Some Thing Called Myself (Complete)

XXVI: something bitter

Ch. 26: Something Bitter

When the elevator doors refused to open, Mara knew something was wrong. Without the metal box, the only way they could think of going back home was to call Lulu and ask her to give them a ride from São Paulo to Santa Lucrécia, and from there, through the fog, they could run to the Sentinel HQ, hoping to get there in one piece.

It would take a while, to say the least, and the big wound on Mara's leg made the entire team on edge...but they didn't have any other choice.

"Mara, don't sleep," Mirtes ordered, pinching her cheeks. "Keep those eyes open."

She tried to do so with a huff but failed and nestled closer to Bernardo's chest. It was hard to keep her eyes open when breathing was such a chore. For the first time in long years, she felt lips against hers, blowing air into her lungs.

Time passed in a blur.

The squad raced around blocks of business buildings and questionable stores in the western zone of the big São Paulo while Mara did what she could to stay awake. Godo carried her when Bernardo got too tired, and Mirtes helped Tai when they were both busy. The entire squad was more than worried; they were in a frenzy.

And while the whole thing was a nightmare for Mara—becoming a Zombie, the wound on her leg, the venom, Mom's disappearance, and all the rest—she liked being the center of attention. It felt good to be noticed. To be around people who cared.

To not feel so lonely and so wrong all the time.

When the squad finally entered Granny's living room and used the local elevator to go down to HQ, Mara could barely keep her lungs working, her sight nothing but a blurred sliver of the world. In that blur, her squad stood sweaty, disheveled, and exhausted.

But instead of home, stepping into the HQ felt much more like climbing onto the gallows to a scared audience.

Godo carried Mara out of the metallic box and rested her barely-standing body against the cold wall beside the entrance. The cut Uah had left on her leg was warm and prickly, but it didn't hurt anymore, no matter how big and ugly the thing looked. The biggest problem, of course, was all the thick, dark blood running down Mara's leg, the pressure building around her, and how scared Bernardo, Tai, and the others seemed.

"Don't worry, Mara." Bernardo caressed her arm with his free hand. On the other, he carried all the unused equipment he had taken to their mission. "We'll take you to the infirmary, and everything will be okay."

But he was wrong.

"No, you won't," said a commanding voice. Elena's voice. The sound echoed in the silent patio and reached Mara in the small anteroom.

As it had been the day Tai brought Mara to the HQ, the main entrance was closed. This time, a strong woman stood guard before it, blocking their path.

Mara and the others shared a confused glance, watched by the Sents on the other side of the gate. A full squad of Sentinels stood around the Kerana tree, a few others barred the passage to the inner rooms of HQ, and a detachment of senior Sents approached. Something in the way the older Sents looked at Mara made her stomach churn with anxiety.

Bernardo seemed confused when he stepped away from his squad and walked towards the nearest Sentinel. The guard in front of the gate didn't move an inch.

"What's wrong?" Mara whispered to Mirtes. She tried to push away from the wall, but pain hooked her muscle, and she stopped. Another wave of breathlessness rippled within her. The wheezing of her breathing filled the short silence. She schooled her grimace and managed to say, "I thought...people in the HQ celebrated when...Sentinels came back."