Chapter 116: 116-Ian! Stop Looking At Me.
Clementine:
Ian looked at the three alphas behind me before his gaze finally landed on me. His eyes were oddly red, his nose and cheeks flushed, and I was sure it wasn’t just from the cold. There was sadness there, like he’d been through something.
"You fucker, you left her there and decided to come back?" Haiden pushed me aside to lunge at Ian. My body swayed, and Yorick stepped in quickly to catch me from behind, keeping me on my feet. At the same time, Troy lunged past us to grab Ian’s collar from the left while Haiden took hold of the right. I expected Ian to fight back, but he didn’t.
"Guys, let him go!" I shouted, breaking free from Yorick and stepping forward to gently push Troy and Haiden away. Now I was the only one facing Ian.
"I didn’t leave her behind," Ian defended. Even though he was looking at me, his words were for all of them.
"I left to smoke for a few seconds. By the time I came back, she was gone. I looked for her, then came back here to tell you we need to search for her. But when I found you gone, I figured you were already out there, so I went to the bathroom." His voice was heavy, tired, maybe both depressed and stressed.
"So you didn’t want to join our search, even when you were the reason she was left outside?" Troy asked, not about to thank him for the bare minimum of returning to say he’d lost me.
"She’s fine. Isn’t she standing right here?" Ian added, no cocky remarks, no smirk, no grin. Just a flat statement as he pointed at me, then stepped back. He walked to his bed, sat down, lowered his head, and buried his face in his hands.
"What happened?" I asked, noticing how the others glanced at him but didn’t speak, as if still unsure whether to ask if he was okay.
"I want to go back home," Ian said, nodding. That’s how I knew whatever information he’d gotten was serious, devastating, even.
"Okay, guys, let’s head to bed. We’re not gonna listen to this fucker cry about his pack issues," Haiden said, pulling off his shirt with one hand and winking at me. I always felt uneasy when he did that, especially shirtless.
The others started heading to bed too.
"Clementine, come on, go back to your bed," Yorick hissed, almost ordering me. I gave him a look before walking to my bed and sitting down. I didn’t lie down; I stayed sitting, legs dangling over the edge like Ian’s.
"Bad news?" I asked.
Ian, gripping the edges of his bed with his head down, only nodded. His black hair shifted slightly with the movement.
"Maybe if we finish this mission soon, we’ll be able to head back home," I said, feeling guilty because we were supposed to be fighting for our rights. How had we just accepted the mission without going back? Or maybe the mission was that important, maybe the monster really was getting stronger.
Ian finally lifted his head, meeting my eyes with the strangest stare he’d ever given me. Then, softly, he said, "Well, at least now I know there’s only one person in the world I can trust, that I can rely on."
After that, he lay down again without even taking off his jacket or shoes. But his words gave me goosebumps. Did he mean me?
We woke up early in the morning and were taken to the main hall, where breakfast was served. Everybody was busy talking about the things they would do out there in the North. Obviously, the white squad was sticking together, and this time even the other squads were grouping up for the sake of safety, apart from the red squad. Oriana was sitting alone with her arms crossed over her chest, while her squad mates sat together discussing something.
After we finished breakfast, we were asked to leave, so we did.
"Remember everyone, the train will visit you in a week. You are supposed to slay this monster within that time. Also, don’t forget the other instructions, like taking a route that will help you find your way back to the station. As much as we would like to send our train back non-stop, sadly we cannot. We cannot let those monsters board the train. I hope you understand. Now, best of luck."
This was the first time Miss Rue made an announcement as she stood before us. I could tell the others did not like that she was allowed to speak today. Usually, Mr. Rick and Ms. Lenora handled the announcements. They act as if they are the ringleaders of the ringleaders. And then there were other squad ringleaders. I could already tell they did not care who took the lead.
I also heard that the ringleaders of the blue and green squads were not very satisfied with their crusaders. That was saddening because we were not there to satisfy anyone. We were here to fight for our lives and save many others.
"Now, please board the train." Miss Rue stepped away with the other ringleaders. Our squad had been very quiet since last night. I noticed Ian did not make any comments or jabs at anyone, but he also did not eat breakfast. He didn’t eat dinner either, so I wasn’t sure what he was thinking. I understood he was angry and wanted to protest, but this would only be harmful for him. Going out to fight with no energy and no food in his system, I felt like he wasn’t thinking very clearly, especially when he was angry.
"I hope we all make it back home this time," Troy whispered under his breath. We all looked at him and nodded. We were running low on energy after losing so many squadmates, and now it felt more personal, knowing them better made the thought of losing them even more devastating. Then my eyes landed on Ian, and I noticed he was looking at me. It was a very odd look.