Naya's POV
On arriving at the base, I didn't hesitate before jumping down from the truck and making a beeline to my tent as fast as I could. There was a distant call from Lucian, which I chose to ignore.
Keisha ran up to me and threw her hands around my waist. I held onto her closely, the thoughts of what they had done still lingering in my mind, but I pushed them to the back. I shouldn't have gone out with them in the first place. What was I thinking?
"Hello, lovely. Did you enjoy the school day? How was it?" I questioned, watching as she offered a toothy grin—something I barely ever saw from her reserved persona.
She chatted excitedly about her events at school as we both walked into the tent. I listened attentively and smiled, though she still looked skinny. She wasn't feeling as depressed as she had been before we arrived. With more food, she would be able to gain some weight like the others.
"A group of friends invited me for a playdate. Do you think I can go?" She asked, pleading with her big doe eyes, and my heart melted. She really didn't have to ask me.
I shrugged. I didn't see the reason why she shouldn't go. This might have been all new to her, but despite that, she was willing to give it a try, and who was I to stop her? "Of course you can go, darling."
She pumped her fist in the air and celebrated before thanking me and dashing out of the tent. I couldn't help the feeling that swelled in my chest. I realized that I may just care rather deeply for Keisha. I was also surprised that she had asked for my permission.
I sighed as silence surrounded me once again. I found myself alone in this small tent. For once, I could actually think through everything that had happened up until now. My thoughts had been scattered, and there had barely been enough time for myself.
It was rather strange: the wraith, his actions, and Lucian's expressed feelings regarding the Ascendant's Authority. He had spoken bitterly about them, yet at the same time, he was no different. This base was no different if that was how they got their supplies. They bullied the inferior and made them succumb to their will as the more superior power.
The Ascendant's Authority were at the top of the food chain at the moment, just like they had been before. The man in charge, who Lucian spoke so bitterly of, was Mr. Alistair Vale, the president of the Ascendant's Authority, though I had only met him once. The other encounters had been through social media and interviews. I didn't really have an opinion on him.
I had been dead for six months. I had been dead, but for some reason, I came back to life with so many strange things happening—from the healing to the blast I had used to literally kill, to killing people by depriving them of oxygen, which I thought was what I had done.
The last part, I wasn't so sure about. But there was no other reasonable explanation. Something was definitely wrong with me, and I felt it. I had changed. There was no one to tell me, and I didn't need anyone to.
Ever since I woke up, I hadn't been the same. It was always this feeling at the back of my mind that seemed to guide my path.
And those feelings surfaced again, this time having something to do with the wraith. Although they provided us with security and supplies, at the same time, my trust in them wasn't stable.
One thing that was confusing was what had caused the explosion. I seemed to recall an encounter a few hours before the explosion. It was between Dr. Cronos and an unknown person. At the time, I didn't think much of it, but now, I began to wonder.
They had conversed about something very unfamiliar to me—something different from my line of work, or something I had never heard of before. They spoke of an experiment that I hadn't been involved in.
Whatever it was, the unknown person was worried, and Dr. Cronos reassured them that everything would be fine.
Thinking back on it now, my time with the doctor could be counted on one hand. She had always expressed how busy she was and not to be disturbed. After a few years, I decided to work on my own experiments with the equipment I had at my disposal.
Whatever it was that she had been working on must have been the cause of the explosion—and the cause of my death.
I released a sigh. My head hurt from the constant thinking, but I couldn't help it. I was curious. Such an explosion changed the world and renewed it beyond repair. I wondered if it was the same outside the city.
I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind—or at least tried to—but they kept coming back up. As a scientist, I could never hold down my curiosity, and it had always gotten me far.
Some answers I appreciated, and others I didn't, but it was always wonderful to know.
What I wanted to know now was the power that had such magnitude to cause such massive destruction. I should at least know what ended my life.
The only way I was going to do that was with help, and the one person I could think of was Lucian. Although his methods had been crude when dealing with the outsiders, he was my only option.
I couldn't just sit back and leave a normal life, despite how wonderful this place felt compared to the world outside these fences. Keisha would have a wonderful life here. If the time came that I would need to leave, I would know that she would be safe.
Whatever it was, staying for too long wouldn't be an option, and I understood that. My hands peered at my hands, and all the times I had injured myself and how they had closed back up. That was not normal at all.
The strange power they emitted and the destruction they could cause was something that was beyond me.
One thing was certain, though, which Dr. Cronos was right about: there was something wrong with me—something inside of me—which would probably explain the concept of my reincarnation and the strange power I seemed to possess.