Adrienne sighed as she woke up to the sound of hushed ranting. She'd
gotten used to waking up to people in the apartment, though it struck her as odd. She
normally woke up at six in the morning. Adam would laugh at her, though, and inform
her that he did his dealings in the night, and when she woke up it was nigh on time for
bed…even though he normally went to bed with her anymore.
This morning it was Conrad, and he sounded exceptionally
outraged.
"I tell you, it was Cain!" he said in a more normal voice.
"Conrad, really," Adam sounded exasperated, "If you wake Adrienne
up…"
Adrienne took that as her cue to step into the living room, running her
hands through her hair as she did so. She'd dressed quickly and silently.
Adam let out a growl.
"This is important," Conrad snapped sullenly, looking away from
Adrienne.
"So two leaders of two gangs met, big deal. You know how Cain is. He
does as much business as double-dealing."
"He's solidified is position across the water," Conrad muttered darkly,
then shook his head and sighed, looking to Adrienne, "I'm sorry I woke you up."
"You didn't," she muttered, moving across the room to kiss Adam on the
cheek before heading into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Sunshine," Adam called with slight sarcasm.
"Isn't it your bedtime?" she returned.
Adam grinned, then looked back to Conrad, "What does his having a solid
position do with him…" he slowed down, blinking as he thought.
"He wants to merge, he's wanted to merge since the beginning. Kent
knew he didn't have enough power when before, so he refused to back him. He has the
power now…" Adrienne heard the sound of him standing, "And I tell you here and now,
Adam, I will not follow him. I won't follow you if you follow him. If we merge, I'm
gone." there were quick steps and the door slammed.
Adam sighed.
"What was that about?" Adrienne asked, moving back into the living
room to blink at her boyfriend.
"You heard him," Adam muttered, standing tiredly, "You want to come to
bed with me, or are you up for the day?"
Adrienne frowned as she sipped the orange juice she'd poured herself, "I'll
be in after a while."
Adam nodded, disappearing into the bedroom.
=-=
"He presented it nicely," Cortez muttered darkly, staring into his cup of
coffee. He was holding it as if the cup could offer him some comfort.
Adrienne, though she wasn't a member of the council, knew that he was
referring to Kent, the leader of Sin. Adam was on the council, a council of five men.
They were generals in an army that should not exist. She also knew that some rival
faction was offering to merge with Adam's gang. The man was offering a nice deal, but if
Sin followed through with it, Adam would be lowered in his rank, and the rest of the
council as well. The council would be swallowed and overran, and the men who
supported Adam were not happy.
"Adrienne, can you go make something to eat?" Adam snapped at her
when he realized she was listening, "This isn't your business."
That was what she was truly getting tired of. Adam would dismiss her
from conversations more and more. Not only that, but he would dismiss what she had to
say. Her training had said that there were those who knew more, but she thought her
ideas were sound…
And maybe that was the problem; she thought. She was using her own
mind, and becoming upset over orders.
She moved into the kitchen with a sigh, straining her ears while making
enough noise so that Adam would not realize she was listening.
"I was rather impressed with his speech, but that's Kent's power, isn't it?
He's a soothsayer. He says what we want to hear so he can get what he wants. I will vote
against the merge. I know Kristoph backs me, but Broadway is up in the air. You know
as well as I do that Victor and Glen would rather wet themselves than disappoint Kent, so
really, it's Broadway's call."
Adrienne chewed her nail as she thought, then promptly removed the
thing from her mouth and blinked at it. That was Melody's thing, chewing her nails while
she thought…
Thinking again.
Adrienne shook her head. She didn't understand why Adam didn't just go
ask Broadway what way he'd vote. Broadway had visited the house several times since
she'd moved in, and he'd always seemed an easy-going man. As a co-leader of Sin, it
seemed perfectly normal for Adam to ask opinions.
"I just don't like this…at this rate we'll lose Black Eden."
There it was again, that name. It was rarely discussed. The name hardly
ever passed any person's lips.
"We will not lose that." Adam said darkly, "I will never surrender
that."
Cortez sighed, "How will we keep it?"
"We'll find a way," Adam muttered, falling silent a long moment.
"Adrienne, is the food almost ready?"
Adrienne jumped, realizing that she'd stopped cooking as she thought,
"Nearly," she lied. She was almost uncomfortable with how easy it was to lie. She started
moving around again.
The compound almost seemed a distant dream to her now, though she
was still getting used to social nicety. She was confounded with the array of emotion that
she was presented with every day. Worry lately, or at least, she thought it was
worry.
"If it's nearly done," Adam breathed in her ear, causing her to jump as he
stepped lightly behind her, "Then why are the eggs not even cooked?" he reached passed
her and clicked the burner on.
Adrienne blushed, looking down as he stared at her.
"This is none of your concern, precious," he added, kissing her ear, "I'll
take care of us."
"It's not that simple and you know it," she muttered back, still not meeting
his eyes as she ran the spatula through the liquid eggs.
"And how would you know?" he demanded.
Adrienne wanted to tell him that many major conflicts throughout history
had started just the same way. She wanted to tell him to talk to Broadway. She wanted
to tell him to talk to Kent. She said nothing, however. Always, she said nothing. She let
him work on his own because he was not asking for her help and truly did not seem to
want it, "It just…seems that way…" she muttered.
"You listen too well," he informed her, "But stay out of my
business."
And with that, he moved back into the living room.
"You don't seriously mean to say…" Cortez started.
Adam made a sudden hushing noise, "Ade, we'll be back in ten
minutes."
"Back?" Cortez asked blankly.
"Move, Cortez." Adam returned. The front door opened and shut…and
Adrienne was left to make the food.
=-=
"The weapons in Black Eden are enough…" Conrad trailed off as
Adrienne appeared at the end of the staircase, her arms crossed. She'd followed the pair
from their apartment to the lower hall.
Adam turned, startled that his friend had fallen silent. He stared at
Adrienne a long moment before his expression turned stony, "Go back upstairs." he
snapped.
"An arsenal?" she demanded of him instead, moving closer, "Black Eden
is a weapons cache?"
"I said to go back upstairs," he nearly shouted at her, used to her quick
obedience.
Adrienne had realized, however, that she did not have to obey him. She'd
watched as Melody and Nathan argued, and realized that they were like she and
Adam.
He stared at her in something like astonishment.
"Really, Adam," Conrad muttered, blinking, "She has a right to know,
she'll be going there soon enough."
Adam had turned sharply to silence the man, but instead, he simply stared
at him.
Adrienne had been shunted aside so many times when asking what Black
Eden was that she really wasn't surprised to hear it was an armory. She very well knew
that Adam was a warrior of Sin. She knew that the bloodstains on his clothing were not
from petty fights. She'd gathered over the month and a half of living there that he was
involved in the "taking of territory". Sin, he'd said, was feeling confined and needed room
to spread its roots.
He'd been getting more disgusted with it lately, however, and had gone to
fight less and less. Not that he spent any more time with her. He always had some man or
another with him, and there was much talk about allegiance.
Adam opened his mouth.
"You'll leave her here?" Conrad snapped, his expression slowly changing,
"You'll go to your stronghold and leave your woman unprotected?"
"I can take care of myself," Adrienne informed him, feeling offended.
Conrad looked from Adam to her, then back again.
"No, I won't," Adam snapped, "I just don't want her to know something
that could potentially hurt her."
"If they catch her," Conrad said darkly, "You know they won't believe she
knows nothing. She's lived with you for over two months now, and it's not like you never
have company. Broadway…Glen…even Victor all have talked about her."
Adrienne felt something new flush through her system, though she was
being ignored as Adam started to nearly shout. She wasn't sure what it was, but it made
her feel warm.
"Go upstairs," Adam told her suddenly. His tone was completely
confident as he met her eyes. She didn't realize she'd obeyed until she'd reached the
landing.
She had nothing left to do, however, except go upstairs.
=-=
"You're planning a military operation with the weapons kept at Black
Eden."
Adam turned to stare at Adrienne. He always found himself staring at her
for one reason or another. This time, however, he wasn't sure if it was shock or
annoyance.
"And what if I am?" he demanded.
"I want you to tell me what is going on. I've made a study of wars and
might be able to help."
"This isn't a war," he returned, "It's just that Kent is winning Broadway
over, and if he tries to merge with Cain…" he fell silent, realizing he was telling her too
much.
Adrienne's dark eyes moved very carefully over his face, seeming to read
more into what he'd said than he even thought he'd said.
He sighed in irritation, realizing she need to at least know that Black Eden
was not just a weapons cache, "Black Eden is a training camp," he informed her, "There
are weapons, food-stores…recruits…even training facilities. It's a base unto itself, and it's
mine."
"How is it yours?" she demanded in that penetrating way she had
sometimes.
"It just is," he replied, narrowing his eyes at her, "I claim it. It's
mine."
She shook her head, going back to eating.
"Tonight," he muttered in afterthought, "Tonight I want you to pack up
anything you want from this apartment."
She looked sharply up to him, "Why?"
"Because tomorrow night," he muttered leaning forward, "We're going to
Black Eden, and we won't be moved from it until we die."
=-=
Adrienne was slightly unnerved as they carried their packs down the road.
They'd walked several miles, including crossing a bridge. While she was by no means
tired, she did not know where she was going, and her mind would not leave well enough
alone.
"Come on," Adam muttered quietly to her as a few of the other people
with them…Nathan, Conrad, Cortez, and Charlie turned down a driveway. There were
over-grown shrubs obscuring her view, and she could tell that Melody and the other ladies
had the very same hesitance.
She was not going to be left behind, however, so she started after her
lover.
Not only were there shrubs, but oceans of grass before yet another set of
overgrown trees. You couldn't see this from the main road, but once you passed the
perimeter–which was guarded by members of Sin, it came into view.
"What is this?" she asked Adam as she moved up to his side again.
"Black Eden," he replied shortly, his eyes moving along the
perimeter.
It was an old airport.
She stopped to stare in wonder at the mixed rubble and bramble. The
remaining structures were tall and had probably never been empty in their hay-day. From
what she could tell–and from what she'd heard from Adam and his cohorts, it was
never empty now, either.
"Let's go," he snapped.
=-=
Adrienne watched in concern as Adam directed soldiers to different posts
around the compound. He didn't seem to think of anything he was doing, and no one
hesitated to listen. Like-wise, as soon as he'd entered a man had led them to a comfortable
lounge-room that was closed off from the rest of the building. He hadn't even looked to
the people they'd passed. He'd ignored the fact that these people had rooms separated by
thin dividers…or even sheets. Adam didn't seem to care that he had a private room while
everyone else in the place didn't even have proper walls.
He didn't make her stay in the room, at least.
It didn't take her long to realize that, while many of them men and woman
that were soldiers were loyal to him, many were not. Many took their time to leave him.
This sign of open disrespect irritated her extremely, but it seemed to make Adam
smile.
As a matter of fact, she hadn't seen him smile more since she'd first moved
in with him. At the time he'd been sweet and caring. He'd smiled, and even laughed with
her. Of course, then things with Sin had gotten heavy.
It was very obvious to her that he was stressed…or had been.
"Baby," he muttered suddenly, stopping to drape an arm over her
shoulders as she moved close to him, "You hungry?"
"A little," she replied, looking the area over.
"Let's go eat, then." and with that, he lead her through the many halls to
an area lined with linoleum and filled with small tables and chairs. There were stations
along the walls that had very obviously once been restaurants. People were moving
around each station with pots of food. He didn't take her to any of these, however,
instead, he lead her to a small kitchen toward the back of the hall.
"What?" the man demanded as he saw Adrienne, then recognized Adam.
His eyes went wide and he stammered an apology.
"We're hungry," Adam informed him without acknowledging anything
he'd said, "I'd like some steak and potatoes, baby?" he added, looking to her.
She blinked at him, concerned a moment. She was never very good with
choices–especially when she didn't know them all, "The same."
"All right…" the guy muttered in a small voice, disappearing through a
door.
Adam chuckled, leading her to a clear table a ways away, "Sometimes
these people annoy me…" he grinned at her, "But then I get my way."
=-=
"Attention, Black Eden, this is your leader Adam Selburgh speaking,"
Adam's voice was loud as it was magnified by the hundreds and hundreds of loud speakers
that covered the airport, "And I'm pleased to announce that Black Eden is mine. For those
of you loyal to Sin, you may take your exit now. Please be gracious, I have my men and
women firmly in position around the perimeter." the sound clicked off for a moment
before clicking back on, "Oh yes, I'd also like to mention that, while you have your escape
now, if you return…we will kill you."
Adrienne stared up at the loud speaker and realized why Adam had asked
her to stay in their room today. All over the mess hall, a buzz had started up. People
were looking at their peers, some in amusement and some in dismay. The noise was
steadily growing in volume, and Adrienne decided to take her leave.
"Hey, bitch!"
Adrienne turned to see one of the larger men she knew to be against
Adam approaching her. She smiled at him.
"You fucking whore!" he snapped, raising a hand to backhand her.
She caught it well before it hit her, "You have been given your leave." she
informed him, "Don't bother yourself with me."
"I'm not leaving here empty-handed," he snapped, changing his grip so he
had ahold of her, "Glen will be pleased to have you."
Adrienne stared at him in confusion a long moment before she realized he
was trying to pull her after him. She pulled away, raising an eyebrow.
The man went insane with anger, and though only moments had passed,
quite the crowd had gathered. Many people were ready to come to her defense, though
she didn't seem to need it.
She fought off his wild assault as she'd been trained to do, even getting
bored when he moved to re-attack…and then she got annoyed.
She jumped from the ground lightly, bringing her knee…into his
face.
He fell to the floor, twitching.
Adrienne grumbled about the blood on her pants, and how now she'd have
to get more…
The crowd was staring in amazement.
Adrienne looked up at them–every one of them associated her
with Adam. Adam was their new leader.
"Well?" she demanded of them, gesturing to…the body. She didn't think
she'd killed the man, but there was a definite possibility.
They moved to do as she asked, though she hadn't asked them to do
anything.
=-=
"We did it!" Conrad was bouncing along beside Adam as Adrienne
followed the group of five. Adam, at twenty-five, was the oldest of the group and the
undisputed leader. The others ranged in age from eighteen–Conrad, to mere
months younger than Adam–Cortez.
They'd taken Black Eden with only one casualty, the one that Adrienne
had killed.
Adam wasn't the only one looking at her differently.
She herself felt vaguely pleased that things had worked out thus far, but
she knew enough about Kent to know that he would muster his forces and try to take back
what he thought was his.
It was no longer, however, and Adrienne knew it.
Black Eden was Adam's.
=-=
"They have taken my garden, and I want it back!" Kent slammed his fist
onto the table, causing the rickety old thing to shake, "I will not have snakes destroying
my beautiful flowers!"
"You want us to…take Black Eden?" Broadway asked blankly, meeting
eyes with Kristoph.
"You want us to take Black Eden from Adam?" Kristoph furthered the
point.
"My garden has been infested by slimy slugs," Kent said darkly to them, "I
will not have this!" he slammed his fist against the table, "I will not let my garden be
overrun!"
"Kent…we can't have any kind of force ready before midnight," Glen
muttered, looking slightly perturbed.
"Then you have until eleven." Kent snapped.
Kristoph and Broadway exchanged another long glance as Victor and
Glen made their way from the council chamber.
"Well?" Kent demanded of them.
"This is folly," Kristoph informed him as he stood and started for the
door, "Attacking Black Eden is insanity enough, but attacking Black Eden with Adam in
charge? It's pure folly."
"I did not ask for your opinion." Kent snapped as Broadway left the
room.
Kristoph turned to meet eyes with Kent another moment, then grinned
slightly, "This is why I gave you only fact."
=-=
A rotating guard had been set up to watch throughout the night, the
people inside Black Eden who were not warriors moved back into the main building while
Adam and his four cohorts supervised the reinforcement of the outer walls.
Adam was sleeping soundly next to Adrienne, but she could not find this
same respite. She was all too aware of the fact that Sin was decimated, and Adam was no
longer it's general.
Sin would not let Black Eden fall; the place had always been spoken of
with a kind of reverie.
"I think Sin has finally started to arrive," Adrienne heard someone mutter
outside, "The news is traveling along the wall…should we wake him up?"
She rose to her feet and pulled on her bloodstained cargo pants. They
were dark green with holsters for weapons and huge pockets. They fit just loose enough
to allow complete freedom of movement. Her shirt was a simple long sleeve shirt, low
cut. It was a half-shirt, black. It didn't cover her tattoo, but she'd long ago realized that
no one would ask her where she got it.
After pulling on her combat boots–boots she'd kept from the
compound, she took a moment to pull her long dark hair back. It was just longer than
shoulder length.
No one said a word to her as she moved down the quiet hallways; most
people were sleeping, though some few like herself were awake. They had eyes filled with
fear, and she wondered if her own resembled this or not.
It took her a matter of minutes to reach the outer wall, surveying the
horizon of trees warily. The tree line was beyond the range of the weapons they had, and
in the dark worked like a curtain to shield most movement from the watchers.
She could see men, however. She'd gone to the top floor of the former
parking garage, and from this vantage she did not have as much lighting to interfere with
her line of sight. Men were moving quietly into position, moving by orders of light. None
were speaking that she could hear, and even the lights were only barely visible.
"Madam, you should truly not be out here alone. Adam is worried,
because he knows the troops are near and you're nowhere to be found."
Adrienne turned to look at Nathan, who was studying her closely. He
spoke to her enough that she considered him friend.
"So it's true," he added, shining his flashlight onto her leg, "You did kill
that man."
"He attacked me," she replied easily, taking the flashlight from his hand
and snapping it off, "You are a fool. A sniper could easily shoot from that tree line and hit
you. They only need a bit of light. It's not like your face isn't unknown to them."
"And your own just the same?" he asked, slightly miffed.
She snorted, "There is no light behind me and I'm wearing dark clothing.
They would not have realized I was even here if you hadn't brought up that light."
"I see," he muttered, moving up beside her.
She shoved him so he moved further up the wall, "We can't stay there.
Now look, beside the largest there," she pointed at a tree, "There's a man there with a light
wand. He's been signaling to someone further back every five minutes. I think he's
supposed to wait until they're spotted before he stops."
"Ground, this is Nathan." he muttered into a walkie-talkie he carried, "I've
spotted movement off to the left quadrant. A light wand."
Adrienne grinned, grabbing the pistol he carried at his side, "We've
warned ours then, correct? They know the men are there?"
"Yes," Nathan was confused, resting a hand on hers so she did not take
the weapon.
Adrienne pulled the gun completely away from him, taking aim, "So let's
let them know we're aware."
"What are you doing? You can't possibly make that shot…you're not
even trained…"
Before she took her shot, however, another warrior approached with an
actual sniper-rifle, "What are you doing?" he asked them, "You shouldn't be here."
"I'll need that in a moment," Adrienne replied.
"We need to let them know they've been spotted…with style," Adam's
voice came over the walkie, "Where the hell is Adrienne?"
"She's with me," Nathan muttered, "And I think she's going to let them
know we see them…maybe not with style, though…"
"What?" Adam demanded.
Adrienne had sighted the signaler in, however.
"Nathan, what is she doing?"
"She's…"
Adrienne shot.
The blast echoed through the still night air…the man with the light-wand
fell to the ground.
"Gun," she snapped, extending one hand backwards.
The warrior passed her his weapon, "It's locked and loaded, ready to
fire."
"Thank you," she returned, clicking the safety off and taking aim at the
second man.
The rush of sound below was confused.
"What was that?" Adam demanded.
Adrienne shot the second person that was signaling.
"Report!" Adam shouted, sounding very upset.
"It was Adrienne!" Nathan said in astonishment, "Holy shit, Adam, she
just took out a man in the tree line with a pistol, and a man on the far side with a
m16!"
There was no response a long moment, "Get her back inside!" he shouted
finally.
In the distance, Adrienne could see people moving up to the second
signaler. She ignored Nathan, who was tugging at her arm, and took out one of the men
in the circle.
"Adrienne, let's go…"
"They don't realize why these men were killed," she informed him, taking
another shot but missing. Another shot flew from a lower level.
"Adrienne, Adam's about to have kittens, can you just…"
A shot flew close to her head between she and Nathan.
She giggled at the rush of adrenaline, pulling the man who owned the m16
down as Nathan dropped to his knees, "Okay, we can go now." she informed them,
staying low as she moved back toward the entrance.
The two men exchanged shocked glances as Adrienne finally straightened
and looked around, "The weather should hold onto this low overcast all day," she
informed them.
"You…laughed…. You were nearly shot, and you laughed…"
"They're the bad shot," she returned primly, starting for the staircase.
"Nathan?" Adam's voice was barely controlled.
"We're heading down," Nathan muttered, "Holy shit, Adam…" he trailed
off, focusing on Adrienne again, "What the hell are you?"
=-=
The first attack came at dawn. It was six-thirty in the morning, and the
shifts had only just changed. After taking out five enemies, Adrienne found she was able
to sleep, but it seemed like only minutes when the sound of a fire-shower woke both she
and Adam up.
He didn't say anything as she dressed again and followed him from their
room. He largely ignored her as she walked quickly behind him up to the wall under
fire.
"They're charging the Northwest wall!" someone shouted.
Adam started for that, but Adrienne had seen men in the tree line,
watching intently.
"You men, come with me!" Adam ordered to a group of men who were
supposed to be guarding the wall.
"But, Adam," Adrienne started, pointing toward the men, "You'll need
defense here!"
"I know what I'm doing!" he snarled at her, then disappeared around a
corner.
Adrienne stared after him in dismay before turning her attention to the
soldiers she could now see approaching the wall.
She wasn't sure what made her do it, but she knew something had to be
done.
"You men," she shouted loudly, "They're coming, don't let them surprise
you!"
Attention instantly changed focus to the ground.
"Diversionary measures are some of the oldest tricks in the book." she
added as she walked up to the wall, "More than likely, the attack Adam will push back in
moments will be half the size of the attack we're about to face," she looked over the faces
of men who looked almost resigned, "But we have the better position, we have the
fire-power…we are inside Black Eden."
Excitement rushed through the men suddenly.
"Black Eden will hold against these attacks, because Black Eden was not
a place where Sin ever thought to lay siege. We have the upper-hand, and I intend that we
keep it!"
A shout of approval met these words–almost at the same time as
the men broke from the tree line.
"Ready!" Adrienne shouted, her voice echoing through the parking
garage, "Aim!" she heard the mechanisms of hundreds of guns click, "Fire!"
The first volley sunk into the approaching warriors like a hot knife
through butter. The entire front-line fell under that simple shot, "Ready!" she called again,
"Fire!" the next wave of bodies met the floor.
"Fire at will!" she shouted, hearing Adam's voice echoing in the
distance.
Volley after volley began showering down on the approaching warriors.
They'd been intent on surprising the men of Black Eden, but instead they were falling.
Nathan nearly collapsed at her feet as she paced behind her line,
occasionally offering words of advice to men who were firing widely or recoiling badly.
"The attack on the Northwest wall has been thrown back," he informed her, gasping for
breath, "What's going on here?"
"We're holding them off," she replied dismissively, moving up to another
man, "You have to let the shot surprise you every time," she muttered, replacing the gun
in his grip, "Do not anticipate your shots."
"Okay," he muttered, taking aim again and shooting slowly.
Nathan stared at her.
"Tell Adam we need our men back," she added, taking a gun from a fallen
man and taking place in the weakened bit of the line.
Nathan continued to stare in amazement.
=-=
"This is hopeless and stupid," Kristoph said bitterly to Broadway as they
watched the walls of Black Eden.
"We're just losing men," Broadway agreed, he turned to look over the
warriors, many of whom were loading weapons.
"And wasting ammo." Kristoph added, "Cain won't be happy about that."
he said it pointedly, since he knew that he himself and Adam both had felt betrayed by
Broadway's decision to merge.
"Well," Broadway muttered, "I merged with Sin, and look what I got for
it?"
"Cain is not Sin. Cain has an empire while Sin is just a country."
"I realize that now," Broadway muttered in a slightly exasperated tone,
"It's not like I realized you and Adam were against it to begin with!"
"Well we were, you knew our thoughts on Cain!"
Broadway drew himself up, then shook his head.
"It's too late now, anyways," Kristoph added, looking to his men.
"Cease fire!" Broadway roared suddenly, causing a hesitation to ripple
along the lines, "Cease fire! Pull back!"
The men at the rear were doing so.
"What are you doing?" Kristoph asked in amazement.
"You said it correctly, this is hopeless," Broadway replied, raising an
eyebrow at him.
Kristoph's men were watching him curiously.
"Cease fire! Pull back!" Kristoph added his voice to Broadway's,
watching as the lines started to shift away from Black Eden.
Broadway's cell phone started ringing, so he answered it, still indicating
for his men to pull back.
Kristoph didn't need help to hear Kent demanding what was going
on.
=-=
"They're falling back," Adam noted in distant shock as he watched two
units start slowly away from the tree-line.
"They weren't fighting very seriously anyway," Adrienne pointed out, "It
was the Northeast side that put up a real fight."
Adam turned to stare at her, obviously not sure what to say.
"Fire to defend!" she shouted over the men, causing an immediate
lessening in gunshots.
Adam was continuing to stare at her.
"What?" she demanded, perturbed by this. He only stared at her when he
didn't understand something about her.
"You know what you're doing, and I don't know why." he returned.
She blinked at him, thinking things over, "Well," she muttered, "I told you
I've made a study of military tactics…"
"But you didn't say you were a marksmen, and you didn't say you knew
field commands. You never said you knew how to give orders, and I have a feeling you're
not what you seem to be."
Adrienne watched him a long moment, then looked around.
"You've never said a word about this mark, either," he added, touching
the spot on her neck where the numbers '8-43' were tattooed.
Adrienne studied him a long moment before meeting eyes with Nathan–the man had a slightly awed expression. "Take over here," she instructed him,
pulling Adam away by the hand.
When they'd made it to their room, she sat next to him and studied his
eyes as she thought things over, "You say sometimes that I act oddly, that I don't know
how to react to things…"
He nodded.
"The truth is, I don't know. I learn as I go."
"We all do, Ade…that's not…"
"I'm not human, Adam. I wasn't born to a mother and father…I wasn't
even born in a hospital."
He blinked at her, starting to shake his head, "Half the population of the
outer city…"
"I was born in a lab, if you could call it 'born'." she made air quotes.
He frowned even more.
"I'm a gelf. G. E. L. F. A genetically engineered life form. I was one of
the few survivors that made it out of our home compound two and a half months
ago."
He stared at her in amazement.
"My entire life I only reacted to orders. It wasn't necessary that I laugh or
smile, or joke. I just had to do what I was told. I was trained in detailed combat. I have
superhuman strength…and I had no name."
"You can't be serious, Ade, this is a bad joke!" he snapped at her,
standing and starting to pace around their room, "You've lived with me for two months,
you think I'd notice…"
"You did notice," she informed him, "And you helped me to act
and think like a human."
He stopped, turning to look at her again, shaking his head, "You're just
like a real woman…"
"I am a real woman, just not the same as any other woman you've
ever met."
He closed his eyes, sitting in a chair, "I can't believe this."
"Then believe what you will…believe my story I've told you. Let's
embellish, shall we? I was born to a poor woman on the west coast. I studied at a
college. I nearly joined the army…I ran away from an ex lover and his gang." she touched
her tattoo, "This is their mark…I stumbled into the outer-city. Does that sound good?
You rescued me from the streets and became my lover. You took care of me for two
months before organizing your own military strike. Will that work? Does that sooth your
nerves?"
"Ex?" he demanded.
Adrienne stared at him in amazement.
He shook his head, "I…I don't know, Adrienne, I don't know what to
think about any of this! You never showed any signs that you knew any military
tactics…"
"I showed the signs the entire time!" she shouted back, raising to her feet,
"I never once hid my intelligence from you, you just refused to recognize it!"
He stared at her in amazement.
"Now if you'll excuse me," she added in an acid tone, "We have a war to
win."
Adam said nothing as she stormed from their bedroom.
=-=
"A flag of truce," Adrienne commented as she watched the group of ten
approaching men.
"I don't trust them," Adam returned, turning and moving away from the
wall, "Put up the red flag."
Adrienne stared at his back in amazement, "That's Kristoph and Broadway
out there, Adam, you'll just ignore them?"
"I do not trust them." Adam returned.
Adrienne wanted to shout at him a bit, but decided instead to move
around him. She shook her head at his back, gesturing to the man who had just ripped a
red piece of cloth, about to tie it onto his gun barrel. He paused, looking after Adam as a
few men–Nathan included, started to reload their weapons. "Yellow," she
informed him, tossing him another piece of cloth.
"You can't go out there!" Adam shouted suddenly, turning sharply to
blink at Adrienne and Nathan.
Nathan didn't quite meet his eyes.
"I'll be back in twenty minutes at the most." Adrienne didn't bother
waiting for his approval.
She could tell that she had a following now.
"Fine," Adam snapped, yanking an m16 from a nearby man. He moved to
the wall, locking and loading the machine.
Adrienne felt a reassurance in the pit of her stomach, knowing that Adam
would not waver in his post until she'd come back up. She swept down the ramp with five
men on her heels. She didn't notice until she'd cleared the tower that more men had joined
her. Ten followed her out onto the drive.
"Miss Adrienne," Kristoph greeted, bowing low to her, "I must admit I
didn't expect for you to join us. I'm pleased."
Adrienne inclined her head, looking to Broadway.
"I'm not really surprised," Broadway informed her, laying a finger
alongside his nose, "You just seem the type."
"I'm glad you view me so amicably."
"Okay," Kristoph said brusquely, brushing his hands together as he moved
closer to Adrienne, "We've dispensed with the pretty speeches, so now let's get to
business."
Broadway moved forwards as well, his expression slightly dark.
Nathan was not the only person who moved to form the protective circle
around Adrienne…a shot was fired, kicking up dirt near Broadway's feet.
Both men stopped, eyes wide as their retainers rested hands on their
weapons.
"Adrienne," Kristoph muttered with large eyes, "We're
surrendering…please call off your dogs."
Adrienne gestured slightly with her left hand, causing all but Nathan to
move aside.
"I surrender," Broadway added, pulling the clip from his weapon and
opening the action before presenting it to her.
Adrienne accepted the weapon without hesitation, then turned, holding
the weapon above her head as she met eyes with Adam.
Behind her, she could hear a second weapon releasing it's clip, and a
moment later Kristoph moved up next to her, passing her his weapon before looking to
where Adam was and waiting.
The yellow flag disappeared, reappearing a moment as white.
Adrienne turned back to the pair of generals, studying their eyes, "If you
betray us, I will kill you. I won't only kill you, but I'll torture you." she smiled.
Broadway and Kristoph just exchanged a look, then nodded slowly.
"Follow me," she muttered, gesturing for the men who were following
him to split.
Kristoph wasn't the only person surprised that she told them directly to
split. They obeyed instantly, but Broadway and Nathan continued to stare.
"Follow me," she repeated, turning to meet their eyes, studying them a
long moment.
No words were spoken as the previous leaders of Sin followed a new
leader back into Black Eden.
|