Kain Locke
The courtyard smelled like blood and burnt flesh. Even with the nightbeasts now gone, the air was nonetheless thick with the stench of death.
People moved around, some dragging bodies, others carrying the wounded into a yellow truck which stood at the far end, and several men in dark uniforms kept dragging the dead beasts and dead bodies inside the second black truck like they were garbage.
I sat on a low wooden bench, watching as a nurse worked on my arm.
She pressed a damp cloth against my wound to clean the dried blood. I hissed when the alcohol stung my torn skin, it always burns.
Bella quickly crouched beside me, holding a roll of bandages. "You okay?" she asked, her voice unusually soft.
"I'm fine," I muttered. Though, my arm ached, my ribs throbbed, and my legs felt like lead, but I was still breathing, therefore, I believe that was enough.
She gave me a look but didn't push. Instead, she helped the nurse wrap the fresh bandages around my wounds, her fingers surprisingly careful. It wasn't long before they were done.
It was only after that, that the nurse pierce my arm with the syringe injection and squeezed every last drop in there before removing it and tore out a cotton wool from the tray with several tools on, placing it over the pierced spit immediately, my other hand holding them in place.
Bella also wiped her hands on a rag and stood up. "Think you can walk?"
I rolled my shoulder, testing the soreness. It hurt, but nothing I couldn't handle. "Yeah."
She nodded and held out a hand. I hesitated for a second before taking it, letting her pull me up. My legs wobbled slightly, but I steadied myself.
She studied me, eyes scanning my face. "Sure you're good? We can still wait it out here.. can even put you in one of those medical pods." She suggested, nodding to the transparent medical pods that were delivered by the choppers that were here some minutes ago.
"I said I'm fine," I repeated, brushing dirt off my pants.
She let out a small sigh but didn't argue. Instead, she turned and started leading me back, weaving through the mess left behind.
I followed, my mind still replaying everything that had just happened. The fight. The blood. The way I nearly got ripped apart.
But I noticed the more we walked, the more I noticed the floors sloped slightly, and when we reached a slide, it became 'much more' obvious. We weren't on my usual floor anymore.
"Where are we going?" I asked, glancing at Bella. Who had now slowed and was now walking by my side.
"To your room," she said simply without looking at me. "A new one, though."
I frowned, slowing my steps as my brows pulled together, "New?"
She nodded. "If you looked around, you'd notice the upper floors are a mess right now. Everyone up there is being moved down."
Oh. That made sense. But I never knew the damage was up to this extent.
"Yes," she continued. "I think they're also investigating what drew the beasts out. Since there was no crack or opening where they came from, which is strange. And with everything going on, it's not safe to stay up there. So we're moving to the lower part."
I gave a silent nod, but then something clicked and I stiffened. "But my things are still up there," I said. "My communicator included."
"Don't worry," Bella reassured me. "They made sure to move anything edible and whatever wasn't destroyed by the wreckage. So If your stuff is still intact, I'm sure it's already in your new room."
I exhaled. At least that was taken care of. I definitely can't bear the thought of losing that communicator. I've got several memories on it, and the fact that it wasn't legally registered means I've got no cloud storage, so getting lost means everything is gone with it.
"Speaking of," She said, pausing as she gazed at me, "when we found you… I was wondering how you two even handle that many beasts on your own? I mean, even though Alec is as strong as he is, he still got hurt. Badly."
I turned my head slightly, surprised by the fact that I wasn't aware. "He got hurt?"
Bella nodded. "Yeah. He's in one of the medical pods right now."
"I thought he left," I murmured. Realizing, when I was well enough to notice my environment, he was no longer there, so I came to the conclusion that he was gone.
"You wouldn't know," she said. "You were half-conscious so you weren't aware that he got bitten while fighting, and the beast injected him with venom so he's unconscious now."
I didn't say anything at first, just processing her words. Alec had looked rough when the fight was over, but I hadn't realized it was that bad.
And then there was the other man, the one who appeared out of nowhere, shooting down the beasts like it was nothing.
That man…
A shiver ran down my spine.
Who was he? Is he part of the base members? I can't tell who he was given that I barely got a good look at him, but I could still picture those eyes, sharp, cold, calculating eyes.
And the way he had moved like, like the creatures were beneath him. And then, just as quickly as he appeared, he was gone through that window.
I exhaled slowly, forcing my shoulders to relax. Now wasn't the time to think about him. Right now, I just need to get back and rest.
By the time we reached the second floor, I almost stopped in my tracks not because anything was waiting there for us, but the hallway was nothing like the one upstairs.
It was grand, with shiny floors, soft lights I know must've been rechargeable, because it was all power out in the base, there were also thick carpets that made our steps silent. It felt like one of those fancy hotels you can see on a TV.
"Is this where we're moving to?" I asked, looking around in surprise.
Bella didn't answer right away. Instead, she grabbed my arm and pressed a finger to her lips.
"Keep your voice down," she whispered sharply.
I frowned with confusion, "Why?"
She leaned in closer, eyes darting around. "This is Kael's floor. Do you want to lose your head?"
A strange feeling settled in my stomach immediately when I heard his name.
"But I thought— you said we're moving to this floor."
"We're moving 'below' this floor, not here," she cut in. "Normally, I would've taken the elevator, but the power's out, so we have to pass through here."
I didn't argue. Not that I could. So I just nodded and followed her, keeping my steps light like she wanted.
When we finally reached the stairs and went down, the change was immediate. Like the kind of change it was too obvious to not notice.
The hallway here was dull. The walls were also bare and dirty brown like it had been built several years ago, with pipes running along them. The floor was rough concrete, and the air smelled like it was damp.
What in the world of segregation is this?
So that was it, huh? Kael got to live in a palace. And the rest of us?
We got this? A dump?