The Survivor of the 27

Chapter Six

  I didn't sleep at all last night. How could I? Knowing that I'm the reason my troops are dead. I thought that at least Kalem would survive. I look over to the clock that reads 05:39. I decided to get up and go down stairs. I make myself a pot of coffee and sharpen my knife.

  As I'm waiting for the coffee, Jess comes down. She's wearing a silky white robe with flown black pants and a matching top. These expel even had to look nice when they went to bed.

  "Morning," she says in a groggy voice. I nod my head in response. She grabs a mug and waits by the coffee maker. Her leg is shaking and I can tell that she wants to ask something.

  "Out with it," I tell her.

  "What happened on your last mission?" I don't know how to respond. To this question.

  "Something bad happened. I can tell. The last time I talked to you before that tour you seemed, normal. But now, you seem lost and hurt. Like a part of you is missing," Jess explains.

  I think for a moment. Deciding on what I should and shouldn't tell her. "I failed the mission and I failed my team." I tell her.

  "I doubt that you didn't fail them," she says.

  I shake my head, "No I fail them. They're all dead, because of me. All twenty six of them. I'm the only one who escaped."
  "But I thought Kalem was going to survive. He was always too stubborn to go. Or at least Jackson. He was like a brother to me. They all looked up to me, and I lead them into a suicide mission," I explain.

  "I'm sorry Mace," she says with pity.

  "Why? It's not like you killed them and held us captive for ten months." As soon as I say that, I regret it. 

  "Wait, what happened?" She asks with wide eyes.

  "Morning lady's," Tom says all cherpy. 

  "What are you two up to?" He asks. I grab out my cigarette pack and slide one out. I get up, grab my coffee, and head outside. As I'm outside, I light the cigarette and sit on the porch steps. I exhale and take a sip of my coffee.

  I hear the door slide open after about ten minutes of silence.
 
  "Hey do you want breakfast?" Addison asks me. Then she goes into a coughing fit and waves her hand in front of her face. "Since when did you start smoking?" She asks, plugging her nose with her fingers.

  I take on more puff and throw it on the ground and stomp on it. Putting it out. I get up and grab my empty cup and go inside. As I walk in my nose is welcomed to the smell of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. I see John flip a pancake. He turns around and smiles at me. He's wearing Sharon's apron. Why is he always here?

  "Good morning!" John welcomes.

  "Do you live here?" I ask. He laughs and shakes his head.

  "Today we are planning our wedding," he tells me.

  "Yup, And us lady's are going dress shopping!" Addison exclaims. Yay, how fun. I roll my eyes. I go over and pour myself another cup of coffee.

  "So, how did you sleep after last night?" Asks John. As he asks I choke on my coffee and start hacking.

  "Fine," I cough out. "I'll be in the living room," I say leaving the kitchen.

  I go and sit on the  leather couch. But it is short lived.

  "Mace get dressed. We're going out and we need to look our best," Sharon barks.

  I roll my eyes and take a sip of my coffee. She always had this perfect image in her head. It really pissed me off. I get up and am about to head upstairs. I realized that I still had blood on my pants from last night. I'm shocked that no one saw that.

   "You wanna come eat?" Felix asks.

   "I'll pass."

  "You didn't eat dinner last night. You should eat something," he says. I sigh and nod my head.

  "Let me just change my pants. Kay?" I head upstairs and change my pants to my army cargo pants. I then slip on a black, skin tight long sleeve shirt. I didn't like showing my arms. Not with all the scars that had littered them.

  I make my way downstairs and to the kitchen. Everyone is sitting down and I soon take a seat with them. I sit at the end of the table and scoop some eggs on my plate.

  "So I was thinking that we could go dress shopping at the really fancy place on Main Street. Then we could go shopping for you guys. Then we'll grab some lunch. Then we'll get our nails done!" Addison exclaims. At least she was happy.

  "Sounds good honey," Sharon tells her.

  "Oh also Becky will be joining us. I mean she is my bridesmaid after all," Addison adds. Oh great, Becky. She's worse than Addison. Which really says something. Stuck up, full of it, thinks she's always right. And she's a one upper.

  Her father works with Felix in the government. "Oh and Mace, you'll have to change," Addison says.
  "Why?" I ask. I literally just changed.

  She laughs and then her face goes serious when she sees that I'm not laughing. "Oh you're serious. I won't let a sister of mine be seen out in public like that." What's that supposed to mean?

  "Well unfortunately this is all I have," I tell her.

  "Fine, then you can wear one of my outfits," she says.

  Oh boy. I can't wait to look like a slut. Nonetheless, I nod my head and start to eat my eggs. Once everyone's all done eating, Addison takes me upstairs and into her room. Her room is the biggest out of all the kids.

  Her walls are painted white with an accent wall. She has an old looking dresser with a big mirror. I count at least 7 mirrors. She goes into her walk-in closet and waves me to sit down on her bed. Which is a California King. She always has to be extra. "Found the perfect one!" She yells.

  She comes out and is holding a white sundress. The sleeves are short and puffed and it's a square neckline. The back is open and there's a slit on each of the sides. It's about knee high and has little yellow flowers on the bottom. It was pretty, but not me.

  "This should do," She says admiring her "work".

  "I can't wear that," I tell her.

  "Why not? This is gorgeous, and besides it's a hot day," she adds.

  "I'd just prefer to wear something less revealing," I tell her.

  "Fine, then wear a sweater," she commands and throws the dress at me. She goes back into her closet and throws a sweater at me. Sighing, I tell her that I can't wear it.

  "What? You want jeans?" She asks. I nod my head.

  "Much rather that over this," I tell her.

  "Ok, fine. I'll see what I have."

  She comes back and throws a pair of black jeans and a white shirt at me. The shirt had a heart shaped neckline and best of all, the sleeves went all the way down. I put on the pants and shirt.

  The only scar visible is the one on my collar bone. It was on the right and went across. The skin was pulled so it almost looked like a bridge. I turn so I can see the back. It covered most of the scars. You could only see a few slashes. I sigh and head out.

  She had given me black heels but I'm not gonna wear them. So I make a quick stop into my room and grab my black combat boots. Finally, I make my way down stairs and all the girls are down there, even Becky. This will be an interesting day.