my birthday with water and glitter in it, and Mama was furious. She said I was too young, and of course, I didn't know what that meant. Because it couldn't be anything more than a pretty necklace, right? All I knew was that the note attached said 'use it wisely – it's for you and you alone', and that it made Mama upset. She tried to take it off me, but I wouldn't let her, because I always did what my father said. The note's words still haunt me, Baba's last words to me messily scrawled on a dirty piece of paper. Baba died the next week in a freak accident, and I still haven't let anyone touch the item of jewellery. It's too precious for anyone else's hands. It's only safe in mine, the fact that they're covered in blood doesn't change that.
"I need a team," I whipped around to see Craw still crouching behind a table, eyes frightened as I saw his posture fall into a cower for the first time since I was 8 years old.
"Whatever you need. Just fix whatever's going on. That's an order, Captain," he muttered, and I nodded. He seemed truly and utterly spooked, and I thought he was going to let me do what I wanted for a start. He slid a Flexscreen out of his pocket and began rapidly tapping.

"Agent Fleadswell and Doctor Fleadswell are both present in the building, Sergeant Huque is currently in the mess hall for his scheduled breakfast period, Private Sawes is in his quarters, and Captain Rosier is in a debriefing for her final mission of the night. She has the day off today," Craw recited, looked at his tablet, "I suggest you get out there, Lieutenant Johnson."

I paused, furring my brow. I wasn't that high up in the chain of command, surely he had made a mistake.
"I thought it was Captain?" I asked, trying my best to be as snarky as possible.
"You'll need a promotion to get everyone together. Go forth," Craw crossed his arms, grey suit crinkling like his forehead.
"I can't accept that; you know what happened," I hope I wouldn't have to mention what happened specifically because mentioning the incident made my throat close and eyes water with shame.
"I know, but this one is because Rosier has been promoted, and if you want compliance, you'll need a higher rank."
"What would they think of me? They'll think I've done something for this role. Think I've twisted the rules or done something wrong," I shuddered as the glares from my teammates flashed behind my eyes. Was it a passive-aggressive attack? Maybe, but Craw either didn't care or didn't notice.
"Tell them I gave it to you for their co-operation. Because that's the truth," Craw stated firmly, "I'd recommend moving quickly before they can get new assignments."

I sighed and nodded.

"You need to get down there, the Hoverbikes will be ready in 3 hours, but I'd recommend leaving tomorrow, a storm is brewing. Looks nasty," Craw instructed.

I took note before stepping out of my room, finally going to face the most important people in my life for the first time in a year.

The private quarters were deep underground to keep them safe from pollution. Not many people lived above ground anymore, I was my one and only neighbour. Damon would probably be the easiest to convince, his naïveté would probably play to my advantage. But I also knew that Damon had a darker side, one that would quickly turn from smiley and bright to placing a gun on a friend's head in two seconds flat. Standing in front of Damon's blue door with 27 printed on the front in brown, I found my finger hovering over the doorbell for far longer than was normal. Why was I scared?