Elena

Once again I woke up earlier than I was supposed to, which is surely the result of a restless night I had. I don't know if it's because of my worries that never seem to leave me alone for too long or because I still haven't got used to sleeping in a different place. I'm grateful I don't have a roommate, it would be a lot harder for me to conceal my tattoo.  Granted, some soldiers have flats big enough for two people while the others have rooms built for only one person and I was lucky to get a room.  I used to share a flat with Alex and I do miss him at times, but now that I discovered the joys of living alone, I wouldn't trade it for hours of pointless banters with him so easily.

After making sure to put on a long sleeved sweatshirt to hide my tattoo, I make my way toward the mess hall, my stomach yearning for breakfast.  The food is surprisingly good and I'm pleased there's enough for everyone, it means Hazard has good connections with people in the North who deliver it.  Some are working on farms and similar, growing food for themselves and us, some are delivering food from the countries in Europe and Asia where the war is mostly over, and some is produced here in a few working factories, but only in the far corners of the country, away from the war zone.

I take one of the trays on the pile and stand in line, starting to place the food from the counter on it as people slowly move forward.  It's mostly healthy, consisting of fruits and vegetables, and even though I'm not the biggest fan, I'm never taking any food for granted.

I scan the room, spotting Alex chatting with Louis and Niall, my feet carrying me toward them. I'm glad to see he's getting on well with everyone he's met so far, the last thing we need are problems.  We haven't been assigned to any missions yet and maybe it's for the best, especially if a mission includes a fight versus Vortex.  It'd be best for us to keep a low profile for now until we gain some trust from the people in Hazard, considering they'll see our tattoos eventually.

I slide into the empty seat in front of Alex, right beside the guy I believe is Liam. I notice he has identical piercings as H; a lip ring and a metal bar beside his eyebrow; plus a snake bite below his lips.  There are various tattoos peeking underneath his black v-neck, swirls of ink decorating his neck and arms. His eyes are a lovely shade of brown, his cheeks covered with a slight stubble.

"Hey, El," Louis greets me, his mouth full of food, his cheeks puffy.

I smile and give him a slight wave. "Aw, you're so cute."

"I'm cute as much as I'm lethal," Louis deadpans, his tone filled with humour. "Remember that."

"You're the knife girl, right?" A female voice says, my focus shifting on a girl beside me.  She appears to be my age, her dark eyes observing me with interest. I do the same, taking in her ebony skin, full lips, and short jet black hair.

"Excuse-- oooh the knife girl, haha I get it," I reply, laughing nervously. "That would be me. Name's Elena, but you can call me whatever you'd like, everyone gives me a nickname anyway."

"Alright, El it is," she says with an amused smile, making Louis mutter "hey, that's my nickname for her". "I'm Jess, by the way."

"Alright, Jess it is," I say, slowly starting to eat my food as my stomach seems to agree with my decision. 

"So you threw a knife at H," she says, her voice quiet. "Damn, I wish I could've seen that. Why do things always happen when I'm not around, damn it."

"Yeah, not my best moment, especially since it was my first day," I say. "I was angry, so I reacted."

"It's baffling you're still here after that," she says, grinning. "Since I missed it, maybe you could demonstrate it again?" 

"Maybe if he pisses me off again, I'll throw two. Or ten. I'll get back to you on that one," I joke and she laughs.

"Liam, tell us about your last mission, how many did you take down?" Niall asks him, gaining everyone's attention. "I hope it was bloody."

"None actually, we just made sure to keep them out of our territory," Liam replies, munching on his sandwich.

Niall's nose wrinkles, his eyebrows frowning. "Aw, man, so no blood? No horrific screams? No--"

"Settle down, blonde satan," H suddenly interrupts, sliding in a seat next to Liam, making sure to pat him on the head while Liam flips him off.

"Who were you talking about?" I ask. I like to let people who like to talk do just that, finding out all the crucial information that way. 

"Vortex soldiers, babe," Niall replies, giving me a small smirk. "I'm Niall, by the way."

"I know, babe," I reply, not really enjoying the term he used. "I'm Elena."

"I know." He winks, taking a bite of his meal. "Pretty name for a p--"

H groans loudly. "Fuck, can you not? We've heard that thousand times, she's probably heard it thousand times, think of something original already or just use your hand."

Wow. I snort, almost choking on my food, letting out a few coughs, muffling them with my fisted hand. I feel Jess' hand patting me on the back and I nod, signalling her it's okay. I clear my throat after I manage to swallow the bite, glancing at H who seems to be amused with my reaction.

"Cockblock," Niall mutters under his breath while all of us burst into a chorus of laughter.

"What were you talking about before the wanker flirted with my baby sister?" Alex asks Liam.

"Stop calling me that, we're the same age," I tell him, rolling my eyes. "As in twins," I add when Louis sends me a questioning look.

"Well, someone had to get out first," Alex retorts while pointing to himself and muttering, "I'm a born winner."

"Yeaaah. . . you guys totally look alike," Louis comments, his eyes flicking back and forth between us in a confused manner.

"Newsflash, nonidentical twins do exist, Chipmunk," H cuts in, peeling off a banana while Louis glares at him.

I laugh lightly at his remark, liking this carefree side he's shown. Granted, I've only been here for three days, but I have managed to see his angry, annoyed, and the one that surprised me the most – his vulnerable side.  His episode yesterday was something I have definitely seen a few times, even experienced myself, so it wasn't hard to conclude how to calm him down.

"Fuck, we're back to that nickname?" Louis exasperates. "What is it with you and your obsession with animal nicknames?"

"They're funny," H replies, shrugging. "And fun. . . to me." His lips pull in a satisfied smile.

"Okay, can we focus on me and my story?" Liam says. "As I was saying, we forced them out of our territory.  In the past few days, they've been mostly scouting near our borders, not really starting a fight or anything. It's strange since they would usually open fire and shit would go down. We have no idea what are they after."

I tense immediately, noticing Alex's stiff posture as well. They probably haven't got a clue we're in Hazard, but I still can't help but feel anxious.  We're expecting to stay here for at least two or three months.

"Well, it's the end of the month and it's time for the monthly delivery, twats are probably waiting to attack at the right moment," Niall comments, rolling his eyes. "They never know exactly which day and where the delivery will take place, so they observe."

"Monthly delivery?" Alex asks. "I'm sure there's a period joke in there somewhere. . ." he mutters and I kick his leg under the table while Louis laughs, coughing lightly.

"Well, yeah, how do you expect us to live for another month? We get our supplies once a month," Niall explains. "We have very good connections with deserter groups living in the North."

"Yet no one grows weed," Louis deadpans, sighing heavily.

"I feel you," I blurt out without realising, noticing all eyes are on me now. "What, sixteen-year-old me loved it."

"Anywaaay, today we'll go scouting earlier so we can be like surprise bitches--" Liam starts when H clears his throat.

"Liam, do not share classified information with the people who don't belong here," he warns him, glancing at Alex and me.

Everyone goes silent before Liam mutters a quiet "yes, sir".  The sudden change in the atmosphere hits me like whiplash, my stomach churning.  H stands up abruptly, a deep scowl etched on his face as his eyes flick back and forth between Alex and me, clearly sending us some kind of silent warning. He then straightens his posture and walks out of the room.

I understand why doesn't he trust us and I don't blame him, but I can't help but feel bothered. His behaviour comes strictly from his prejudice toward us.  We'll have to work extra hard to prove ourselves and not mess up or we might get kicked out. David has promised us protection as long as we stay out of trouble, so that means even more effort.

"Don't worry about him, he's rude in the morning. . . and most of the day actually, but really, he's a sweetheart once you get to know him," Niall tells us. I only smile weakly and we continue to eat our meals in silence.

. . . .

"I'm starting to think you're only good at throwing knives," Tori stares down at me, her hands on her hips. "You can do better than ten push-ups."

"Push-ups are not my thing," I defend as I lie on my back on the mat, not bothering to move. "Also, I'm slightly out of shape, so I rely on my knives and guns to save my ass. Push-ups can only kill me, not save me."

"You're impossible to train," she says and sighs, lowering herself onto the mat next to me. "You know, you're supposed to follow my orders since you're new here, right? But I like you, so I'm letting it slide."

"I'm not good with following orders, anyway," I reply, smiling. "Do you ever go to missions? Or are you strictly a trainer? I don't understand how things work here."

"No, each of us gets different tasks every week. One week you train, the other you guard the base in shifts, and the third you go on missions."

"Everything is so organised here," I note. "So many rules to follow." Or break in my case.

"H came up with the system and it's working great for us."

"What is his role here? I mean, David is the leader, yet everyone also follows H."  I've been wondering about it for a while, I've never encountered more than one leader of a base, if I can even call him that.  Granted, there are always people closest to the leader, people who everyone respects for certain reasons, but the leader is still the one making all the decisions.

Tori clears her throat uncomfortably. "It's a bit complicated."

I nod, deciding to drop the subject since I know when some kind of line has been crossed. "Alright, I need to punch stuff," I say as I stand up. "I need either a sparring partner or a punching bag."

"There are plenty of training rooms outside with punching bags," she says as she stands up. "All the rings are taken, besides everyone is busy looking at Liam and Louis who are fighting." She laughs, pointing behind me.

I turn my head, an amusing sight of Louis dodging Liam's punches coming into my view.  When Louis delivers a punch to Liam's jaw, he stands on his tippy toes so he can match his height, shouting "fight me" in his face. I can't help but laugh, I wish I had a camera.

"As much as this is amusing, I'll go find an available training room," I announce, slowly making my way out of the room.  The hallway is spacious, plenty of rooms coming into my sight, sounds of exercise machines clattering echoing around me. I start checking the rooms one by one, realising that all of them are taken. I prefer working out alone without any distractions.  I finally stumble upon a closed training room, my hand reaching to open the door and peer inside cautiously. It's very neat and empty unlike the others, stashed with a few water bottles and clean white towels. Bingo.

Once I enter inside, I walk toward a shelf stocked with training gloves, teeth protectors, and other similar items, my hand grabbing a pair of gloves. They're a tad too big for my hands, but it'll do.  My feet carry me toward the centre of the room where a big black punching bag is hanging. I smile and crane my neck to the left then to the right, finally taking a swing and punching the bag.  I completely lose myself in training, releasing all of my pent up energy as minutes slowly tick by.

"Hell no, get out," H's voice booms behind me, startling me.

My body turns, my chest heaving. "Excuse me?" The sight of him standing shirtless with his black shirt in his bandaged hand surprises me, my eyes shamelessly scanning his body.  A silver cross neckless I haven't noticed before is hanging around his neck, falling between his two swallow tattoos inked under his clavicles.  His torso and arms are filled with tattoos of all designs and sizes, leaving a few patches of his skin untouched. His black sweatpants are hanging lowly on his hips, revealing a band of his boxers underneath.

"Wow, I bet I'd be naked if you could strip me with your eyes," H remarks. "This is my personal training room," he continues, eyeing me. "Wait. . . you did not use my towel and drink my water, what the fuck."

"My bad," I shrug as I finally look him in the eyes, my fingers curling around the bottle on the floor beside me, my hand bringing it to my mouth and I take a swig. "Oh, I'm sorry. Want some?"

He grits his teeth, his eyebrows pulling in a deep frown. "Don't play with me, soldier," he says, taking a step closer. "Who even are you? Why are you here? What are your intentions?"

Oh, so that's the problem. "David explained the situation to you, no need to be paranoid. I'm not a psychopath, I just love knives." I pull my lips in a fake smile.

"Funny, I love guns and what can they do to people."

"Too bad you don't have one. Unlike me, I always carry a knife," I admit. It's a habit of mine ever since I was a little girl, it made me feel safe, and it also helped me get out of many dangerous situations alive.

My statement seems to surprise him, but he recovers quickly. "Hm, I'll remember that for future references," he says, his tongue sliding over his pierced lower lip.

"Should I be scared?" A challenging smile is forcing its way to my lips, but I bite on them to prevent it.

"Terrified," he says and I swear I see a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. "Go find another room, soldier."

"Yes, sir," I reply, making sure to leave the towel and the bottle in the room before I walk out.