Page 11 of Judgment Day

Chapter Four

Scar

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“The meeting is gettingready to start,” Kris told them when they passed him in the hall.

“Hey,” Exa called out to Kris. “Are there any more muffins?”

Kris nodded. “Rain’s been up baking for hours.”

That said, Kris bit into his muffin and continued around the corner. Exa stopped in the middle of the hall.

“She’s been baking for hours?” Exa mumbled. “Poor thing. She probably can’t sleep. Her mind won’t rest because she’s worried about her friend.”

He knew the feeling. He’d experienced the same bouts of sleeplessness when he’d been searching for his sister.

“Chopper gave her a sleep aid,” Exa told him. “I don’t think it’s working for her. I feel bad about going into the kitchen to eat food she prepared while she was sad.”

“Perhaps cooking is her way of taking her mind off things, if only for a moment,” Scar told her. “Maybe having us eat what she’s baked will give her a moment of happiness.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. If one of my sisters were missing, I’d be burning shit down, not baking. But everyone copes differently.”

Scar knew better than to state he’d tried to make that exact point earlier, only to have her almost bite his head off. Instead, he steered her toward the kitchen.

“Let’s hurry up and get breakfast so we won’t be late for the meeting.”

Nodding, Exa walked alongside him as they followed the scent of blueberry and bacon. They ran into Liam on the trek to the kitchen. He nodded at them, unable to speak with two slices of bacon hanging from his mouth. In his arms were a laptop, a backpack, and a bunch of tangled cords.

Liam headed toward the meeting room as they neared the kitchen. Though the safe house was big enough to house all of them comfortably, Scar often felt like they were all walking over each other. No one complained about it. Both teams were getting along well. Of course, an occasional argument broke out now and then.

Those arguments usually involved Arson and Julien. Rain turned to face them when they stepped into the kitchen. A huge smile lit up her face as soon as she saw them. If Scar didn’t know of all the chaos going on, he would think she was truly happy. Sometimes depression and sadness hid behind the happiest of smiles.

“I was wondering when you two would come eat,” Rain told them. “Don’t worry. I’ve made a lot. There’s plenty to go around. Exa, you like the chocolate muffins. So, I baked tons of those.”

Scar leaned against the wall as Exa rushed over to Rain’s side to look at all the food she had on the table.

“You made all of this by yourself?” Exa asked.

“Yes. Oni offered to help. But, I wanted to do it alone. It helps me clear my mind.” Rain choked up on the last word.

“Are these chocolate chip pancakes?” Exa asked.

“Yes.”

“These are Seven’s favorite.”

“I know. I made those especially for her.”

“Thanks, Rain.”

“No problem.”

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