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Reya was shaken awake by another member. She blearily opened her eyes, adjusting to the figure in front of her. Not too far from her, a figure clad in tattered clothes and was currently a mess, judging by the blood and dirt on their limbs. She raised her eyes. A tall blonde with their short hair tied up—albeit messily— with specks of blood on the person's neck. Striking but gentle hazel eyes, an upturned nose with a high bridge, a slim face, and built shoulders and arms. Who else could it be, except-
"Arnie, get your dirty hands off me. You haven't even washed up!" Reya exclaimed.
So much for the grand entrance. Reya slapped away Warner's hands, the man holding his hands up in response. Warner, the member who often made little weapons and trinkets for the others. He used to study engineering, after all.
"My bad. The group just got back from a mission, and we needed to wake you up for a meeting. Quite urgent." Warner explained calmly, unfazed by the "welcome" that was bestowed upon him. Reya reluctantly sat up, the ice pack on her back rolling off. It had long since melted, probably during sometime in her nap. Sighing, she walked out of the room, and there she reunited with the other members that just returned from a mission.
A slightly tall male with straight black hair and black eyes wearing a placid expression—Jun-Liang. Reya and Jun-liang often fought side-by-side in missions. Another person, shorter and sporting wavy brunette hair and blue eyes—Thalia— who's quite reliable when it comes to strategies and plans. Lastly, a tall figure that she was all too familiar with, having straight dark brown hair and green eyes—Evonie. The entire group was there together. Yet, Reya stared them down with an inscrutable expression before addressing each one of them with an irritated tone.
"Arnie, Jun, Lia. All of you better wash up before we start this meeting. And Ev, don't get me started on you. Why in the world did you let them get all the way here without telling them to wash up first?"
Evonie sighed and crossed her arms, mumbling in response, "I did. They're just too stubborn."
All in order, Reya had called out the members by their nicknames. They were created by Thalia, who thought it would be nice to have some nicknames for Warner and Jun-liang. Evonie had her nickname given by Reya many years ago, back when they were closer. Reya often called Evonie "Ev," but the other members felt odd whenever they used such a personal form of address, so only Reya continued using that form of address for Evonie. And of course, Reya didn't get the whole nickname thing and told them to just stick with 'Reya.'
Anyway, her fellow members began exchanging a few sighs. But they knew how filthy they currently were, and so they set down their things and washed up first. Once again, it was Reya and Evonie who were left together after having been in the base for a while already.
Reya cocked her head to glance over at Evonie, who decided to sit down at their meeting table—which, by the way, was just a simple white counter. It was rather quiet with just the two of them present—not that Reya felt the need to break the silence, though. After a thought, she decided to sit down on one of the chairs at the counter, settling down and flitting her eyes over the various pens, papers, and other objects strewn around. She picked up a pencil with downcast eyes, twirling it offhandedly.
"When did they get here?" She asked blankly.
Evonie rested her elbow on the table, propping her chin up with her hand as she looked at Reya.
"Not too long ago. I overheard them, they saw the kid in the other room, that's why we're having this meeting."
"Mhm. It was only a matter of time till they had to find out."
Reya didn't notice, but Evonie had been studying her expression for a while. With that tone, Reya seemed like she couldn't care less about the situation. However, Evonie knew Reya well enough to tell she was probably quite worried about that kid.
Reya suddenly remembered something, and she raised her downturned eyes to look straight at Evonie's.
"Also, what exactly were you doing at your dad's lab? You obviously went alone for a reason, and normally you would've waited for either Jun or I to come with you."
Evonie blinked, a strange flicker in her eyes.
"Ridiculous. What else could it be besides the usual research? And I don't always need to be accompanied. Don't forget, I'm a survivor of the apocalypse too."
"No… you don't go alone often—if even at all. Something's up-"
Reya was cut off when Jun-liang walked in with a freshly showered appearance, his damp hair slightly messy. He raised an eyebrow and slid onto a chair, situating himself right in front of the duo at the table.
"Damn, what's with the glares? What are you guys arguing about?" Jun-liang questioned them casually, his eyes narrowing at them to study their expressions.
Both Reya and Evonie stared at him blankly, slowly shutting their mouths. They subtly faced away from each other, their sour expressions written over their faces. Not a second too late to their silence, Warner had somehow snuck up from behind and ruffled Jun-liang's hair, water droplets flying around from his damp hair being messed with.
"What the hell, Arnie!? Don't touch me!" Jun-liang exclaimed, struggling against Warner.
Finally, Thalia arrived soon enough to catch this sight. Both men almost kissed the solid counter as Thalia shoved their heads straight down in a short motion.
"You guys are going to get the paper blueprints and plans wet!" The small woman scolded them unhesitatingly.
Reya watched this whole scene and decided to lean back on her chair, repressing a wince as she realised she had forgotten about the bruises on her back. She slowly straightened her back and began to settle down the noisy group.
"Just shut up already. Didn't you all wake me up in the first place for a meeting?"
Reya shot them a glare, her eyes cold with irritation. But all the group members were survivors who had just returned from a mission where they fought against ferals. Would her simple cold glare still be able to chill their scar-littered skin? Regardless, they decided to settle down and get to the matter at hand.
"We saw the kid in the guest room. She probably woke up a while ago. Mind explaining what in the world happened while you went on a solo mission?" Thalia started first, a lengthy sigh escaping her mouth. She was quite perplexed by the situation.
Reya thought for a moment on her encounter, eventually simplifying her explanation to keep it clear and short. After she finished speaking, the other members also took a moment to think. They didn't seem particularly against her actions. Reya just saw a child and saved her, after all. A survivor, just like them.
"Hm… When we scouted the area, we were sure there were no ferals. But honestly, we didn't exactly check for a survivor before we gave you the go signal." Warner mumbled, leaning forward on the counter.
"The kid was pretty timid and messed up. Something happened in the building, and we'll need to ask Fiora," Reya responded.
"Fiora?" Warner asked curiously.
"The kid. Her name's Fiora," Reya clarified quickly.
Thalia, having been in thought for a while, eventually spoke up as well.
"I think we should check out that building again, but we need to plan properly. It's better to directly question the kid about as many details as we can before we try entering again, at least she's already here…"
Evonie nodded at Thalia's suggestions, quickly hopping off her chair and excusing herself to call Fiora over. Not too long after, a scrawny kid walked out with her, looking quite rough. The child had messy hair and her once colourful clothing had been dulled by dirt. Her limbs held no open wounds, but had a few bruises.
Jun-liang stared at the kid, his eyes narrowing slightly. Being a fighter himself, he knew that the child had probably gotten into some struggle. No open wounds was a good thing, but bruises meant she either got hit by a few things or fought against something.
"Fiora, how old are you?" Jun-liang asked calmly.
Fiora stared at the group of people before her. The timid girl almost shrank away, but she grew back a little confidence upon seeing Reya. She stepped back forward and clenched her fist, replying clearly.
"I'm 9!"
Reya lazily ran her eyes over the kid, staring at her bruises and messy appearance. Thalia followed Reya's gaze and also noticed the same things.
"We can clean her up after questioning her," Thalia said. She then looked over at Fiora, eventually beckoning her to come closer.1
"Say, Fiora. Why were you in that building?"
The girl stared at the seemingly nice lady in front of her, blinking slowly. She eventually answered, taking a few pauses to articulate her thoughts every now-and-then.
"I… lived with my mama. She was very nice. But… then she started to act weird one day. She would become very angry and push me away, and she was always bleeding somewhere. Then one day, she locked her room and never went out again. I was very sad… I didn't want to leave her, so I stayed at home. But then she never came out of her room again."
The group exchanged looks with each other. So… her mother probably became a feral. Deciding not to prod at the story for too long, Thalia hummed and patted Fiora's head.
"Alright, Fiora. Thanks for telling us."
She raised her head and turned back to the other members, finally deciding on a solid plan.
"Alright, so we'll just have to deal with a new member, them. It's no use trying to find an overcrowded shelter to take her in. We might as well just have one more mouth to feed."
The others nodded. It wasn't like they were short of any rooms in the building that they currently stayed in. Evonie's dad had equipped the structure quite well. As for resources, they were easily able to scavenge for supplies. The reason they were able to be in the building in the first place was because they were also survivors who were found by Reya and Evonie. After a few more clarifications, they finished their meeting. They planned to return to the building the next day to see what they could find for research. Thalia and Evonie went ahead to clean and patch up the poor kid, while Reya and Jun-liang prepared for the upcoming mission.
According to their plan, Thalia, Reya, Evonie, and Jun-liang would go to the building to see what they could find. They were thinking of bringing back either a specimen to research or get some supplies. Warner would stay back to watch over Fiora, since he sustained quite a rough burn from their latest mission. One of the devices he had engineered had worked a little too well against a feral, and he was caught up in the small explosion. It would be best to let it heal without any more factors that could introduce infection.
And so, the rest of the day went on as it normally would.
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