12-26-2014, 09:50 AM
The joke dulled the sting of her glare, but only encouraged him to try harder. "Smarter than the average bear, aren't I?"
She explained further about her job, details he appreciated. Her file described facts like a bullet-point list not an actual story. Violence, child-soldiers, poverty, illiteracy - Jay knew all about those things. They exemplified the kinds of countries he'd been deployed to dozens of times. But he was always careful to not assign a face, especially an innocent one, to those stories. The one and only time he did ended up getting him discharged from the marines.
Vanders and he exchanged nods. They already knew each other, of course. There were barely more than a dozen Legionnaires' present altogether. The emphasis Vanders put on the General's new title wasn't lost on Jay. Though he wondered if the sarcasm was Vanders' own or if it was adopted from Jacques' opinion of the situation. Jay didn't like the order, but his nod was compliance anyway. He'd chosen to put his trust in Jacques when he signed his employment contracts. Once pen was to paper, there was no doubting that loyalty now.
"Glad to know the country has a president again,"
he said, tone flat as Natalie's gaze. The other Red Cross workers didn't like the notion of abandoning the refugees. Cries filled his ears, but Jay couldn't look away. Children huddled around Natalie's legs, and Jay stepped away from her space to allow them the chance to cling to her and to avoid any latching onto him by accident. He wasn't sure what he'd do otherwise, but a crack fractured his heart when Natalie looked at him like she was silently begging for help.
Indoors, he finally pulled the aviators from his face and revealed eyes crimped with that inner-ache. "There's nothing I can do..."
he mouthed. He felt powerless. Like failing to hold back blood with the palms of his hands alone.
He swept his gaze around them once more, and took a quick head-count. "The General's troops don't know how many of you there are. But they'll begin searching any minute. If there's anything you want to leave behind, now's the time to hide it. They want free access to this refinery, and will likely cut down anyone standing in their way, especially if they are Temne."
She explained further about her job, details he appreciated. Her file described facts like a bullet-point list not an actual story. Violence, child-soldiers, poverty, illiteracy - Jay knew all about those things. They exemplified the kinds of countries he'd been deployed to dozens of times. But he was always careful to not assign a face, especially an innocent one, to those stories. The one and only time he did ended up getting him discharged from the marines.
Vanders and he exchanged nods. They already knew each other, of course. There were barely more than a dozen Legionnaires' present altogether. The emphasis Vanders put on the General's new title wasn't lost on Jay. Though he wondered if the sarcasm was Vanders' own or if it was adopted from Jacques' opinion of the situation. Jay didn't like the order, but his nod was compliance anyway. He'd chosen to put his trust in Jacques when he signed his employment contracts. Once pen was to paper, there was no doubting that loyalty now.
"Glad to know the country has a president again,"
he said, tone flat as Natalie's gaze. The other Red Cross workers didn't like the notion of abandoning the refugees. Cries filled his ears, but Jay couldn't look away. Children huddled around Natalie's legs, and Jay stepped away from her space to allow them the chance to cling to her and to avoid any latching onto him by accident. He wasn't sure what he'd do otherwise, but a crack fractured his heart when Natalie looked at him like she was silently begging for help.
Indoors, he finally pulled the aviators from his face and revealed eyes crimped with that inner-ache. "There's nothing I can do..."
he mouthed. He felt powerless. Like failing to hold back blood with the palms of his hands alone.
He swept his gaze around them once more, and took a quick head-count. "The General's troops don't know how many of you there are. But they'll begin searching any minute. If there's anything you want to leave behind, now's the time to hide it. They want free access to this refinery, and will likely cut down anyone standing in their way, especially if they are Temne."
Only darkness shows you the light.