At the end of the
tunnel, the group came upon another metal door, which was locked until Jones
used her clenched fist to tap out a different code then she had used on the
first door. The door was opened by another soldier, also female. When she saw
Lilith, she smiled.
“It’s good to see
you,” she said to Lilith and then stepped back to allow everyone to enter.
As Edward entered
the room, he took notice that the soldier was pregnant, very pregnant. “Hello,”
he said to her.
“This is Rita, and
as you can see, life does go on…even at the most inconvenient times,” Lilith answered. Her sarcasm was not lost on Edward.
“When is the baby
due?” Edward asked Rita.
“Any day now,”
Rita replied and then faced Lilith, “We haven’t heard a thing
from the scouts…from Roger or Rick in the last twelve hours…nothing.”
Lilith, ignoring the soldier's distress, placed her
hand on Rita’s swollen belly and asked, “Does it hurt?”
“What?” Rita wasn’t
the only one confused by Lilith’s question
“Does it hurt to
have that inside you?”
“No …it's just uncomfortable. Look, I'm worried about my husband and Rick...we don't know if they’ve been captured.” Rita was upset and wanted answers.
But for Lilith, the
conversation was over. She dropped her hand from the woman’s belly and said to
Tzaddik, “Bring me to the prisoner.”
As the group went
further into the compound, Edward saw that there were many people living in the
tunnels. The children and women seem to outnumber the soldiers and like the
soldiers, all were showing signs of malnutrition. Edward could not help but
notice the pathetic expressions on all the children’s faces. When had they last
eaten? He was about to question Bradley, but they had reached the area that
held the prisoner.
“Leave me,” Lilith
ordered Bradley and Jones. She only allowed Tzaddik and Edward to follow her
into the room.
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