Chapter 12 – Feeding on Memories
THE COMPOUND
Emma got a call from Sheryl to meet her and Jarrah in the main hall. She didn't know where the main hall was, so just wandered around until she found them.
“How are you settling in?” she asked smiling, any hint of the stress she had just been under hidden from view.
“Yeah, it's obviously not like home” Emma said, “But my room is nice, I've not really looked around much yet”.
“There's not a great deal to see, I made sure there was enough room for us all down here. The last thing we needed was for us all to go completely bananas” She said still smiling.
Jarrah looked like he had been there for a while, the way he was sat nonchalantly in his chair.
“I got a call from James, he'd been tracked” He informed Emma.
“Is he okay?” She asked changing her facial expression to one of concern within a blink an eye.
“Yes, he got to the extraction team” Sheryl said, “Do either of you want a drink?”
They both nodded, a small tipple wouldn't hurt. They noticed the bottle of gin was half empty, but had no reason to assume Sheryl had slurped her stress away with it all afternoon.
“Well help yourselves, we have a basic selection on the top, some beers in the fridge and I think we have some wine somewhere” Sheryl said glancing around.
They did as she said, both of them taking very small measures, not wanting to offend their host on the first day.
“Will we get to go outside from here?” Jarrah asked. Nature was his world, his ancestral home, to be denied access to it to him was as bad as falling under the Elite's spell.
“Of course, we’ll have to be careful and not venture far but yes, we all need fresh air” Sheryl said before taking a deep breath, “So, I'll bring you up to speed. The rest of the team are on their way”.
Jarrah and Emma let out a huge sigh of relief. That had been preying on their mind all afternoon, whether they would all make it here safe or not.
“But I have to tell you” Sheryl paused. “Three of your friends didn't make it”.
She said it quite abruptly; the gin consumed obviously numbing her ability to sound sensitive enough. Jarrah and Emma were shocked. They knew something could go wrong, but had fooled themselves into dismissing that possibility.
“Who?” Emma said, ready to burst into tears whoever it was.
“I'm afraid it was Sofia, Ben and Niel” Sheryl replied, this time sounding a lot softer and understanding in her tone.
She was upset herself; she wasn't a callous woman, despite what people thought of women who did well in business. In fact, it was quite the opposite; she just learnt how to hide her emotions when necessary. She was genuinely upset; she knew that if they hadn't joined in her campaign, that they would still be alive. Ultimately, she blamed herself. Jarrah and Emma both dropped their heads in sadness, they were both fond of them all and had known them a long time, and it was going to take a long time to let it sink in. They both sipped from their glasses, Jarrah taking a few at a time. It wasn't making him feel any better, but he thought it was worth a try.
It wasn't long before they heard the rumble of something in the distance, which they took to be their approaching friends. That sound was another relief, they knew they hadn't all made it, but it could have been so much worse, and felt lucky to be able to see those who had made it again. If the last week had done anything to them, it was to strip them of hope, and this small glimmer felt magnified ten-fold. It was the thing they needed, the thing they all needed.
A couple of minutes later the others had landed and were being led through to greet them. There was a look of sheer joy on all of their faces as they hugged and shook hands. They had so much to catch up on, but also so much to grieve for. The whole day had been surreal, the situations they had been in almost unbelievable, and finally here they were.
Sheryl pointed to the drinks and told everyone to help themselves. She knew how much they had been through; she had been actively involved herself but tucked away in safety watching it all unfold. How it must have felt to her team she knew she would never understand.
“Well I am so pleased you all made it” Sheryl said raising her eighth glass towards them, “I know it's been a traumatic and, well, downright weird day. We have a lot of work to do, but I think you all need the rest of the day to settle in and recuperate, when you're ready I'll show you all your rooms, but take your time, we'll go at your pace”.
Most of them wanted to get showered and changed first, and then settle down and try and block
