Chapter 33 #2
I lean back and search for a pulse again.
It’s there, but it’s faint. Guilt eats away at me.
The kid is in bad shape. I should have made us retreat the second I realized it was an ambush.
The rebels were always weak and unorganized.
They’ve never attacked us at this scale.
This was a coordinated effort. The plan had to be designed by a military strategist.
We’ve underestimated them. The Resistance is a lot stronger than we assumed.
We pull into the Forge. There are stretchers waiting for us along with a row of three doctors, five medics, and two aides.
The doctors approach me. They possess the highest qualifications in the field of medical science and also have the powers to back them.
Naturally, they flock to me, concerned by the blood that dampens my leg and head.
“Fix the boy,” I snap, pointing at Spider.
“You’re bleeding, Ender,” Knox says. “You need to get checked.”
“The team first,” I say.
This failure feels personal. I knew something was wrong when the heat signatures were masked. They were using a device to jam our signal.
There are two traitors. One warned them. And one was knowledgeable enough to understand the intricacies of war to convert a settlement into a kill zone. Or maybe they are the same person.
Knox escorts me to the clinic, despite my protest. I don’t want to be lying in a bed when my team needs me. I have to remain nearby.
Once we reach our destination, Knox forces me onto the mattress.
I wave off the unnecessary sedation, refusing to be put under.
I need to know how the others are. I need to know that Spider is okay.
His mother will bury me if anything happens to that boy.
I’ve met her before, and each time she didn’t fail to warn me of what would happen if any harm ever befell her precious boy.
Whoever did this will die, a slow, painful death.
Knox arrives with Haven trailing behind him.
“I came to check on you,” Knox says. “And Haven came to say ‘I told you so’.”
Haven marches forward.
“If you took me, you wouldn’t look like this,” she says with her little nose in the air. And then she so kindly adds. “You look like shit.”
“Get rid of her, Knox,” I grumble, looking out the window.
The last thing I want to hear when I’m being forced to stay in the clinic overnight is her insufferable voice. Haven yanks my chin back to meet her gaze. I hate that my skin burns where she touches me, that my eyes trace her face like a starving man.
I don’t know why my gaze seeks her out in every room I enter, nor why I’ve come to appreciate her weird sense of humor. Or why her mocking smile makes me feel special.
I feel something encompassing and drowning when I look at her. Something that pricks my heart like a thorn.
“I could have protected you,” she says.
I stiffen.
“You’re nothing but a weak Common,” I spit. “How could you save me?”
I don’t know where the words come from. The last thing I would ever call Haven Warrick is weak, but this is my second failed mission, and if you count the rescue mission, it’ll technically be my third. The Supreme Director is going to lose his mind.
Haven’s fingers drop, and my skin feels cold without her touch. I immediately regret the words when she spins on her heels and vanishes.
“Low blow.” Knox shakes his head disapprovingly.
“I don’t want to hear it.”
“She cares about what you think about her as a soldier. Her eyes light up when you praise her,” Knox chides. “I doubt her father was one to highlight her achievements. And you must have sounded just like him right now.”
His words make me feel worse than I already do. It’s clear to see he cares about her, and Knox, despite his friendly demeanor, doesn’t trust easily. We’re alike in that way.
It speaks volumes about her character that Knox chose to befriend her.
“Leave,” I bark.
Knox shoots me one last disappointed look before he vanishes. I lay my head back on the bed, letting out a frustrated growl.
This is all my father’s fault. Ever since he threatened me with solitary I’ve been on edge. It’s why I orchestrated this attack even though I don’t go after rebel settlements. I don’t like the idea of making children orphans. I had no intention of arresting the little ones.
There was a secondary plan on how to clear them safely, knowing that they would not be allowed to live due to that messed-up law my father passed.
Knox, Spider, and I agreed that we would protect the children.
Only the three of us knew about the extraction plan.
As much as I trust Black Star, Clover is much like her father, a stickler for the rules, and Orion is difficult to read.
Knox and Spider both have pretty big hearts, so it made sense for us to handle it.
I can see why the Supreme Director didn’t want to integrate them into the system. Why would someone serve the government that took everything from them?
It’s why I suspect Haven. Her mother was executed for conspiring against the government. Haven and Mercy had been present at the execution and watched their father condemn her. I can’t begin to imagine what kind of lasting impression that left on a child.
There is a high chance that Haven is my traitor.
But she isn’t the only person with a bad start in life; other recruits serve out of obligation rather than desire.
That is the problem with a government that executed more than it protected its citizens.
It led to hostility and uprisings. It created power structures like the Resistance.
I never agreed with my father’s ruling style. It was brutal and harsh. And it was the legacy he was preparing me for. One that I would be forced to uphold in the near future.