Burning Bright
Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2022 4:51 pm
((Mercedes Guenther continued from Heart of Fire))
Finally.
It had taken her over a day, her own thoughts and decisions and plans sending her back and forth and to the very far side of the desert itself, but now she was here, at the compound, right where she’d planned on being since she’d first woken up in the middle of the road. She’d managed, via chance rather than her own designs, to avoid running into anyone since she’d grabbed her new prize. It was hard to say whether that was a blessing or not; one the one hand, it meant she’d still been deprived of any chances to ask whether anyone had seen her brother or her best friend. Alan had said they’d… encountered him in the compound, but that had been yesterday afternoon at the very latest. There was no way of telling if he had hung around since then.
On the other hand, every encounter with another person was a potential bloodbath waiting to happen. She knew that it was an inevitability that would catch up with her, that she’d run into conflict once again before she was free of this place, and she was ready for whenever it happened.
It would just be nice to have a little bit of breathing room before having to pull the trigger once again.
The rusting, chain link fence that surrounded the entire compound didn’t give much of a chance for that, nor did it give her anything in the way of shade from the relentless sun. Mercy stopped short of the compound’s parking lot anyway, a few meters away from the guardhouse, tarnished brown barbed wire looming overhead. It was even hotter than the previous day, and even walking at a slow, steady pace had caused sweat to soak the back of her tank top. She needed just a few brief minutes to catch her breath, to grab a drink, to hitch up and adjust her bag, and to prepare herself for who she might find inside. Maybe she’d bump into her two closest classmates. Maybe Alan and Crispin had wound up back in the safety of the compound. There was no way of telling until she was actually in there with them, and that was why she needed to keep the gun held firmly in her grasp at all times.
And she knew that there was every chance she’d get the news that she’d just missed Auggie and Link, that they’d wandered off into the desert for whatever reasons they might have held, that she’d need to about-face and leave once more. Once again, she had steeled herself for that possibility; walking at a snail's pace gave her ample time to think over everything she might be walking into, and what she’d do in every set of circumstances.
It just wasn’t a prospect she was particularly looking forward to. And so, for just a moment, she gave herself a chance to rest, and a moment to just herself.
Finally.
It had taken her over a day, her own thoughts and decisions and plans sending her back and forth and to the very far side of the desert itself, but now she was here, at the compound, right where she’d planned on being since she’d first woken up in the middle of the road. She’d managed, via chance rather than her own designs, to avoid running into anyone since she’d grabbed her new prize. It was hard to say whether that was a blessing or not; one the one hand, it meant she’d still been deprived of any chances to ask whether anyone had seen her brother or her best friend. Alan had said they’d… encountered him in the compound, but that had been yesterday afternoon at the very latest. There was no way of telling if he had hung around since then.
On the other hand, every encounter with another person was a potential bloodbath waiting to happen. She knew that it was an inevitability that would catch up with her, that she’d run into conflict once again before she was free of this place, and she was ready for whenever it happened.
It would just be nice to have a little bit of breathing room before having to pull the trigger once again.
The rusting, chain link fence that surrounded the entire compound didn’t give much of a chance for that, nor did it give her anything in the way of shade from the relentless sun. Mercy stopped short of the compound’s parking lot anyway, a few meters away from the guardhouse, tarnished brown barbed wire looming overhead. It was even hotter than the previous day, and even walking at a slow, steady pace had caused sweat to soak the back of her tank top. She needed just a few brief minutes to catch her breath, to grab a drink, to hitch up and adjust her bag, and to prepare herself for who she might find inside. Maybe she’d bump into her two closest classmates. Maybe Alan and Crispin had wound up back in the safety of the compound. There was no way of telling until she was actually in there with them, and that was why she needed to keep the gun held firmly in her grasp at all times.
And she knew that there was every chance she’d get the news that she’d just missed Auggie and Link, that they’d wandered off into the desert for whatever reasons they might have held, that she’d need to about-face and leave once more. Once again, she had steeled herself for that possibility; walking at a snail's pace gave her ample time to think over everything she might be walking into, and what she’d do in every set of circumstances.
It just wasn’t a prospect she was particularly looking forward to. And so, for just a moment, she gave herself a chance to rest, and a moment to just herself.