Marked
Chapter 23

In the next few days, Rachel had a hard time focusing on training. Not only had Hector’s kiss left her frazzled but also confused since he’d been avoiding her ever since.

She understood the fear of getting close to someone only to lose them but it didn’t mean she wasn’t hurt by his reaction.

This morning, Racoon eyes was her partner again. She sported a fading black eye, one that Rachel had given her, which she used to scowl at her.

They practiced hand to hand combat and Rachel’s punches kept flying wild, missing.

Office Rodriguez came up besides Rachel and tapped her stomach.

“Swing from your core,” she ordered.

The sound of the door opening drew Officer Rodriguez’s attention away.

Blue mats appeared in the doorway, a pair of black boots peeking out from underneath.

“I was told you needed more training mats.” The voice said and Rachel recognized it immediately as Hector. Her punch flew wild, connecting with the side of Racoon eyes’ shoulder and pain shot through her wrist.

Beside her, Officer Rodriguez tensed.

For a moment she appeared to be glued to the ground, her face turning from sun-kissed to ash white, her entire body going rigid.

“Th-the mats?” She echoed.

“From the third training room. I was asked to bring them here.”

Beside Rachel, Rodriguez sucked in a deep breath and though the haunted expression hadn’t left her face, Rachel watched with curiosity as Rodriguez’s boots carried her in Hector’s direction.

With a moment’s hesitation, and as the others continued to spare around them, Rodriguez reached out to take the mats obscuring Hector’s face and tossed them to the side.

When Hector’s face emerged, it suddenly clouded over with a shock that mirrored Office Rodriguez’s. Identical masks of surprise stared back at one another; both of their tan complexions bleached by surprise.

“Y-Yalina?” He breathed.

“I can’t believe it.” Officer Rodriguez-whose name was apparently Yalina-muttered back. She reached up to stroke his cheek, her hand lingering on his face. “Your voice. I-I’d recognize it anywhere.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh, mi cielo.“* She continued just as a knot formed in Rachel’s stomach. “You’re alive.”

“Yalina--”

“Class dismissed.” Yalina barked, not even bothering to turn around.

Her eyes glued to Hector’s face in a way that only further twisted the knot that had lodged itself in Rachel’s stomach ever since she’d said his name.

Rachel sensed the others come to a stop, uncertainty dripping from them--and her.

“Go!” Yalina shouted.

Everyone filed out of the room, rubbing their sore muscles as they went.

Raccoon eyes even shot Rachel a hateful look as she passed.

Following the others reluctantly, Rachel was almost out of the room when she hesitated for a moment outside the door.

It was just in time to see Yalina throw herself into Hector’s arms, her arms snaking around his neck. She couldn’t see Hector’s reaction, but she could see a look of pure joy on Yalina’s face.

“I can’t believe it’s really you!” She cried and then she crushed her lips to his mouth.

Pain raced through Rachel’s chest.

Gritting her teeth, she spun and fled the room.

Her hand ached.

A lot.

And it was hard to pinpoint exactly which emotion she felt more strongly at that moment: embarrassment that she’d injured her hand, or jealously that Officer Rodriguez had had her mouth on Hector and that unlike with her, he hadn’t pulled away.

Jealousy won out, pooling in the pit of her stomach like a bellyache.

She cradled her hand against her chest while she made her way to the infirmary, trying to cast thoughts of Hector and Yalina swapping spit from her mind.

When she arrived, a woman behind a circular desk stood to greet her. “Hello, soldier. What are you here for?”

“I hurt my hand during drill. I just need some ice.”

The nurse turned Rachel’s hand over, prodding gently with her fingers but it still made her flinch.

“Looks like you broke something. You’re going to need more than just ice. Go into room three and I’ll have a doctor check you out.”

Rachel plunked down onto a cot inside room three.

Upbeat music streamed from unseen speakers in tune to the throbbing in her hand. She worked her legs restlessly, trying not to think too much but it was almost impossible not to.

Hector and Yalina knew each other well enough to kiss.

But why should it bother her, anyway?

It wasn’t like Hector and her had anything going on.

They were just friends.

He had made it perfectly clear on two separate nights that he wasn’t interested.

The swinging of a door drew her out of her thoughts as a doctor walked in, whistling.

She shook her head and focused on him.

After all, she could live without having feelings for someone but she couldn’t live without a functioning hand- not if she wanted to rescue the compound kids.

“Hello, Rachel. I’m doctor Everest and I heard you injured your hand during drill. Do you mind if I take a look?”

“Knock yourself out.”

Doctor Everest chuckled as he took and inspected her hand causing dimples to form on his chocolate brown cheeks.

“This is a nasty break, Rachel. Have you ever thrown a punch before?”

Offended, she pulled her hand away. “It’s not exactly polite to go around punching people, you know?”

“Yes, you are right about that.” He chuckled. “Here, hold your hand out. I’ve need to get an x-ray of it.”

Rachel did as she was told, though a bit grudgingly.

The doctor held out a small object, similar in size and shape to a book whose screen lit up green as he grazed it along the length of her hand without actually touching it.

A few moments later, an image of her bones popped onto the screen and Doctor Everest whistled.

“You’ve got a small break on your middle knuckle. It’s not serious but it’s going to hurt like hell for a while. We’ll get you taken care of and I’ll give you a note to excuse you from drill for a week or two while this heals.”

“What? No, you can’t do that!”

Dr. Everest eyed her with curiosity. “I’m afraid you won’t be able to participate with your hand like this. I’m sorry.”

“They’ll cut me out. Please, replace another way. I need this.”

"Why do you need this, Rachel?”

“Because,” She said. “They killed my brother and they kidnapped all the children from our home. I can’t live with myself knowing that they are in poacher hands. Please, Dr. Everest, don’t you have someone you would risk your life for?”

Dr. Everest pulled out a short, circular chair from under a desk and sat down, fingering the stethoscope around his neck. He had short hair that was cut close to his scalp and his face was smooth, with no lines and no blemishes though he looked well into his thirties. His skin was a rich shade of brown that reminded Rachel of milk chocolate and eyes to match.

He drew his eyebrows together and it was a while before he replied.

“I don’t really have any family left but I have patients that I would do anything for. I’d go to war for them in an instant, that’s for sure.”

“Then you’ll understand why you can’t take me out of drill.” She looked at him in the eye. “Please.”

“I admire your bravery Rachel but if you go back to drill it will be against my medical advice.”

“I’ll be fine. Just bandage me up and the rest will be my problem.”

The doctor chuckled, just a little sound of air, barely a chuckle at all. “As you wish.”

He got to work on Rachel’s hand.

A few moments later, she found him staring at the faux-mark over her forehead. “Charles’ handiwork, isn’t it?”

Rachel touched her fingers to the tattoo over her skin. “How did you know?”

“He did mine too. Old man was never very neat. That’s why mine looks like a two year old took a needle to my face.”

Rachel studied the mark over Dr. Everest’s forehead. “It doesn’t look that bad to me.”

“A few years and three tattoo artists later, this is what I’ve got. Stop by sometime and I’ll see if I can have someone fix yours up too. Especially if you plan on going into the city.”

“Thanks.” Rachel said.

“We’re all done here. Just remember. If this gets worse during drill, I tried to warn you. Though you don’t exactly strike me as the type to listen when it’s not what you want to hear.”

“You get me so well, doctor.” She said, with a cheeky smiled as she hoped off the cot, letting her leg muscles absorb the impact. “See you around.”

Rachel left the infirmary and for a moment she swayed on the balls of her feet.

Where to go next?

She could always head to the dining hall for some food. It should be around time for dinner- but then again, she ran the risk of running into Hector or Yalina. Or worse: Hector and Yalina. Sucking faces.

With that unpleasant mental image, she headed for the kitchen where she knew she would replace Simone.

Sure enough, she found both Simone and Pippa gathered around a wooden table, a crate of potatoes stacked next to them in a neat pile.

“Oh honey, what happened to you? Who am I murdering for this?” Simone asked as soon as she caught sight of Rachel’s bandaged hand.

“Drill.”

Pippa threw her head back and laughed. “I remember Tom’s first day of drill. He came back with a swollen nose and bloody teeth. I’m so glad I don’t have drill.”

“You should have seen the other girl,” Rachel said half-hardheartedly. It was hard to joke about it when she still felt bad about punching raccoon eyes in the face.

“And that ladies and gentlemen is why I don’t go around punching people.” Simone chimed. “But if they really deserve it, I guess I would kick them.”

“Or you could chuck a potato at them.” Rachel said as she picked up a potato. “Where do these come from, anyway? Aren’t we underground?”

“A state of the art, environmentally friendly greenhouse.” Pippa replied proudly.

Not knowing what a greenhouse was, Rachel sat down, outlining the freckled spots on her potato.

“Okay, what going on?” Simone asked, shooting her an expectant look.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re sulking and I’m pretty sure it’s not because of your broken hand.”

Rachel sighed.

She and Simone had been best friends for as long as she could remember and it wasn’t a surprise that she could recognize when she was in one of her moods.

“It’s stupid.”

“You can tell me, Ray.”

Rachel thought about giving her the condensed version, about how Hector and Yalina had kissed and how ever since she hadn’t been able to stop feeling like he had betrayed her somehow. But saying those words out loud would be to admit that she had feelings for Hector and she wasn’t ready to come to that conclusion.

So she settled for a half truth. “My drill officer sucks. She’s mean and terrible and I don’t like her.”

“Well you wanted to be a soldier so now you have to suck it up, honey.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Of course, I am, babe. I’m always right when it comes to these things. And something else I’m always right about? When you’re crushing on someone.”

Rachel cringed, dreading where this was headed.

“When are you two going to admit that you have a thing for each other?” Simone pointed her potato peeler at Rachel.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh please. You and Hector, always making googly eyes at each other, that’s what I’m talking about. He’s always got this look when he talks to you like he wants to hug you or kiss you and we can all feel the damn sexual tension so please make it stop and just kiss already.”

“You’re crazy and I think I’m gonna go now. I’m getting hungry.”

“No, wait for us! Our shift is over in ten and after we get food, we can go get you some new clothes! It’ll be fun.”

Rachel pursed her lips. “Okay, that doesn’t sound too bad.”

After Rachel helped Pippa and Simone pick up their section of the kitchen, they headed for the dining hall. As usual, the buffet line was overflowing with sights and smells Rachel had never before experienced.

They took a seat at one of the tables, Simone and Pippa chatting about the shortage of fashionable clothing at the bunker, whatever fashionable meant.

Mid-way through shoving a fork-full of creamy pasta into her mouth, a shadow came over Rachel. She looked up to replace Yalina standing there, one hand over her perfectly round hip.

“Do I need to request a replacement for you?”

“What?” Rachel said around a mouthful of food.

“Am I going to have to replace you?” She said, eyes zeroing in on Rachel’s bandaged hand.

Rachel swallowed and set down her fork slowly.

She stood and faced Yalina so she could look her in the eye.

Her dislike of her over kissing Hector aside, she was not going to let this narcissistic woman ruin her chances of getting into the city to save the compound children. She owed it to Jed- the one person she had wanted to save more than anything but had failed to do so.

“I’m fine. I’ll be at drill tomorrow.”

Yalina’s lip twitched at the corner and her brown eyes did a quick once over of Rachel from head to toe.

“You’ve been in drill for less than a week and you’re already broken. I was wrong about you. Maybe this just isn’t the right fit for you...”

Rachel was aware of Simone and Pippa’s open-mouthed expressions beside her but she ignored them. Across the room she spotted Juan and Hector sitting in a small group of guys and almost stammered when she realized Hector was watching their exchange.

Anger bubbled up inside her and she turned back to Yalina, “Nothing is going to stop me from becoming a soldier. Not this,” She said, lifting her broken finger. “Not you, not anything.”

Yalina shifted her weight and took a step closer.

“I’ve heard about you. The mountain people. Understand that nothing there could have ever prepared you for the real world. The way I see it, you’re just wasting my time.”

Rachel knew it was dangerous to antagonize her but she couldn’t help the hand that snaked out to catch her before she could walk away.

Yalina looked at her, face stunned.

“I can’t wait to prove you wrong.”