Emily P.O.V.
Tears no longer stain my cheeks and leak down onto my shirt. I was never good at handling the death of friends or family. It always seemed to break me down even when I tried to hold back the waterfall of tears that threaten my eyes. Swallowing the hard choking sobs that wanted to fly out from my mouth. I normally was a stable and composed person when it came to dealing with a loss. But, not this time.
I broke at the loss of Roland, I had only known him for a short time but every interaction was very real and embedded into my memory. He helped me understand my blood and DNA. He helped me gain a better understanding that I was more than just a mere human and for that, I would be truly grateful to him.
All of his notes and data was lost in the explosion and forever died with him. Or at least that is what Neese probably thinks. Little did he know we had living breathing data to fall back on. Every numir soldier that had been injected was now a database on unlocking what Roland had. He left behind a legacy for the future. And we won't let it go to waste.
"Hey, did you manage any sleep last night?" Z asks tapping on the doorframe.
I shake my head in response, her voice jerking me away from my thoughts. I grip the woven blue blanket in my hands.
" It's been a week now, I'm sure you're exhausted, stay and get some rest. I'll help Natasha and Nicole in the lab today."
"No, I don't need more rest! We need to stop those bastards and me laying up in bed isn't going to help." I snap ripping the blankets off of me.
" Wrong again Emily, you need rest because you will be of no use if you're too tired to properly calculate and store the data. One mistake throws off everything." She retorts walking close to me.
" I'm not tired. I can work." I protest.
Z raises her finger to my lips to stop me dead in my tracks, my mouth clenching shut. Taking in a deep breath she rests her hands on my shoulders and stares at me in the eyes.
"Emily, I want to get back on track the same as you, and I want to kill them both for what they have done, but you not sleeping and working exhausted wont do any good."
Knowing that I can't argue with Z or change her mind I climb back in bed defeated. And face away from her.
"I'll check back on you later."
Her footsteps grow fainter and fainter with each step she takes away from the room and down the hall. I may have laid back in bed but that doesn't mean I'm going to sleep.
Once I'm sure she is a good distance away I get out of bed and dress myself in blue jeans and a white tank top. And slip on my shoes as I walk out the door.
Z P.O.V.
You know she will just go to the lab herself anyways. She isn't going to stay put.
Yes, I know, believe me. But it's best if I just let her think I don't know what she is going to do. Her stubbornness is one of her greatest attributes.
Leona chuckles before cutting off the link between us. I've learned a long time ago that there was absolutely no arguing with a woman about what she can and cannot do. And that especially went for the smart yet very stubborn, clumsy, got headed human.
I'm pretty sure she will be at the lab way before I even get there. If she isn't by now I'll be surprised. Emily seems to believe she is slick and I don't know what she thinks and yet I do. I know what she is going to do before she even does it.
I can't help the slight scoff and the smirk that plays across my lips as I walk through the grounds outside of the Numir base. It's barely been a week since the loss of Roland and a month since the attack carried out by Solarious was thwarted. Everything was quickly coming back together as all the people became one unit and worked together to rebuild what had been destroyed.
Craters from missiles scarred the grounds in various areas. Blood from enemy and friend stained sidewalks, walls of buildings and even the street. A gruesome reminder of what we all had been through. Even after all that there was still a team of people determined to go after Solairous and stop him for good.
I kept up my pace continuing in my path around the base. The warm suns beaming down on me the warmth of their rays kissing against my exposed skin. It was a very calming feeling.
"Z!"
(Well almost calming.)
I looked up from the ground to see Natasha running towards me. Her face filled with nothing but excitement and a bright smile plastered from her eyes to her cheeks down to her mouth. Her hair flowing behind her as she raised her hand waving it in the air with her arm stretched upward.
"Z, you need to see this!" She called out again.
"What is it exactly that I need to see?" I replied.
" We made it Z, we made it!"
My breath caught in my throat and my eyes widened. Could it really be true in just a small amount of time did the girls actually make it? I couldn't believe what I heard her say.
"We made it Z " kept replaying over and over in my head.
Natasha finally closed the distance between us. Wiping some moisture from the tips of her eyebrows.
"Are you sure? Without a doubt that you made it?" I ask her again, still stunned.
"Z, thanks to Roland, and the volunteers, it's...it is made...it's ready," she says, reassuring me.
Natasha P.O.V.
Since the attack, my sister and I have been working around the clock to recreate the cure we had before. Without that cure, there was no hope of stopping Solarious. Specimen X was still too dangerous to come around. Adding Solarious to the equation made that disease and monster a very deadly combination.
Even though we still have a long way to go to fully re-enter all of the data we lost, we have been working diligently to complete our task. From sunrise to sunset our determination to complete our mission never filtered. Exhaustion creeped up on our backs and tugged its invisible hands at our eyelids but we still pressed on.
"You okay over there?" Nicole asked me typing in a few notes.
"Yes, and you?"
Nicole lifted her hand in the air and made a 'so-so' gesture. It's been a couple weeks since we lost everything and we still had barely made a dent.
"We're running out of time," I said, rubbing my eyes.
"It'll be okay, we will get there again. Maybe even perfect it this time." Nicole stopped typing to look at me.
"You're always the optimistic one out of the two of us, don't you ever get tired of thinking everything will always work out?" And hoping it does?"
She scoffs at me.
"Don't you ever get tired of being negative and grouchy all the time?"
I look at my sister stunned. Unsure of what I want to say back to her. I have no snappy remark, no quick-witted reply that will put her in her place. So for now I settle back into my chair and go back to focusing on my work.
...............….
I don't know how much time has passed but I am stirred awake from my deep sleep by my sister. Her hand placed firmly on my shoulder motioning my body back and forth quickly.
"Wake up, I have something to show you!" She says frantically.
Trying to recover from my drowsy state I sit up and wipe the small bit of drool that had fallen from the corner of my mouth. Still, in a daze, I look up at Nicole. Her eyes are wide and she has a smile plastered on her face.
" Why are you smiling like that, you weirdo?"
"Just come on!" She scoffs annoyed spinning my chair around and pulling me up to my feet out of my chair.
Standing behind her desk Nicole displays three separate screens. Each one has a different candidate and their at scans on the screen. One candidate's brain lights up in many different areas. Another is evenly balanced a normal cat scan. The last one to the right is completely dark.
It takes me a few minutes and then as if a light bulb lit up above my head I finally connect the dots. Out of the three candidates only one is normal, no side effects, no trace of a special ability.
My eyes go wide and my mouth makes an "O
Nicole still maintains her giant smile threatening to engulf the rest of her face. After just a few weeks, had we truly managed to perfect the cure? Have we finally really truly accomplished the mission we set out to do? Oh, Roland how I wish you were here to witness this.
"So we finally did it huh?" Tears well in my eyes.
Noticing my somber expression Nicole places a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"Yes, my sister we did it. And most of it is thanks to Roland. "
"I wish he could see this," I reply, wiping my falling tears away from my cheeks.
" Don't cry, he wouldn't want us to cry. We have to go tell Z she will be glad to hear we finally did it." Nicole clears her throat and straightens her posture.
"Your right." I compose myself before racing off to find Z.
Emily P.O.V.
Word traveled through Numir quickly. Within a few hours everyone knew that a perfected cure had been made. Praises to the twins for all their hard work. Along with soft spoken words to Roland in thanking him for everything he had done before he lost his life. All of this was only possible because of him. And with this new information it only makes my grieving heart hurt more.
I'm no longer angry about Roland's death, I miss my friend, the man who had betrayed us but came back proved himself to us. Our friendship may have only lasted a few short months but to me, it felt like a lifetime.
Now after all the hell we have gone through we can finally prepare for an assault of our own. And bring the fight to Solarious and Neese. It was our turn to strike back. And this time neither one of them would get away.
I only wished I had made it in time to find the discovery along with my friends. But having to sneak around behind Z's back was no easy task. Knowing her if she was to find me out of bed she would go crazy trying to locate me and force me back to bed. Z may mean well but there are days I wish she wasn't so invested in worrying about me. Wishing she would go back to her cold secretive ways like before. At least everyone once in a while kind of gives it a balance with her.
Opening the door to the lab, I see an energetic Nicole at her desk. She is on the phone with General Adkins filling him in on the candidate that had the perfected cure flowing through his veins. Typing away rigorously not missing a single best she only stops to look at me and nod. Then in one swift motion she turns back around and continues where she had left off.
Waiting patiently for Nicole to finish her conversation I walk closely to the scans and lean in to peer at each one. This is incredible, it still feels so surreal that we have finally gained an advantage over Solarious. I can't wait for the next phase of our mission.