Ella

In the morning, Dean and I tell Mark and Carol what we seen. Mark attempts to look calm, but Carol doesn't quite take it as well. I don't actually blame her this time, for that might be us soon, lying on the table and getting turned into a monster.

However, Dean and Carol find a way to get into another argument, and I decide to slip out and find Hunter, wanting to discuss this with him. He thought we were safe, that they wouldn't do this if anything was to go wrong, but he himself was wrong. I don't even get how anyone could possibly assume this was remotely a good idea. The dread I first felt coming here, doesn't compare to the dread eating away at my stomach right this very moment.

Again, I don't know where Hunter will be, but it always seems as if we find each other no matter what. It reminds me of the relationship we used to have, the one that wasn't tainted with blood and secrets, the one where we were open books to each other. Those are the days I want to go back to, the days I could wake up and find my family getting ready for work, find the scent of the factories making automobiles around us, the bustle of everyone in school. I'd do anything for one more day of that.

The base doesn't look as crowded today. Either that, or people decided to stay in their rooms. I hope it's the latter, the idea of them killing off more people sends me into a frenzy, and I have to stop and tell myself it will be okay.

"Something wrong?" I hear after a moment of clenching my fists, my eyes closed as I tell myself everything will be fine.

Opening my eyes, I look up into the helmet of a guard, the mask on the helmet shielding his face from letting me see who he is. "No," I breathe. "I can't find my friend," I lie, even though it's partially true.

"What's your friend's name? Maybe I can help you." He doesn't sound like he's about to experiment on me, so I decide to tell him the truth.

"Hunter, he's a Guard here," I admit.

"Hunter? You're friends with him?" He begins to chuckle, as if this is a funny situation. "Missy, there are four Guards on this base named Hunter, and I couldn't see any of them be friends with a kind looking girl like you." I could tell he was only being friendly, but his words burned into me like acid.

"I can guarantee you, if you were to ask the one I'm talking about, he'll tell you I'm his friend." I can't see his eyes under the mask, to tell me if he's a Norovian or a human, but neither of that matters anymore. I've come to the conclusion that maybe we're all the same. Maybe we all want the Earth to ourselves, maybe we're all selfish, maybe we're all brave, maybe we're all cowards. Who really know?

"Last name?" He asks after a moment of awkward silence.

"Of him, or me?" I question, before he laughs.

"Him."

"Jones," I tell him, before the silence engulfs us again.

"Missy," he sighs after a long minute. "If you were to say any other Hunter, I would have believed you, but saying Jones is a friend of yours, is a long shot."

"I'm. Not. Lying." I say between breaths, getting irritated and curious as to why he doesn't believe Hunter is my friend.

"Fine. I'll take you to him," I can almost hear the sneer in his tone. "But if he tells you he doesn't know you, we might have a little problem for you taking up my time." I want to tell him he was the one that asked what the matter was, it wasn't like I forced my issues onto him. Nevertheless, I follow him down a hallway, while we take far too many lefts and rights that I lose count. I begin to grow weary, wondering if Hunter really is down here, or if this man is just bringing me down here for another purpose altogether.

That fear quickly subsides away, when he stops at a door, and pushes it open, calling out Jones in the process. Inside is a room full of bunk beds and a bunch of Guards getting dressed in their uniforms, while I try not to look at any of them.

"Yes, Reed?" That familiar voice speaks, and I look around until I see him walking up to us, while tucking his shirt into his white uniform pants at the same time. "Ella," he breathes, and Reed lets out a laugh.

"She does know you? I thought she was feeding me a line of bull." The man laughs, but there is nothing funny inside of Hunter's eyes, and Reed soon stops. "Alright. She was looking for you, so I though I'd make it easier to just bring her here," he explains himself, and I wonder if Hunter is over him. I wonder if when Hunter killed those radicals, if they put him in a high position. All these possibilities make my head swim.

"Thank you. You can leave now," he dismisses Reed, and I see that I might actually be right.

When Reed closes the door behind him, I hear a few whistles go across the large room, before comments come out-- "Jones, who is this piece of meat?"

"Where can I get me some of that?" Someone asks.

"I want someone to start looking for me, so they can be brought down here," someone else comments and a few people laugh.

"Enough!" Hunter shouts, quieting them all down, even though I'm already embarrassed. I almost wish Dean was here instead of Hunter, he'd level all those men on the floor in a blink of an eye for what they've just told me. Hypocrite I tell myself. Dean could tell me whatever, but nobody else could. "What's going on? Are you okay?" He asks me, worry flooding his brown eyes, and I want to hug him. I want to be ensured that this really is my Hunter, and so I decide to do just that.

Before I can even get out a word, my arms wrap around him, holding him tightly against me, like I never want to let go. He doesn't even hesitate, he just hugs me back, and I feel so safe. I miss you, I want to say, but I keep quiet.

"I'm fine," I assure him as we pull away, "I just need to talk to you." He nods, before telling the guys in the bunker that he'll be right back.

"Are you over them?" I ask as we walk out of the room. "They seem to listen to you."

"Yeah, I am," he replies. "Now, what's going on?" He asks, and I tell him everything I seen. "I heard a few things about what happened last night, and I had a feeling that's what you wanted to talk about. I heard it didn't go well by a few other Guards. It's not right, I'm sorry, Ella, I really thought they had it under control." There's a look of worry in his eyes, and I suddenly feel the urge to cry.

"It's not your fault, how would this be your fault?" I ask him softly.

"I have a high position here, Ella, I could have gave them my opinion, I should have stopped them."

"You didn't know it was going to turn out like this. Don't blame yourself."

"Really, Ella? Because if you were me, what would you do?" He asks, and I stay quiet, knowing I'd feel the exact same way he does. "Exactly," he sighs as he runs a hand over his face. "They plan on trying it again tonight, but this time, on a Norovian," he informs me.

"Are you going to try and stop them?" I ask, hoping he does the right thing this time.

"I already did, El, they told me that since I didn't stop them last night, they have to see this through. I was with them in the beginning, I can't back out in the middle, no matter how much I may want to. I'm sorry, I told you I should have confronted them last night." There's a look of shame in his eyes, and for the first time since coming here, the Hunter in front of me is the Hunter I once knew.

"We need to get everyone out of here, Hunter, we can't risk the lives of anymore people," I tell him, practically beg him.

"I know," he mutters. "I know, Ella."

"Meet me outside of my door tonight, okay? We need to get a plan to get everyone out, alright?"

"Okay," he replies, and I begin to walk away, before he reaches out and takes my wrist, stopping me. "Be careful, okay? And I promise you I'll get you out of here safely." The determination in his eyes, makes me smile through the pain of having to watch my best friend be someone else since I've been reunited with him. It's so nice to see him be this guy, the one I knew.

"I know you will," I say, before walking down the corridor and asking how to get back to my room, the left and rights still confusing me.

**********

When I get back to my room, all three of them are still sitting on the beds, and still arguing. "Stop," I huffs as I slam the door. "We have more on our hands then sitting around and arguing like children," I scold, not needing to hear all of this right now. If there's any moment where we needed to be a real team, it's right now.

"They're going to perform another experiment tonight, but this time on a Norovian," I begin, watching Dean's eyes darken upon hearing this small piece of information. "I told Hunter to meet me outside my room tonight, and he agreed. We're going to get everyone out. We're not going to let anymore people die, okay? And if there was any time we needed to be a team, that time is right now. We can't sit around and argue and fight, we need to be there for one another. We might not come out alive, but let's come out together, whether it be on the Earth or in another world in another life. Agreed?" I ask, hoping they're ready to do this, to put themselves on the line to save the thousands of people that are caged in these walls.

"Agreed," Dean says first, before Mark and Carol say it in unison. They're doubts on Carol's face, but she doesn't say anything else.

"Good," I remark, proud that we're working together, and sad that this might be the last time all three of us are together. No matter how annoying Carol is, I don't want anything to happen to her. I try to believe Hunter and his promise, but just because you promise something, it doesn't mean you can always keep that promise.