Apocalypse: The Huntress Luna

Chapter 20

I raced past people walking towards the Center of the settlement and heard a few of them call out but I pretended not to hear. I must have looked strange with my hair flying in the wind, glistening eyes and God knows what facials I was making. 

I finally made it to my office and flung the door open, slammed it shut and slid down to the floor.

“Uh, what the hell girlfriend. You're disrupting my energy.” 

Calliope was already in and had her ass in the air in the downward dog position, giving herself a good stretch.

Her eyes landed on my face and she stopped mid-stretch. “Andy...?”, and she peered closer. 

I stared wide eyed at her, feeling the colour drain from my face in shock.

In an instant, she was by my side, grasping my face in her hands and trying to check if I was bleeding.

When she couldn't find anything, she came back to my face and spoke slowly.

“Andy. Andy can you hear me? What happened? Are you hurt in any way?”

I managed to squeeze out a strangled laugh at her seriousness but she was not smiling.

I took deep breaths and when I could talk again, I told her the whole story from start to finish, not letting up on any detail.

She surprisingly didn't interrupt the entire time but her lips were pursed tightly and her nostrils flared in and out. She was also feeding me water and some sweet biscuits and I could feel the colour return back to my face and strength in my voice.

When I was done, I peeked over at her to try and gauge her reaction.

She stared at me for a second, blinking as if she was trying not to lose her shat and then sat on her heels. 

“Okay okay okay. Let me get this straight. You go over there to tell him you don't want to be a ‘pairing’ anymore (good for you, by the way), he loses his sh*t, you try to calm him down, then he KISSES you. And then you say THANK YOU? What the hell Andy!? Who says THANK YOU after someone kisses them!”

“Ugh why are you reminding meee,” I groaned, covering my face but then I countered, “Wait, why is that the only thing that makes you angry right now! How about the fact he KISSED me!?”

“Was it a bad kiss or something? Did you like it?”

“What?”

“Girl you heard me. Did. You. Like. It.”, she clapped playfully, with a smirk on her face.

I felt my face redden and that was all the answer she needed. 

It was a good kiss but it just didn't feel right.

She laughed as she pulled me to my feet and into a cuddle.

She began stroking my head and I nestled into her chest and let out an irritated sigh.

“Are you okay though? It must have been too much for my innocent girl,” she soothed. I chuckled and murmured that I wasn’t THAT innocent, rolling my eyes. 

“What happened when he kissed you? What did you feel? And what made you run away?” she hummed softly at me. 

I pulled away but stayed in her embrace and ran through the thoughts in my mind as my brow furrowed. 

“I’m not sure, Calli. It was strange. Honestly, it caught me by surprise and it was nice and all but...I was thinking of somebody else.”

She looked at me confused as she replied, “somebody else?”

I hadn't told Calli about my developing crush on Magnus yet or the weird way he makes my body feel but before she could question me further, our door burst open and one of our recruits rushed in to inform us of a medical emergency. 

We immediately jumped into action and grabbed our medical kits before racing out the door to follow the young woman. 

She led us to one of the scientific labs situated not far from our building where there seemed to have been a minor explosion. Saleem and some of his team were already at the site helping the injured and making sure the fire was put out safely. 

I thanked my lucky stars that he was occupied and quickly ducked away before he could see us. 

We got to work straight away starting with the most heavily injured while our recruits assisted and took care of the minor injuries. Overall, the damage was minor and luckily the scientists had only just walked through the door when the explosion went off at the other end of the lab. We left the victims in the capable hands of our recruits and instructed them to move everyone to the infirmary as we entered the lab to investigate. 

The place had been well ventilated of any residue gas as well as the fires put out so we stepped through easily, taking in the damage.

Calli began circling the room from the left while I took the right until we eventually ended up at the area of the explosion. She bent down to get a better look at the area and quickly grabbed a nearby rod to poke at the ashes. It seemed like an explosive device was thrown in from the above shattered high window, causing other items in the lab to go off with it. 

Taking in the whole room, one thing stood out to me above everything else so I called out to the closest man to bring in one of the uninjured scientists.

“What you thinking?” Calli asked while scraping together bits of what looked to be a home-made bomb. 

“This all looks a bit familiar, don't you think? See that row of drawers on the right and at the back? I don't think the explosion did that,”I whispered. I could see it dawning on her as she scanned the room and looked back at me wide eyed. 

She stood and looked back as a couple of figures approached us and quickly signalled for me to look. 

It seems that the guy from the Watch that I had sent to get a scientist also decided to bring Saleem.

I felt my stomach plunge as he neared and I can tell you it was not in a good way. I felt my hands start to shake slightly and I quickly laced my fingers through the belt loops so noone would see.

I could run into battle fearless but situations like this left me a nervous wreck and I hated myself for it.

“Andy? You don’t have to be here. I can take care of this if you want?” Calli whispered with her back to them before they approached.

I quickly cracked my neck, rolled my shoulders to loosen myself up and shook my head. “It’s okay, i’ll be okay,” and I gave her a small smile. 

Well, that's what I am telling myself. 

Fake it till you make it, right?

Saleem and the scientist stood before us and I gave him a solemn nod before I began questioning the young man.

“Hi, I’m Andy and this is Calli if you don't know us already. You are Melvin, am I right?” I said as we quickly shook hands. 

“Yes, I know who you three are and yes, I am Melvin,” he smiled weakly.

“I’m the 2IC here for this lab. Mark is in charge but he got most of the blast and was taken away by some medics” he said shakily, while holding his left arm gingerly. 

“Thank you Melvin. We just wanted to ask you some questions?” and he nodded quickly in response.

“Can you tell us what kind of lab this is and what you guys were currently working on before the explosion?”

“Yes. This is a research and clinical laboratory. We are a team of 5 and...we were actually working on some Vargul specimens,” he said as he hastily looked around the room. He stepped off to the right and quickly rummaged through a few of the broken cabinets and sighed with relief when he found many untouched files.

“I was just checking to see if our research was damaged or lost but thank goodness they are alright,” he smiled but then winced in pain and quickly grabbed his left arm.

“Melvin are you alright? Come here.” Calli quickly assessed his arm as a minor fracture in the wrist and made a sling with a nearby lab-coat. 

I could see Melvin blushing as Calli fussed over him and I let a small smile escape my lips. There was rarely a man that didn’t find Calli attractive especially with her gorgeous face and curvy frame.

Saleem had been standing by quietly but quickly stepped forward before Melvin could be ushered out.

“Before you go Melvin, can you tell us if there was anything valuable in the lab worth taking?” 

He thought it through but then shook his head. Calli thanked him and signalled to one of the remaining recruits to take him to the infirmary for treatment.

We watched him go and I could feel my skin start to prickle uncomfortably as we awkwardly stood there. Saleem was first to speak.

“I didn’t know you two were part of the investigation team. The last I checked, you two were just Medics,” he said kurtly.

Calli’s lip curled in a snarl and she rolled her eyes. “Good morning to you too Saleem. Oh and by the way, how was YOUR morning? Anything interesting to share?”

I quickly turned wide eyed to her to signal her to shut up but she ignored me.

Saleem shifted uncomfortably and decided to ignore her statement and let us in on the investigation.

I guess her trick worked, I shrugged mentally.

“Andy, what do you think went on here? I’m curious to hear what you had in mind seeing as you asked for Melvin.”

I looked around the room and lowered my voice. “Seeing as you asked him about valuables in the lab, I’m guessing you are thinking the same as us. The explosion was a cover up.” I pointed around the room showing them both where the intruders rummaged through drawers and the pieces of the bomb that Calli had scraped together. 

“And I know it is a long shot but I think this may be linked to our office break in. Did you have any progress on that by the way?”

Saleem slowly shook his head apologetically. “There hasn't been any leads in regards to that. Sorry. But know that we are taking it and your safety seriously.”

I nodded and we all continued to stare at eachother and I got the feeling that he wanted to say something but couldn’t since Calli was with us. 

I looked over at her as she tried to ignore my eyes but then sighed heavily and said she will meet me outside. Before she ducked out of the lab, she turned and gave me some silly facials which instantly lightened my mood.

I swear, that girl was my soulmate.

Saleem turned to me as soon as Calli was out of sight and tried to reach for my hand. I swiftly moved it out of reach and held eye contact with him. 

He may have caught me off guard once but I guarantee he won’t get another opportunity. 

“Look Andy, if I may be honest with you? I am not the type of person to be openly vulnerable so please know that this is hard for me. I like you. I think what you do for Tectum is amazing. And I pushed for the ‘pairing’ because I think we would make a good partnership.”

“Partnership?” I don't know why but I did not like the sound of the relationship he was offering. I mean, some people would be happy with that. But I was not one of those people.

I did not stay single this long to just be in a 'partnership'.

“Yes. I think we would make a great fit. You were in the Militia for a few years with an outstanding reputation and now running the medical school. I am the head Officer of The Watch. What’s there not to like?”, he reasoned.

Wow. 

I usually always look for the good in people but today he was making it very hard. Just a few hours ago he threw me a curveball kiss and now he was describing our ‘relationship’ as if I was up for a job interview? 

“Saleem. What you described to me just now is not what I want. I want love? I am not a trophy on your wall hence why I came to visit you this morning and I still stand by what I said.”

I watched as disappointment quickly changed his features and he slowly retreated into himself. I quickly grabbed his large hand with both of mine and made him look at me.

“Being vulnerable to the right people is a good thing, okay?”

He looked down sadly into my determined eyes and I couldn't help but feel bad. But like I said, I needed to stand my ground.

“Thank you for opening up to me, Saleem. I am honoured. In saying all this, I don't see why we can’t be friends atleast? Build a friendship? We both will be at the Archivio, right? And I am willing to wait until we return before informing the Council of our decision to cancel the ‘pairing’?”

At hearing the last part, he coldly stepped away from me. Strangely, his stony expression made him look even more handsome than usual. He combed his hair back with his long fingers and I wished in my heart that things didn't have to be this way.

“Your decision. Not ours,” he said matter of factly. He cleared his throat before looking around, avoiding eye contact. 

“I have things to do now, Andy. Thank you for your help but you best leave it to us. You better get going.” And just like that, I was dismissed. 

He walked past me and called a few of his men to discuss something while I stared at his broad back.

And this is one reason why I avoided dating, I thought to myself. 

If it’s not me letting someone down then it was the other way round. I forcefully wrapped my hair up into a bun and went on to find Calli, only looking back once, while he secretly did the same.