To Be A Warrior

Chapter 7: Fairly Local

"Oh my God! Callista! You're okay!" Sam exclaims as I stumble towards the gates, tired and sweaty and hungry. "I've been worried sick about you! What happened in that basement? Where's your backpack and jacket?"

"I'll tell you all about it as soon as you let me in," I say, slowing down to a walk.

The ache in my legs quickly spreads to the other parts of my body. I think the pain was always there, but now that safety is a mere few feet away, I'm just now beginning to notice it. While the run home wasn't exactly dangerous, I still feel exhaustion gnaw at my bones.

"Uh, right. Right. Raise the gates!"

The alarm goes off, like it always does as the gates go up, and I wipe away the sweat from my forehead as I shuffle inside Abel, my legs feeling like lead.

Someone has to go get Maxine to inspect me for infection. I guess they weren't expecting me to be back so soon, although it's been a good two hours since I lost contact. Even after getting out of that lab with the spiders, I couldn't raise Sam.

I think the only reason he came in now was because he saw me on cams.

I think some people were beginning to think I wasn't coming back at all, judging by the surprised stares from those around me.

I scoff, waiting for Sam to comment, but he doesn't. It only takes me a minute to come to the realization that he's probably left the coms shack to come meet me. Shame twists at my insides at the reminder of how much he loves me and how I only put him through more stress.

Sam reaches me just as Maxine does, and he doesn't hesitate to follow me into the tent, eyes searching for even the slightest scratch, even though he knows as well as I do that he won't find anything.

I shed my smelly clothes, letting Maxine poke and prod at me with gentle hands.

"What happened?" Sam asks, and I swear I can see the gears turning in his head as he studies me, my drained expression and slumped posture.

"Did you get the V-Types to the facility for Veronica?" I ask, not answering right away. Sam's face pinches in aggravation at me avoiding the question.

"All but the one that chased you down," Maxine replies, stepping away from me. "You're clean. No cuts, no bruises, no spider bites either. Sam told me he saw some from your headcam before you shut the door and everything cut out."

"I didn't shut that door," I say, slipping my clothes back on. "And those spiders tried to do a lot worse than bite me. Veronica said they were a Ministry bioweapon that burrowed under your skin to lay eggs and then the babies eat you from the inside out when you hatch. My flashlight was the only thing that kept me safe."

"Veronica?" Sam blinks. "She talked to you?"

"She saved me. I would have died if she hadn't come in," I reply, running my hand through my hair. Without her, my fate would have been worse than death. "She told me to tell you she'd be in touch, and that she's... she's still her. She sounded like Veronica, and she... yeah. She told me to tell you guys that."

"Is there anything else she said?" Maxine asks as I stand.

"It was a lot of Veronica talk-too smart for my sixth-grade education to understand." It's a good enough lie. Making myself look stupid makes it more believable. "I know you have a lot of questions, but can I please go take a shower? I feel disgusting."

She nods. "Of course. I can go tell Janine you're back, and that you talked to Veronica. She'll want to hear about it too."

"And Peter?" I ask, biting the inside of my cheek. "Is he... his hand..."