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“I’m just going to the bathroom,” Spider mumbled in Quaritch’s direction.
The recom looked at him before offering a short nod in acknowledgement. Spider stood from the metal table and looked for the sign he knew he’d seen on the way into the mess.
“You know the way?” Quaritch probed gently.
Eywa, Spider had to contain his eye roll. His sense of direction was tantamount to perfect, thank you very much. “Sure,” he replied, setting off in what he assumed must be the right direction if Quaritch’s lack of a correction was anything to go by.
He passed rows of tables, full of soldiers eating, all of them unable to avert their eyes as he moved by, though some were more successful at being subtle than others.
One marine in particular hardened his stare as Spider caught his eye, and before the sly smirk had finished spreading across his oily face, Spider had flipped him off, walking through the glass double doors with his head held high.
The corridor was much quieter, and Spider set off in the direction he was sure the bathroom was in, his bare feet sounding much louder out here than in the mess. He kept his eyes scanning the walls for the bathroom, or at least a sign that indicated the right direction. He was so sure it was down this corridor.
After a few more moments, Spider knew he must have been mistaken. He’d travelled the length of the corridor, and still nothing. All there were were other corridors leading off, and one or two office rooms.
Hmm.
He stopped outside one of the offices. Something caught his eye, glinting on the desk. The door was open, and the room was deserted… leaving no one watching the discarded keycard that lay on the desk.
It took Spider less than a second to make the decision.
Glancing back over his shoulder down the corridor, he ensured the hall was empty before lunging in and grabbing the lanyard that the keycard was attached to. Quickly, he stuffed it into his hand as small as possible. With this, Bridgehead was his oyster.
Finally, a little freedom.
His heart started to pound as he realised… he could go anywhere with this small piece of plastic. Almost all doors were locked to him normally, and this was his one opportunity to have a little fun before the consequences eventually caught up to him.
He quickened his pace back down the hallway, before deciding to take the next right, which led to another corridor with more rooms leading off it. Thankfully, the place remained empty of any personnel. He was lucky it was lunchtime. After a few seconds, he came to a sign - big, silver, high on the wall.
As he neared it, he tried to control his excitement at the words written in bold, back lettering.
Mess, then an arrow pointing back the way he’d come.
Toilets, then an arrow pointing in the same direction.
Dorms 671 - 780, then an arrow pointing left.
Dorms 781 - 850, then an arrow pointing right.
Cafeteria, followed by an arrow pointing left.
Gym facilities, followed by an arrow pointing right.
Spa, followed by an arrow pointing right.
Cinema, followed by an arrow pointing left.
Holy shit, these bastards had it all. A cinema? Spider only even knew what they were because of the fond way Norm had mentioned them in passing when reminiscing about Earth.
Spa? That sounded the most interesting to Spider. The thought of the toughest soldiers humanity could offer relaxing in a sauna was an amusing image that spurred Spider on to follow the sign to the right. It led him down another quiet corridor, though this one ended in a sealed door. Confident, Spider held the keycard up to the scanner, as he had seen Quaritch do countless times, and to his utter satisfaction, the door beeped open. He couldn’t help the grin that spread over his face as his heart hammered, keeping low to the floor in case windows alerted anyone to his presence.
He had successfully put a locked door between him and Quaritch - the feeling made him feel like he was walking on air. His strides lengthened, though he remained stealthy as the sounds of chatter floated out of one of the rooms ahead.
The adrenaline of knowing if he was caught he’d be in deep shit fuelled him on, and he cautiously approached the doorway from where the noise was coming from. It sounded like a group of people - probably scientists rather than soldiers, discussing some unimportant information that was flickering on a holoscreen.
Spider waited until the right moment, sticking only the smallest fraction of his eye around the doorway to ascertain that nobody was looking, before quickly passing by and scampering his way down the rest of the corridor. To his luck, no one seemed to have noticed, and no one followed him.
After what felt like forever in this tense but excited state, he came to a door that had a similar, smaller metal sign next to it, labelled SPA, pointing through the metal door.
Spider’s eyes widened and a smirk replaced his anxious expression. If Quaritch could only see him now. He looked carefully through the window in the door to make sure there were no stray humans wandering around, before pressing the keycard to the scanner again. His heart thumped against his protesting ribcage as his sweaty hands pressed the door open.
He was in some kind of changing facility, with a corrugated floor and benches against either wall. The temperature was much warmer in here, and mist filled the room.
Spider brought a guarded hand up to his mouth; he’d never been in such a humid room before. This was great. By now, Quaritch would have definitely realised he was missing. How long until he put out an alert?
Ignoring his reflection in the large mirror, he walked on through the changing facilities and turned a corner into a much, much larger room that contained…
A swimming pool.
Spider couldn’t help gasping a little at his luck - there was no one in sight, and there was an 80 foot pool of crystal clear water in front of him. Multicoloured pool floats were piled in a bin close to the edge, and safety signs and timings for ‘Hydrotherapy’ covered the walls. He averted his eyes just long enough to notice some sort of side pool next to the main one, with steps leading into bubbling water. The sight reminded Spider of a witch’s cauldron from a book he’d read when he was younger.
It was enticing.
Deciding that the opportunity was simply too good to pass up, Spider took a deep breath, and ran and leapt into the swimming pool, whooping as loudly as he dared. He landed with an almighty splash, keeping the keycard held firmly in his fist. The water was cooler than he expected, but it felt so refreshing. The ripples he’d created swept over him like a tonic, washing away all of his remaining inhibitions. Fuck Quaritch. He couldn’t stop him from trying to have a good time during this Eywa-forsaken captivity. He gasped a deep breath before sinking to the bottom of the pool and propelling himself gracefully through the water. He made it all the way to the other end before having to come up for air, shaking his hair like a wet dog and sending droplets all over the floor. He laughed out loud at the thought that someone was probably going to have to come and clean the floor after him. His heart was pounding too much to allow himself to stay still, so he pulled his heavy body out and ran over to the colourful pool devices amassed in a heap. Selecting a pink noodle type object that was made out of foam, he stuck it under his legs before jumping again into the pristine water. He shrieked when the noodle kept him upright, and began riding it the full length of the pool.
“Come and get me Colonel!” he called out to nobody, both hoping and dreading that someone would hear.
When he reached the end, he caught sight again of the bubbling pool a few feet away. That looks fun. He discarded the noodle and heaved himself up the ladder, making his way over to the strange pool. Dipping his toe in, and found that the water in this one was much warmer. His curiosity peaked, he carefully lowered himself down, perching on a conveniently placed ledge halfway in. The bubbles seemed to be coming right out of the hard surface that made up the floor and bench, and he revelled in the sensation they caused on his skin. This was nice. He could get used to this.
“Oh yeah,” he grinned to himself as he allowed himself to slide down further into the water. He tilted his head back on the hard floor. “Fuck you, Quaritch,” he muttered to the ceiling, closing his eyes.
He knew this was mightily stupid. Foolish in the extreme. He was sure to finally get that ass whooping Quaritch had promised him all those weeks ago, but right now he couldn’t bring himself to care.
He needed this, consequences be damned. Aside from the half an hour of freedom, Quaritch needed to know that Spider was not a robot that was just going to follow orders until the day he finally escaped. His little act of rebellion ought to remind the recom of that, and that was good enough for Spider.
Thinking of Quaritch reminded him that the man was probably barking orders right about now, having finally realised that Spider was missing. The image of the man growing steadily more and more frustrated as time went on couldn’t help but make Spider laugh. Though he did feel guilty, it was only a tiny twinge that paled in comparison to the amusement that filled him any time he pictured Quaritch gripping his hair in panic and yelling at soldiers to get looking for him.
Sure enough, as if Eywa could hear him, the sudden sounds of people entering the changing rooms caused Spider’s heart to skip a beat. He sat up and turned in their direction, thinking fast.
“Spider!” An unfamiliar voice called out. “You in here?” Fuck, the soldiers were going to round the corner into the swimming pool any second now-
Spider did the only thing he could think of, and sucked in a deep breath of air, pulling himself down into the water to stay hidden.
It was so hot, submerging his head in this pool, but he knew he had to do it if he wanted to avoid detection. He held his nose, listening to the vague shouts above, but the sounds of the bubbles drowned out any specific words, and he could only hope and pray that the men wouldn’t see him from this angle.
He waited it out as long as he could, but eventually the burning in his lungs became too much, and the temperature of the water was making him light headed. He pushed himself up, and found to his relief that the men had left.
Holy shit.
He’d gotten away with it. He grasped onto the edge of the pool, smirking to himself and hardly believing his luck as he gasped for air. So, where to next?
Carefully, he climbed out of the pool and grabbed a towel from a bin nearby, roughly rubbing himself dry and squeezing his locs as best he could. He didn’t care much for a shower - that would be an almighty waste of this golden time. Instead, he weighed his options. From the sounds of it, there was still too much commotion outside in the hallway. He knew that if he left the pool area he’d probably be found within seconds. So he cast around for an alternative exit.
Catching sight of a decent sized air vent in the wall, he made his mind up.
Heart thumping and feet slipping on the wet surface of the poolside, he made his way quickly over to the opening. His heart sank when he saw the screws nailing the grill to the wall, but Eywa must have been on his side, because all four were loose, and with a bit of jostling (and using the keycard as a makeshift screwdriver) Spider was able to pull the grate off.
“Alright!” he mumbled, eyeing the passage and assessing the conditions inside. Surprisingly enough, it didn’t look as bad as he expected. He couldn’t see any dust or grime, and the vent was plenty wide enough. He could feel the faint but steady stream of cool air flowing through - exactly what he needed after the hot water.
Knowing full well how stupid this was, he pushed himself in. It was a tight squeeze, and his body blocked out a lot of the light from behind, but the walls of the vent were metallic and reflective, so it wasn’t too claustrophobic. The vent was flat for a few metres, then it turned sharply to the left. He followed the tunnel, uncaring where it came out. Perhaps he just enjoyed the feeling of rebellion, or perhaps he was just an adrenaline junkie, but he couldn’t help but enjoy the anticipation that continued to build whenever he thought about Quaritch’s efforts to search for him.
“Come and get me now, asshat!” he whispered, this time more aware that his voice could carry into potentially multiple rooms. He continued his way through the air vent for some time, following it around every twist and turn, even clambering up the narrow space when it started to ascend steeply. He wasn’t called Spider for nothing, and he made short work of wriggling and lifting himself up the tube.
Finally, he came to a grate on the bottom of the air vent, looking down onto some kind of room. Spider shuffled closer, as quietly as he could, and looked down through the grill into the space below.
It appeared to be some kind of cafe, and the vent was sitting just behind the counter. Voices floated up to him from the combination of soldiers, construction workers and scientists that filled the space.
“Yeah, really well, it should be finished tomorrow hopefully…”
“That will be twelve credits please…”
“Don’t worry about it man, let her come to you. You got more important things to be doing than chasing chicks…”
“Have you seen the latest episode? It shows you how they do rituals to get a banshee… imagine sending children to face off against creatures like that…”
“Have you heard? They’ve lost that insurgent boy!”
“Oh is that what all the fuss is about? How can you lose a prisoner?”
“I heard he wasn’t a prisoner. He’s allowed to wander off by himself apparently.”
“Jesus, if this guy’s the reason we all get a curfew tonight I’m gonna be so pissed…”
Spider listened closely to all of it. It was fascinating, gaining an insight into some of their lives. The biggest thing they had to worry about, it seemed, was him. Must be nice.
As much as his curiosity was peaking, he pushed himself on stealthily, avoiding the grill as best he could. Thankfully, the noises from below covered his movements and he came to a second grate only a few metres in front of the first.
This one looked down into an empty room filled with boxes. It was also loose. Seizing his chance, he examined the room one more time to make absolutely certain there wasn’t anybody there, before wriggling the grate free and lowering himself down agilely. He landed with a gentle thud behind a pile of boxes, which to his delight were labelled Chips.
Well, never look a gift horse in the mouth, or whatever the expression was. His stomach growled furiously as he tore open the brown cardboard and found packets and packets of chips of all flavours inside. His eyes were wider than his stomach and he immediately grabbed a packet of cheese puffs. The taste was amazing - enough to make him salivate. He couldn’t remember the last time he'd had chips. He wished he could grab as many packets as his hands could carry, but he knew that would be impractical if he wanted to continue his little skive.
So reluctantly, he grabbed a few packets, and threw them gently back up into the air vent for a more private dinner. This room wasn’t safe enough to hang around in, and he nimbly pulled himself back up into the small chute, carefully replacing the grate behind him. Here, he could afford to pause for a few moments while he devoured the rest of the chips.
For the first time, he allowed himself to wander about what might happen to him when Quaritch found him. He knew it wouldn’t be good, but he hoped at least that the recom would refrain from hitting him. It didn’t matter either way, but Spider would prefer not to add a black eye to his growing list of aches and pains.
The more he thought about it, the more his confidence started to fizzle out. What had he done? Why had he been so full of himself? What did he expect would happen? Self doubt and anxiety crashed down around him, making his palms sweat slightly and his heart rate increase. It grew very warm in the vent, and Spider’s appetite disappeared. He lowered the packet of twizzlers he’d been halfway through, and slowly licked the dust off his fingers.
As if on cue, sounds from below alerted him to the fact that soldiers had burst into the storage room.
“Spider Socorro!” a male voice called out. All authority - no care. The owner of the voice moved further into the room, walking around the piles of boxes. Spider’s heart began to pound.
Oh no.
He’d left the empty cheetos packet next to the ripped box.
Shit , were they going to notice? By instinct, Spider began to edge away from the grate, hardly daring to move for fear of making a sound.
“Socorro!” a second man shouted. They were getting closer to the air vent. Closer to the pile of boxes Spider had hidden behind. Closer to the discarded remains of his truancy, laid bare for anyone to see who moved just a little further into the room…
“Hey Spearman! What’s this?”
The other soldier crossed to his partner, who was sure enough pointing at the torn open box, and empty chip packet. The older of the soldiers took one look at the evidence, thinking hard, then glanced around the room, eyes sharp as an eagle’s. They spotted the vent.
Spider held his breath.
The men seemed quiet for a moment - Spider couldn’t see their faces from this angle. They were backing towards the vent, quietly… too quietly. Were they communicating? One of them had his hand just inches away from his holster.
Then…
One of the soldiers swung for the grate while the other whipped out his gun and aimed it at the grill. “Socorro! Come down with your hands up!”
Spider hissed, scrambling with all he had to move in the opposite direction down the chute. He could hear the sounds of the soldiers unscrewing the grill behind him - once they were in the tunnel it was over. He crawled as fast as he could on his hands and knees, faster than he’d ever moved before. He crawled and crawled, round a bend, then another, then another, then up an incline, then another bend… and so on.
The shouting grew distant behind him, but he wasn’t allowing himself to be lulled into a sense of security. They knew he was in the vents. They had probably alerted the whole base by now. Soldiers could enter anywhere. The whole thing reminded him of those ridiculous old video games from Earth, the ones Norm had once described.
This felt anything but fun.
His sweaty hands were making it harder to grip the thin metal walls of the chute, and his knees were starting to get burned from sliding across the exposed surface for so long. His shoulders and back ached and he couldn’t stop his heart from pounding. Several times, he was about to make a turn when he heard voices coming from the other direction, and had to judge as best he could the correct direction to go in to avoid capture.
Throughout it all, a sick sense of satisfaction embedded itself into the background of his mind that at least he wouldn’t be meeting Quaritch down any of these chutes - they were too small for recoms.
The thought spurred him on until he realised that he’d come to a grate for the first time since the cafe storage room. Light was spilling up into the chute from the slats in the grill, and he approached cautiously, the lack of voices building his confidence. He peered down carefully, eyes taking a moment to adjust to the light, before realising that the room below was filled with plants… hundreds of them, congregated in a garden that seemed vast. Spider couldn’t even make out the edges of the room from here, it was so big. If he had been in a more relaxed state of mind, he would have realised that he didn’t actually recognise any of the specimens growing here, and that it was in fact, still a room inside an RDA building.
As it was, he panicked. When had he crossed an air lock? That didn’t make any sense? He froze, but at the same time that the panic gripped him, he realised the air coming up from below wasn’t burning his lungs in the way he’d experienced a couple of times before in his life. It wasn’t clinging to the insides of his airways and clogging up the back of his throat like he’d learned to expect from Pandoran air.
No, the atmosphere was still… safe to breathe. At this welcome realisation, relief flooded him - he had been so sure he was about to suffocate - and he peered down into the room again with increased curiosity.
This was probably his only shout. It was the first opening he’d come to, and he knew that the tunnels behind him were swarming with soldiers. He’d have to exit here and try to hide in plain sight below.
He tugged on the screws that held the grate in place. Fuck, they were tight. He frantically cast around for ideas, before grabbing the keycard still clutched tightly in his hand, and using its edge again as a makeshift screwdriver. He thanked Eywa it still worked, but in the minutes it took him to unscrew all four corners of the grate, the voices behind him had grown louder.
It was echoey and distant, and the thundering of his heart rate in his ears drowned most of the noise, but as he lowered himself down into the room below, shouts and calls followed him - the kindest of which was just his name.
His feet brushed a large green leaf, and he let go with his hands, dropping down onto moist soil. He remained crouched, taking in his surroundings. He was in some sort of flowerbed, in what appeared to be a vast greenhouse. From the looks of it, it was at least the size of the cave at High Camp, and contained thousands of plants - green ones, tall ones, purple ones, ones growing their roots in water and ones sprawling across the floor.
It was an indoor forest.
Spider’s wide eyes filled with awe - this was the last place he had expected to find in the middle of the demon city.
“Socorro!” Came from above, and Spider gasped, remembering the peril of the situation with a jolt. He shook himself, and hurried along the flowerbed, keeping ducked behind the large leaves for cover. He needed to put as much distance between himself and the air vent as possible. Thankfully, the greenhouse seemed mostly deserted, apart from the few odd humans wandering about, though they didn’t appear to be looking for him. They might not even be aware of the situation, given their easy going strides along the pathways and lack of military fatigues.
Spider crammed himself into the plants as a pair of them strolled by, but they were wrapped up in discussing something on the holopad one of them was holding.
They didn’t notice him.
Spider exhaled in the shadows of the leaves, finally allowing relief to flood through him, if only for a moment.
This place was nice. The freshness of the plants and the humidity in the air made Spider feel almost like he was back in the forest. Of course, back home he knew every single plant that grew, because his survival often depended on it. But here, nothing was familiar. He assumed most of these plants were for consumption, or otherwise part of some superfluous science experiment. They were certainly much smaller than the plants he was used to living amongst - their leaves, stems and branches were all comparable in size to a human as opposed to a Na’vi.
He trailed his fingers along the soft edges of the bushes and shrubs as he crept his way around the edge of the greenhouse. The soil was a welcome carpet under his feet, and light streamed in from above, illuminating the dust particles in the air and casting a soft dappled glow beneath the cover of foliage. Eventually, Spider found his way to a secluded corner of the room, still hidden behind the outside row of shrubbery, and decided to lay low for a while underneath a toughened bush. It looked like a good spot because the area was slightly more unkempt than some of the flowerbeds, showing how little it needed to be maintained and therefore how unlucky he’d have to be for someone to stumble across him.
He lay down on his back in the dirt, looking up at the fortified glass ceiling.
There was the sky.
There were the clouds.
It pained Spider to know that he was so close to freedom, yet so unable to escape. One of the main reasons he hadn’t headed straight for the nearest airlock when he first got the keycard was because he knew he’d get nowhere once in Bridgehead’s industrial sector. He’d seen the 16 kilometre kill zone. He’d seen the 500 foot towers with their armoured missiles standing ready to shoot anything that moved. There was simply no hope.
Looking at the sky now, he wondered if Kiri or perhaps Lo’ak could be looking up at the same view, thinking about him with as much heartache as he remembered them with. He closed his eyes, allowing a smile to cross his face at the memory of his best friends. Like this, he could imagine he was just lying in a new spot with Kiri, resting after searching for some purple spotted octoshrooms, or taking a break from stalking a viperwolf and her cubs.
Like this, he was content.
Some time later, Spider realised he’d fallen asleep. He knew this because the authoritative shouting was uncomfortably close, and he hadn’t stirred. He sat bolt upright, holding his breath as he peered between the leaves to see tens of soldiers approaching his area - all of them holding their guns raised and shouting his name.
Fuck.
He pressed his back against the wall of the greenhouse - but he knew there was no escape. Not this time. The soldiers were diverging from the paths and combing through every section of undergrowth. His time was up. Desperately, he tried to think of a viable escape plan, but the soldiers were too close, they’d surrounded him, and he’d been too goddamn lazy to realise.
He grasped for something to defend himself with - but all he had was the keycard pressed into his palm. He wouldn’t get far with that when push came to shove.
Just as he began to consider making an outright run for it, a soldier locked onto his eyes through the leaves.
“Hey!” the man shouted, alerting all others to Spider’s position. Spider immediately scrambled away, to a shout of, “Stay down, Socorro!”
Ignoring the man, Spider dived through the nearest shrub and was about to make a clear run for the exit when two pairs of hands grabbed him from either side, gripping tight enough to bruise and forcing him to his knees. He managed to get in one solid punch to the man on the left of him’s gut, before reinforcements swiftly arrived, surrounding them and ensuring Spider was pressed firmly into the dirt.
“Get off me!” he growled, hissing at anyone ballsy enough to lock eyes with him.
“Good job, Harrison,” one of the men praised the other.
“You skxawng! Let me up!” Spider yelled, but the soldiers ignored him. Not one, in the group of about ten that surrounded him, seemed to be listening.
“Tell the Colonel we have the boy. Greenhouse 4.”
Fuck, Quaritch was on his way then.
“Ten on one, huh? I bet you feel all powerful now yeah?” He continued to antagonise the soldiers, but to his dismay it had absolutely no effect. Not that that was going to stop him from trying. “Is this what you’re paid to do? Like… you get actual credits for pressing kids into the ground?”
“Get him up,” one of them said, and the soldiers followed the instruction immediately, holding Spider so he was now kneeling on the floor with his arms held firmly behind his back.
“Let go of me!” he snapped again.
One of the female soldiers stepped forward and unclipped a pair of cuffs from her belt, closing them around Spider’s wrists from behind. Unfortunately, the two soldiers still holding his upper arms did not seem to deem it wise to let go of him just yet, and their grip was unrelenting.
After a few moments, Spider’s worst nightmare appeared in the form of Miles Quaritch striding into the room and making a beeline straight for him, fury written across his face with such an intensity as to actually scare Spider. The man’s eyes were narrowed, and the golden colour seemed tinted by his rage, turning them more of an impersonal brown. At the sight of him, all of Spider’s witty retorts died on his tongue. He didn’t want to look any longer at the anger in those eyes, so instead he lowered his head to the floor.
Quaritch said nothing as he approached, eyes only boring into Spider’s exposed skin. The soldiers around them waited for the Colonel to break the silence, which he eventually did.
“Thank you men, you can leave him with me now.”
Cold adrenaline seeped unpleasantly into Spider’s stomach. This was not going to be good.
The soldiers around them departed, and Spider knew better than to try and make a run for it when his arms were released. He still couldn’t look at Quaritch - yet he backed away slowly up to his feet.
When they were alone, Quaritch spoke. “I bet you’re feeling mighty pleased with yourself now, huh?”
He shrank away from the man’s stare, though a slither of him still wanted to argue - to make his case. Instead he said nothing, waiting for the man to do what he would with him.
“You feel… pretty good? Like that little adventure of yours was fucking worth it?”
Spider remained staring at a spot near the floor.
“What’s wrong Spider? Cat got your tongue?” The man’s voice raised dangerously, and Spider caught sight of his tail swishing behind his legs. “I can’t seem to hear what you’re saying! Speak up.”
Spider’s legs had begun to turn to jelly. He was glad his hands were behind his back because he was sure they’d be shaking otherwise. “I-”
But he was cut off by Quaritch’s huge hand grasping the back of his locs and forcing him to look up, to meet his gaze.
“You’ll look at me when I’m talking to you,” the man growled, and Spider couldn't help but flinch at the venom in his voice. He’d never seen Quaritch this angry before, and he’d never admit it, but it scared him.
“I’m sorry!” he grunted through gritted teeth.
Quaritch exhaled sharply, the ghost of a laugh on his lips, and threw Spider to the ground a few feet away. The force of landing without having his hands to brace himself winded Spider, and for a second he panicked, unable to pull any air into his lungs. Eventually the oxygen came, and he managed to crawl forward a few feet before Quaritch pulled him up again. He winced at the rough handling, but stoically maintained his glare at the recom.
“You think you can just wander off, unattended, knowing that we’ve granted you permission to go to the goddamn bathroom alone, and then spit in our faces?” The man was shouting now, not bothering to keep his voice down or trying to contain his rage. Spider stumbled back a few steps. “You steal a keycard and what? Decide to go awol? Do you know how embarrassing that is? Do you know the breach of security you caused?” He shouted, advancing towards Spider again, gripping him as before by the locs, and forcing him to lock eyes. “I had every available unit scouring this entire base for you, only to find you’ve been having the time of your life on your little escapade. Well rest assured boy, you are not going to be sleeping well tonight after the beating you’re in for. ”
Spider struggled to contain the whine trying to escape his throat from the pain in his scalp. “You will never disobey orders again. From now on, you will not be left alone for one goddamn second! ” He released Spider, and the boy stumbled backwards, almost falling over in his haste to get away from him.
Spider’s eyes burned from how much his hair had been pulled. Shame painted his body red, but so did anger. He could feel it now, building inside him like a wave about to crest. He said the only thing he knew would incense Quaritch more.
“It was worth it.”
The recom’s eyes flashed with a glint that plainly told Spider his ass whooping had just doubled in size.
“Say that again?”
“...You heard me.”
Spider finally wondered if he’d pushed Quaritch too far. What if the recom really did lose control and just murder him right here and now? He supposed at least he wouldn’t have to endure the man’s wrath with a belt.
“Oh, kid…”
Spider did not like the way Quaritch was smirking one bit.
With that, he was yanked firmly in the direction of the door, struggling to keep up but knowing better than to struggle. They were silent the entire walk, Quaritch marching him through corridors and halls, passing strangers with a grim smile and thanking them for their help in the search efforts, until they arrived at a very familiar corridor to Spider.
Quaritch threw him into the cell carelessly, before marching over and kicking Spider’s legs out, forcing him to his knees as he crouched down to remain at eye level. He stared into Spider’s worried, yet still defiant eyes. He seemed to think for a moment.
“Wait here,” he murmured.
As if I have a choice, Spider thought.
As Quaritch turned and left him on his knees in the cell, fear once again crept over his skin. He was sure that whatever Quaritch had left for, it was going to be deeply unpleasant.
He sank down on his haunches and leant his head back against the cold cell wall.
How had he fucked up so bad?