Chapter 64: Prayer of the Refugee

Katherine didn’t have to wait as long as she thought she would. However, she had optimized her time, preparing everything she and the nurses would need to begin building a blood bank.

And when the two young women arrived, they seemed almost ecstatic to see a familiar face. Rushing up and hugging the woman as if she were a long lost sister or mother.

“Oh my God, Katherine! When they told me you were still alive, I thought it was too good to be true! Look at you! You look so well fed, and healthy!”

Katherine gazed in shock at the two women. Immediately she noticed they were malnourished. But apparently that had been something Dean had already seen to, helping the women get all the nutrition they could need immediately upon their arrival in Elysium.

Still, what was more shocking to her was the fact that they didn’t seem angry or saddened in the slightest by her decision. She had expected an awkward and hostile conversation.

Perhaps… they didn’t know? She couldn’t let this matter lie or conceal it from them. Such a truth could very well be disruptive later on if revealed to them.

She sighed heavily while forcing a distance between herself and her former coworkers.

“Emily… Kayla… You should know that I left the hospital… I fled when things started to seem to be heading towards the worst possible outcome. I didn’t tell anyone, I didn’t say good-bye, and I didn’t warn anyone.”

The two women looked at each other, a quiet communication between them as they silently nodded their heads.

“We know….”

Katherine’s gaze shifted from the ground immediately towards the two women as they seemed not the least bit scornful of her choice. And the confusion on her face was so obvious that they couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Well, we didn’t know… not at the time. But when that guy, Dean, I think his name was, explained that he knew you, it didn’t take long for us to figure out where you went and how you got here. We’re not mad Katherine, if anything, we feel foolish for not doing the same.”

Emily nodded her head in agreement with Kayla’s statement, adding her own qualifier to it.

“We only survived as long as we did because when things started heating up we locked ourselves in the supply closet and barricaded its entrance. We’re not under any delusions about what that meant to those who were caught in the chaos that we hid from… We’re just as guilty as you are. If we had realized sooner that no help was coming, we would have made a similar choice. Hell, we might have even joined you.”

Emily nodded her head in agreement.

“But when you left… we didn’t quite understand yet what was happening. Even if you warned us, we wouldn’t have been persuaded, and might have even tried to restrain you. You made the right choice, and we just feel stupid for not seeing it sooner.”

Katherine sat there in disbelief at the two nurses who seemed to be feeling just as awkward as she was.

She had silently been dreading this moment. Only for the two women to feel a similar way as her the entire time.

The three of them sat there for a long time, Todd laying on the patient table, awkwardly watching without anything to add. That is until Kayla said something she shouldn’t have.

“So that guy… Dean? Are you and he an item? He seemed to have an awfully high opinion of you.”

The images from earlier in the day immediately flashed in Katherine’s mind, causing her brow to furrow and her jaw to tighten just enough that her words parsed out of her mouth in a cold his.

“No… he and I will never have such a relationship….”

Kayla immediately took the hint, but Emily seemed to be totally oblivious and immediately proceeded to dump gasoline on the fire brewing inside Katherine’s mind.

“So, you won’t mind if I make a move, will you? I didn’t get a good look at his appearance, but he seemed so… strong… right, Kayla?”

Kayla immediately looked the other way, pretending not to notice as Katherine snapped at her friend.

“Absolutely not!”

Even Todd looked away when he heard these words. Prompting Katherine to swiftly recognize what she had done, forcing herself to remain calm with a deep breath.

“I mean… he’s incredibly busy making sure we all stay alive. Bothering him with romantic gestures would be… incredibly unwise.”

Emily was just about to apologize when the thunder of footsteps interrupted her. Dean came rushing down the stairs in full tactical gear, minus his helmet or his balaclava.

He looked over at Katherine, not paying the slightest attention to the two nurses or Todd, as he made one single statement before departing.

“I need you prepped and on standby. I just got news over the wire: a large group of people have breached the perimeter and are headed this way. Either get that blood drive going now, or put it on ice until we’ve dealt with this.”

Dean didn’t say another word as he rushed out the door. No doubt headed to the Agora where the fortified entrance of Elysium lay in wait for him.

Todd scoffed and cursed beneath his breath. Looking at his wounded leg with disdain in his eyes. All the while, Katherine got her nurses in shape.

“There’s no time to waste, move!”

Dean arrived at the wall shortly after rushing out of his home. Where the hoplite whose current job was to act as a sentry behind the Kord was quick to notify Dean of what was happening.

“Sir, I spotted them fifteen minutes ago, through the glass, on the south-east side. There appear to be hundreds of them: men, women, children. Marching right towards us. What do we do?”

Dean patted the young man on the shoulder and nodded.

“Good job notifying me as soon as you spotted them. I’ll take it from here. Standby and await further orders.”

The man nodded at Dean, while Dean pulled a small drone out of his pack and launched it into the air. He flipped down his FPV goggles and his control device embedded in the center of his plate carrier.

He piloted the drone over to the crowd marching still towards him. And there he saw a woman whose face was concealed beneath a scarf and whose head covered by a parka.

She held a white flag in her hands… a plain white t-shirt tied to a telescopic baton. Though her face was covered, he could see her eyes plainly.

The color of wine, staring directly at him. Or I should say his drone. There was no fear etched beneath her scarf. Only solid determination. She then looked forward and continued her march.

She had recognized she was being watched, and still marched forward all the same. Dean had to admit… He was now intrigued by just what kind of force he was dealing with. He returned the drone to him and flipped his goggles up before pressing the PTT switch mounted on his shoulder.

“This is Archon-Actual. All units prepare for defensive action, standby until further orders are given. Over, and out.”

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