Hush in The Bush

To Seal A Bond

“Keep your gaze on them, and make sure they will stay here for good, up until they’ll forget what freedom truly means. They will gain their consciousness anytime from this moment. And, if anyone of them will get out, you know what to do.” The woman briskly said and left to survey the current state in their base.

When she got to her place, she slowly make the picture frame on her desk, beside the non-functional telephone to stand. It is a picture of their former leader, whom she owed her life. She glanced over the window and saw the present adjustment and progress. It is her purpose to make them grow and to live with it. She offered her life to nature and somehow it served its purpose to protect them. She loves the scenery – high and untouchable; the great barrier of bushes.

Seeing her reflection in the broken mirror, she brushed her rough fingers on the stitches that were behind her ears. The marks are slowly healing. She hummed a song. She doesn’t know where she got the rhythm, but it’s like it has been in her head since she was born. Like it was made for her. She narrowed her view to the vault that was underneath her working table. It is where she had hidden it. They took the first step and the only thing they need now is to capture the vital subject. Stealing, it would be precise for her to describe.

Meanwhile, Mr. Collens, Victoria and the other members of Magnify and Infinite were locked up down the cellar. They were currently inside a cubicle, scruffy and profane. Victoria gained her senses first and slowly opened her eyes to witness her team being held and disbanded. Most of them got those wounds from the arrows and are still continuing to bleed. Those people don’t care if someone will die.

She remembered that they will be having a celebration for taking them. There was a single lamp from the other side, the only thing that gives them light, other than that, their surrounding was in total darkness. They couldn’t see or trace any of the group that attacked them a while ago. Victoria turned her face and saw Mr. Collens beside her who was still unconscious. His head was drenched by his own blood.

All of their hands are tied at their backs as well as their feet by ropes. The pungent smell from the other cell had revisited them, making her to puke. It’s forbidding. She couldn’t move properly as her waist was wounded. She tried moving towards the man and started to give him some small kicks on his left leg. It would be enough for him to be alert if she continues to do it.

“M-Mr. Collens, wake up…wake up.” She said and continued to snap him off. The old man groaned in pain and slowly opened his eyes. Reality had struck him. Perhaps, it has been like this since then. It was just hard for him to accept that this is how the world is for them now. It took him months to realize that. That the thing he has lived by is his positivity on things and the hope that it will be okay soon enough. But now, he felt heavy and he just want to give up. He looked around him and saw Victoria and the others. Their desperate worn-out faces have told that they wanted to escape the place and return to their families.

“W-where are we?” Mr. Collens asked as he deal with the pain on his back. His voice was still rough.

“We’re in their basement. I don’t know how many hours we have been here…”

“Oh, I guess the well-known Infinite or another group of Trinity are wide awake now. Did you loosen up your pride now that you’re here inside our territory?” A man’s voice suddenly lingered in the mere darkness, then came out a chortle, vibrating the whole place.

“Who are you? Don’t be such a coward and show yourself.” Victoria said in a browned off manner.

The man walked towards them and stopped just before the light could touch him. “There’s no need for me to show myself. You wouldn’t want to see my face. Anyways, I’m sure you all will be looking forward to escaping this sickening place of ours, but make yourselves comfortable, because you’ll stay here for a while…maybe in years.” The man snortled and clapped his hands with his own amusement. “Isn’t it fun seeing you here with us?” He added.

“F*ck you, asshole. The others will come here and get all of you dead.”

“Oh god, I’m really scared and threatened. Stop with your rubbish cr*p, woman. You’re totally in delusion. If you think your other members will come here, do you think they already been here tied up with you? Don’t expect too much from your organization. They are as selfish brats as those being taken by the devil itself. You’re way too boring just like your old hag leader. I guess our chitchat is now over, I’ll visit you later. Adios amigos!” The man said and closed the door immediately.

The silence was unbearable for them. Anger was reflected in Victoria's eyes, but she felt like a coward to her own. She couldn't even save herself.

“A-are they going to kill us?” One of their members asked Victoria. Her body is shaking as she tried to calm her comrade beside her also. They are twins. Everyone was in a desperate plea to be free.

“They wouldn’t and I won’t allow that either. They probably taking us as their hostages to tell the other groups that they’re here, and needed to have the recognition they needed, especially from us, the Trinity. Has anyone seen Mildred?” Victoria inquired, but no one was able to give her some replies except for the old man who’s known for not being good at recollecting his memories.

“She was taken by the woman that I thought Catheryne had also met before. I’ve seen Mildred just before I passed out.” Mr. Collens said and moved his fingers towards his rear pocket.

“Can you help me over here, dear? There’s a something I need to get. We can use it to escape here.” He whispered to her.”

Victoria carefully shifted a little closer to Mr. Collens. They were now facing the opposite sides, which led them to touch both of their hands. She tried locating the man’s pocket and was able to snatch something sharp. It was a key.

“It’s the vehicle’s key. Now, use it to cut the rope on my hand. It will take us time, but this is better than to do nothing. Don’t let the enemy see us. Just act frightened and losing hope.” She whispered.

“Okay.” Victoria started to move the key forward and backwards on the rope. This would cut it somehow. She said to herself.

They need to get away for them to know the place itself. It’s fresh to them, so they want to explore and know the reason why these certain people decided to rule such abode in a scrupulous manner. Why does it have to be behind the bushes where it’s near where the bridge had collapsed.

As they were occupied in making a way to unclasp the chains, the guards have walked out of the abandoned building and directly went to her office, wearing a wide grin on their faces. It’s the satisfaction that was seen, just like their leader who thinks that the things are moving according to how she wanted it and it felt like so much easy for her.

“You’re awoke.” She said to Mildred that was still lying on the floor hopelessly. Her body was tied up. It’s just been minutes when she started to gain herself back again.

“Why did you do this?” She interrogated. The woman was wearing a grey polo shirt which was stained with blood. She has the red scarf around her neck to cover those burns she has. Mildred realized it was the same woman that Catheryne had encountered from the hospital.

“I think you already recognized me. One of your teammates has already met me, I presumed she already told you some information about me also.” She grabbed a wooden chair and sat towards Mildred.

“What do you want?” Mildred frankly asked.

The woman tittered and put her arms behind her head and gawked at her intently.

“There's no need for me to slow things, don't I? Well, I want you to join us. You’re one of the assets in Trinity, but do you think you could have gained more? Like a higher position or we could say the one leading all the frontlines.” The woman muttered and clasped her hands together. She was baiting her.

“Why do you think I’m an asset to them? I don’t have the thing you needed.”

“You do. You’re at the top when leading in the offensive ways rather than the defence ones. And you’re also the one who defeated that black-haired woman during your combat battle. Wasn’t it a nice opportunity to be recognized by the others? I’ve been watching you for a couple of weeks now and I saw your will in suppressing this current situation that we all have is firing. Be with us and you’ll be the one to lead the front lines. You can do whatever you want. Just give me your loyalty and you’ll have what you need.” The woman enticingly said and was thinking straight.

“Do you still have the drug?” Mildred asked. “And can you untie me somehow?”

“I can make you sit, but I won’t untie you. You’re still on their side. How can I make sure you won’t attack me here?”

“You have the ace. I’m just a single person with you and a hundred. I wouldn’t let myself get eradicated that easy.”

“You’re an intimidating person, Mildred. Your unsophisticated manners are showing easily, telling me how delusional you are by the Trinity’s so-called words of wisdom. It’s a total reflection of you being an ostentatious one.”

“You don’t need to slap that on my face. I know myself. Just untie me and you have my word. I won’t hurt you.”

The woman thought for a while and eventually made the decision.

“Okay. I’ll loosen you and I need to show you something.” The woman started to unfasten the ropes around Mildred and helped her to get up. Mildred rubbed her wrists where she was tied and looked around her. The room was somehow heavy to bear as it felt warm and dry. There were cobbled webs, writings on the walls and even mice were running freely around and just some stools being loaded at the side have been detected. It wasn’t clear either, it’s more like the whole building was just a hideout and a watch house for them. Something is still bigger than this, she presumed. She walked towards the dusted, splendid perpendicular windows and saw a terrifying and erratic scene on the ground. A sharp snap was released.

“W-why are they covering themselves with the skin of those who were already late and been rotting after they turned into nutrients for the bushes?” Mildred anxiously asked. The woman stood beside and watch the people gathering their meal on the lengthy linen-covered table at the centre. They were greeting each other peacefully as they bring forth some fresh fruits and meat.

“They needed it for survival. It’s far worse staying here due to the different and radical ways we have to endure in order for us to live. On the other hand, we prefer to dwell too rather than take the whole army on the opposite side. Somehow, the bush that made itself a boundary to those who’re trying to enter us here was a great help in defending us.

“How did you manage to survive?”

“By the Founder’s help, but she was exterminated by your Head. The group shouldn’t be stopped and needed a new leader to command them. Someone who will help them in seeking hope and a new life. I was assigned to lead this army in a favourable decision by those living here.”

“How did the corpses' bodies protect them and where did you get them?”

“You’re an inquisitive person too, huh. During noon, we would go outside and search for the bodies that were already taken as fertilizers. We have to get their skin off from them and used us our new clothing. You know, the bush wouldn’t want those bodies now, because they already got what they needed – those nutrients, their fertilizers. Wearing those kinds of things is kind of disgusting and distasteful, but we need to in order for us not to get the bush’s attention. We’re living like those dead people. Oh, now I'm telling our ways.” She unexpectedly pouted.

“So death had made his life recognized now...” She commented almost in a whisper.

“He’s just starting.”