Gunpowder
Chapter Twenty Five

This was the longest patrol Axis had ever been on, or at least it felt like it. She was riding along the edges of a particularly busy road, which was the current site of an event put on by a school district, where they got every student to walk to school. She was the only officer there, simply there to keep everything in line, seeing as there were thousands of students on one road.

She found it interesting, however. The kids had seemed to organize themselves in some way. Every grade had a leader, and every school had leader, who led all the grade leaders, and then a single leader who led all the school leaders. There were even highschoolers walking with the younger kids, helping them stay in line. The whole thing was intriguing, as it didn’t seem to have been planed. She had been there during the whole walk, and the leaders and simply seemed to emerge from the pack and start the lead.

Axis found herself at the back, not really having much to do. She would direct the joining kids to their grades, and that was about it. Her mind was constantly drifting back to where she wanted to be: Home, with her roommate. She had an unusual affection to the woman, as if a sort of magnet was bringing the two of them together. Some kind of invisible force was making Axis want to be near her. Such feelings felt entirely unprofessional. It was simply part of her job to share a home with the woman. But, if it was just a job, why did she want it to last? Even if she did confess her feelings, Poppy might not even like her back, what then? The house would be so tense you could cut the air with a butter knife.

She tried to think back to the cat she and Poppy had seen at the pet store. She had seen the love in her friend’s eyes when she first saw it. How she looked close to tears of joy when it nuzzled her finger. She had come so far from when she had found her, wounded and close to death in a car more squished than a can on the side of the road. The technician had seemed to be a goner, her legs broken, glass stuck in her neck. But, now, she was so... normal, and happy. She was almost completely healed, both in body and mind.

Axis could hardly shake the image from the former night from her brain. When she had seen Poppy shrieking, crying, curled up in a ball on her bed, bleeding from her lip, something had just.. compelled her to help. It was almost if the woman was her sister, she just felt... connected.

She shook her head again; Why couldn’t she just forget about this woman who had just jumped into her life one day? The soldier attempted to busy herself. She saw a group of third graders approaching, and hastily trotted over to them. They seemed to be led by a taller girl with blonde hair and freckles. She was holding the hand of a shorter girl, who had a large golden retriever that seemed to be guiding her. The dog wore a navy blue service vest, leading Axis to believe that it was a seeing eye dog.

“Third graders?” Axis inquired, looking at the blonde girl. The child only nodded in response, and she began to lead them to the third grade section, which was near the back of the giant mass of children. The dozen of third graders meshed in perfectly with the rest of their grade, and the deed was done.

The thoughts began to come back to Axis once more. She wondered how Poppy was doing at the home, all by herself. She was probably on her computer, maybe looking at pictures of cats. Or maybe she was still asleep. She hoped that her roommate was doing okay. She may have been mostly healed, but her legs were still outfitted with walking boots. What if she had fallen down the stairs? Had she been able to make breakfast?

The robotic equine that Axis was seated atop pricked its ears and whinnied, clearly sensing her new found panic. Several kids turned to stare, confused by the noise, but quickly lost interest and went back to their conversations with the children around them.

Axis’s mix of emotions confused her. She wanted to be close to Poppy, and she also wanted to comfort her, and make sure nothing bad happened to her. But the feeling wasn’t motherly, and she did not think of the woman as a sister. No... she was something more than that. She was like the best friend Axis had ever had, and she never wanted that friendship to end.

She made a mental vow to protect Poppy. As long as she was alive, nothing would happen to her. It was a promise to herself, and Axis was a person of her word.

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