Long is the night

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It felt strange being in Arkadia. In some ways, being back with their own people was a relief. There had been a few people she was glad to see weren’t dead. Not many, seeing as all her family was gone. In other ways though, the reunion just made Rey uncomfortable. The last few months had changed the residents of farm station. Those who had survived, anyway. They were different now. Harder. And suddenly being around people who hadn’t been through the same hell just seemed to highlight that.

At least guarding was still the same. Regardless of which station they were in, there were still grounders somewhere beyond the walls. Which was how Rey had ended up in the guard tower by the main gate. She had volunteered to take this part of the watch tonight, needing the familiarity of watching the darkness. There was something calming about the routine. About having a gun in her hands. About knowing that any enemy who tried to get in would have to go through her first.

The creaking of the ladder pulled her attention away from the dark woods out beyond the wall. Rey had been standing in front of the opening that served as the guard tower’s window, and now she glanced over her shoulder to see who her partner was for this shift. It was a blonde head that came into view. The light of the lamp seemed to give the light hair a glow all its own. What was her name? Emily? Emilia? Something like that. There had been a point when Rey knew the names of most of her comrades in arms even if she did keep mostly to herself off the clock. But that felt like a lifetime ago now. Such details had faded from her mind like a dream, replaced by how to start a fire or fashion a knife or walk quietly in snow. Simple trivia like names seemed to pale compared to such life or death lessons.

What she did know was this particular guard hadn’t come down with farm station. Whether or not that mattered was yet to be seen. Rey turned her head back toward the woods, watching for any sign at all of movement out there. “It’s quiet out there. Let’s hope it stays that way.” Some of the people here seemed to think there was actually a chance of a lasting truce so long as neither side rattled the other’s cage. Personally, Rey wasn’t buying it. Not after all she had seen the last few months. But for now she was just trying to take this one day at a time.

Emilia Tucker

[Emilia Tucker]

Emilia had woken up, knowing that this was going to be another bad day. Her night had been filled with more nightmares that caused her to wake up more times than she could count until she'd finally given up and gotten out of bed shortly before six hundred hours. She'd avoided looking at the horizon as the sun colored the morning sun pink and orange, remembered how Lukas and her had always talked about dreams of seeing a sunrise together. It had been no difficult decision whether she should volunteer for night watch or not, even though her superior regarded her with a suspicious glance. Em had heard all of his speeches about driving herself to exhaustion and not being any good to them half-dead before, but she guessed he needed all the men, or women, he could get since he didn't comment on her eagerness to work.

She let out a sigh of disappointment when she found out that she would be joined by another guard. Usually, she preferred to work alone so she could complete her tasks quietly and stay concentrated. Of course she would never question the decisions of those ranking above her and maybe the company of a colleague could even distract her from those awful thoughts that always seemed to fight for the upper hand inside her mind. Then again, being around somebody else meant that unwanted questions could be asked, the kind that she didn't want to even think about, let alone answer. Unfortunately, some Arkers were just outright nosy, apparently having nothing else to do than to gossip, but she guessed that wouldn't apply to a fellow guard.

Emilia always prided herself in being very punctual, but it seemed her assigned coworker for the night was even more so than her she realized as she climbed the ladder of the guard tower and saw a figure standing in front of the window, the woman's back turned to her. She pulled herself up onto the platform with a soft grunt and stepped up to the other guard, her hand resting casually on her gun. Rey – that was the other young woman's name. Em remembered training with her and her name came to mind because she recalled some other girl's making fun of her name when they were kids, teasing Rey because her name sounded like that of a boy.
At Rey's declaration, Emilia let out a sigh and shook her head slightly. „As much as I hope the same thing, with everything we've experience, I'm afraid this is just the quiet before the storm.“, she replied, still looking at the darkness outside that was only broken by faint glows of firelight.

Tag: @rey

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Emilia (Rey remembered now that was definitely her name) joined her over at the window. It felt odd standing watch with someone else. For so long now Rey had gotten used to standing watch with the same group over and over. Well, technically, it was only three months. But it felt like an eternity. In that time, farm station had become a tight knit group. It was the only way to survive. Standing guard now with someone else beside her felt almost wrong somehow.

But the words out of Emilia’s mouth weren’t blindingly optimistic or naïve. She didn’t spout about hope like some. She was just realistic. And blunt. Rey liked that in a person. Why dance around the issue when you could just get to the point? She sighed, one finger tapping idly against the barrel of her gun. “There’s always another storm down here. Hell, this whole planet’s just one giant shitstorm.” When the Ark first hit the Earth, Rey had been determined to do everything in her power to keep people alive. To make this place survivable. Her grandfather had given his life in the culling so she could have this chance. But now, after three months in hell… Sometimes she wondered if he hadn’t gotten the better end of the deal. At least things had been over quick for him. He hadn’t been forced to watch his friends slaughtered by Grounders while frostbite and starvation went after the others.

The thought of Grounders caused Rey to turn a bit to face Emilia. “People here are saying the chancellor actually thinks we could make peace with the Grounders. You believe that?” Her tone was highly skeptical. And with good reason. The occupants of farm station had been slaughtered from the moment they touched snowy ground. Rey wasn’t for a second buying that a different Grounder clan could have such a different attitude toward her people. From what she had seen, Grounders were brutal killing machines. End of story. Besides, hadn’t there been some attempted alliance that blew up in their faces? Not that Rey was usually one to question her superiors. At least not out loud. But after what she had seen, she couldn’t imagine any world in which Camp Jaha could hope for anything more than maintaining its borders by force.

Emilia Tucker