Freezing

The Brink of Extinction

"Why is it always you? Why can you not let someone else stand and stay with me?"

"In this world, at this very time if you don't stand for something, then you'll fall for anything."

The sound of voices nearby made Varen open his eyes slowly and blink a few times to adjust to the light peeking through the tent. He laid staring up at the ceiling of the tent for a few minutes letting his body grow accustomed to being awake. He glanced to the side and saw Arnette still fast asleep curled up under her blanket. She looked peaceful and content while she slept. He turned his head the other way and found that the peacefulness of Arnette was the only peace in that tent.

"Get back in bed!" Leo ordered pointing a finger. Ingrid stood toe to toe with him her face twisted in anger.

"And I said I'm fine! There's a lot of work to be done and I can't be absent!" She yelled back.

"Ingrid, you were seriously hurt in the battle. You should rest, we can take care of it." Ticy said holding her hands out to try and calm the red head.

"Varen left me in charge and trusted me to keep things going in his absence. I can't let him or any of the others down." Ingrid argued.

"He's back now, and he came back because he was worried about you. He would want you to rest too, I'm sure of it." Abel added making Ingrid's eye twitch.

"I said I'm fine." She challenged and Varen finally sat up yawning. They stopped their argument and looked over at him. He gave a wave and smiled sheepishly.

"Lay back down, that's an order." He said continuing to smile broadly. Ingrid's eyes widened for a moment before she swallowed her pride and sulked back to her bed and sat down. She crossed her arms defiantly clearly upset at his order. She was only wearing a pair of small shorts and tank top which made her injuries more prevalent. Bandages were wrapped around various parts of her body from the multiple bullet wounds she had sustained. Being a Pandora meant that her recovery rate was drastically higher than a normal person, but there was no doubt that she had to be in some form of pain still.

"Thanks Varen, good morning." Leo said breathing a sigh of relief.

"Didn't you make me the commander? I outrank you!" Ingrid yelled and Varen rolled his eyes.

"You refused and pushed the braid back to me when I offered it. Go to sleep." He answered back quickly. She huffed and fell back on the bed dramatically. Despite her anger he smiled shaking his head.

"Didn't think you two would ever wake up." Ticy joked nodding towards Arnette.

"Must have been more tired than I thought. Sorry about that." Varen answered. It wasn't a lie; he had been extremely tired. He left out the fact about meeting with Arnette in the middle of the night. For over an hour they had just stood in the rain holding each other until returning to their beds.

"Sister Margaret wants to meet with us this afternoon to discuss future plans. Dr. Aoi and the Chevalier Pandora who defected will be present as well." Ticy said and Varen nodded reaching down into a bag near his bed and grabbing a uniform shirt.

"I suppose I'm far too weak to attend right?" Ingrid asked from under her blanket.

"We can make an exception so long as you rest now." Varen answered. He couldn't see her, but could sense her mood brighten a little.

"Amelia and Roxanne are already working with the medical staff treating injuries. Cassie and Kyoichi went with Elizabeth and Andre to salvage anything from the facility they can. They are hoping to find some working medical equipment and use portable generators to get it up and running." Ticy explained.

"Alright, I'll lend a hand wherever is needed. I just need to stop somewhere first really quick. Where is Sister Margaret?" Varen asked.

"There's a command center setup in the main plaza where the Nova attack happened." Leo answered and Varen nodded.

"Sounds good. Let her rest too, it's been a very up and down couple days for her." Varen said looking back at Arnette.

"Will do." Leo answered. Varen stopped next to Ingrid's bed and patted the blanket she was huddled under.

"I'm very glad you're safe." He said.

"I'm very glad you came." She answered quietly from under the blanket. He smiled and stood straight heading for the door of the tent. The sun was bright and he had to shield his eyes for a few moments. Puddles of water from the last night's storm were spread out all around the area. He stopped to shake hands or hug the students he came across. There was a look of relief on their faces when they saw him.

It took a bit of time to reach the place he was searching for. Ever since Ingrid had mentioned that the black haired Pandora stood transfixed in one spot before they attacked he wanted to confirm his suspicions. Now, he stood in what was left of the Nightingale's plaza. The marble statue with all the victims of the West Genetics Nova attack had their names on that statue. It still stood untouched from the attack almost as if it had been avoided purposefully. He crouched down in front of it finding what he was looking for and frowned. He ran his fingers over Chiffon's name that had been added after her death in Spireach. It was nearly unreadable since someone had scratched all over her name. It was the only damage on the entire statue, and he was confident he knew who that someone was.

A few hours later he found his way to West Genetics central plaza. A large amount of faculty was bringing supplies and stacking them in various areas. He pushed the flap of a large tent aside and stepped inside. The group of people that were inside looked up from the table that had been leaning on. Varen took a breath and approached as Sister Margaret met him halfway.

"Hello commander. Thank you for coming." She said shaking his hand.

"I'm sorry I'm late." He answered nodding towards everyone still at the table. They were comprised of everyone on his team that had come back from Kipswitch. Gengo Aoi, Elizabeth, and Roxanne still looked down at the table. Ingrid, Leo and three Chevalier Pandora he recognized from the night they celebrated Ticy's joining rounded out the rest.

"Think nothing of it. Come, we are mapping out the defensible positions we still have." Sister Margaret said guiding him towards the table. A large map of the facility was rolled out over the table with various colored flags pinned in different sections.

"I still feel that alternatives need to be considered." Elizabeth said.

"We cannot abandon West Genetics. At all costs it must not fall into Chevalier's hands." Gengo answered.

"Thousands of Chevalier military will hit this place if we stay. We number in the hundreds. Many of which are injured. West Genetics is not functional and provides no militaristic or logistical benefit." Elizabeth argued back.

"Listen to me Ms. Mably. I don't doubt your intelligence or cunning, but if we lose West Genetics then all is lost." Gengo responded.

"This is our home. We dig in." Ingrid said.

"To what end? How long will we survive on what little supplies left? Staying here only serves to tip the scale further in their favor." Abel said.

"We know this place better than they do. We can use that to create advantages." Ticy put in.

"Know this place? There's nothing left of this place. Anything that we could have used has been destroyed." One of the Chevalier Pandora's said.

"Over two thousand Pandora will not be hindered by something as unfamiliar terrain." Another Pandora added.

"It sucks, but I have to agree. We stay here and we risk bleeding out from attrition. Lack of supplies, appropriate medical attention, and other necessities will not only be our undoing, but kill morale." Roxanne conceded.

"We cannot let them take this facility!" Gengo shouted slamming his fists down on the table. Everyone fell silent for a few moments looking down at the map.

"What do you think?" Arnette asked looking at Varen. He ran his hand over the map tracing a path from the central plaza to the main gate and stopped. He grabbed a small red flag and stuck it just outside the gate on the map. Sister Margaret looked at him quizzically as he took his hand back from the flag.

"Right here. Win or lose, we fight them right here." He said. Elizabeth's mouth hung open and she narrowed her eyes.

"You want to fight thousands of Pandora out in the open?" She asked.

"No, but I want Royal Blood somewhere they can't hide." He answered.

"Varen, there is literally only a few hundred of us. You would never even see them before we were annihilated." Elizabeth said.

"They wouldn't pass it up. You wounded Claire didn't you?" Gengo asked Arnette. She nodded slowly.

"Yes, I did." She answered.

"Then they will fight. Neither of them can be content to sit by and watch. Especially against you two." Gengo continued looking between Varen and Arnette. Elizabeth shook her head.

"So, the rest of us die to the overwhelming odds and they die to those two science experiments gone wrong?" She snapped.

"No more running Elizabeth. Not this time. She killed Attia…I won't let her get away with it." Arnette answered.

"You do this and you'll be joining her shortly I can promise you that." Elizabeth said clearly losing her temper. She regretted it the moment she said it, but it was too late to take it back. Arnette glared at her before turning and leaving the tent. Elizabeth ran behind her to catch up.

"What is wrong with you?" Elizabeth shouted running in front of Arnette.

"Get out of my way Elizabeth!" The red haired Pandora shouted back taking a step forward.

"Do you think running in there will change anything? Do you?" Elizabeth yelled back.

"I said get out of my way!" Arnette shouted back.

"We all made our choice! There's no going back now!" Elizabeth yelled grabbing the red haired Pandora by the arms.

"How can you be so cold…you were her friend!" Arnette growled slapping Elizabeth across the face. Elizabeth staggered back in shock holding her cheek.

"Arnette…" She trailed off as another hand connected with her face.

"We were a family! Don't tell me to calm down or to just accept it!" Arnette was now screaming frantically.

"What are you going to do then? Throw your life away for no reason?" Elizabeth answered with tears in her eyes. She still held a hand to her cheek from where Arnette slapped her.

"I won't let it end like this. We've come too far." Arnette spat and Elizabeth grabbed her arms once more shaking her.

"She's dead!" Elizabeth shouted. Arnette shook with anger and she shoved Elizabeth back away from her.

"What do you know? You left us! You don't know what we went through! The sacrifices we all made! Now you show up and think you can order us around? Where were you Elizabeth huh? Where were you when we all decided to give up our lives to save Amelia? Where were you when we fought and bled to free her? Where were you when we learned what it was like to be happy for a short time?" Arnette screamed advancing on Elizabeth shoving her again.

"Arnette…" Elizabeth tried to say, but Arnette pushed her against a wall and put her face against hers.

"Where were you when we fought as a family to keep each other safe? When Attia made the choice to die for us…where were you Elizabeth?" Arnette said. It was in that moment that Elizabeth understood that Arnette had changed. She had always been rash, and unpredictable, but under it all was a girl desperate to be the best. The Arnette in front of her now, was no longer that girl. She was strong, and fearless. In that one moment Elizabeth knew that Arnette had become what she had always wanted to be.

"I'm sorry Arnette." Elizabeth said. Arnette stepped back and looked at the blonde Pandora.

"Yeah, I bet you are. We made it this far without you, perhaps we're just better off that way." Arnette said walking away leaving Elizabeth on the verge of tears. Varen leaned against a wall nearby out of sight with Roxanne next to him.

"By the time Chevalier gets here we may have already killed each other." She said grimly and Varen could not find a way to argue.