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Author's Chapter Notes:

Fran brainstorms her thoughts on the way to the Univeristy, while the Dean catches up with Abby and the rest...

Fran was on her way back to the University, slowly walking, trying to think of what she could say or do when she did finally get back and found Jim and Abby. The incident and how she was going to be able to fix it were all that was on her mind for a good while now. She'd made a big mistake by letting her emotions get the best of her, with far worse consequences than she could ever guess at this point. All she could do now was to get back on campus, find her two friends, and apologize to them, as best she could. She owed it to them.

What she could say, however, was something that she pondered about often on this trip. She'd hurt both Abby and Jim, badly, and there weren't many words that would be able to overcome such an immense incident, such as that. 'Sorry I kidnapped you and put you in the hospital' probably wouldn't cut it. She had to think of something more. Something...better was in order. The only problem was that Fran wasn't very good at thinking of these things. She normally had Abby suggest these things to her. Now, however, she was on her own. She thought long and hard, starting to whisper to herself about what she could say to them.

“I'm sorry, you two. I didn't know what I was doing. Please forgive me...no. No, that won't work. I can't lie to them.” Fran frowned at herself as her boots calmly moved across the fields on the outskirts of the city, each calm step creating a small cloud of dust. Thankfully, the outskirts had been made, specifically for Larges, so she didn't have to worry about any Minors wandering around, to get accidentally stepped on or run into or anything. She looked straight, staring off in the distance as her mind strained to think of something.

“I...have to be honest” she said to herself. “I was in complete control of my actions. My emotions just got the best of me. I have to accept that.” She stopped for a moment, crossing her arms and looking up to the sky. The sun was shining past a few clouds that were gathered near it. She thought hard about what Abby had told her about forgiveness, that time was the only thing that could re-create trust. “I wish I'd never done all this to him, to them both. If I hadn't been such a jealous jerk, none of this would be happening...”

Fran thought on her own actions, realizing that this was all her fault. From her perspective, it was. If it weren't for her making her rash action at seeing Jim with Emily, she wouldn't have kidnapped him, he wouldn't have gotten hurt, Abby wouldn't have gotten hurt, and the three of them might have been doing something fun together right then and there. She felt a tingling in her nose as she thought about things, slowly shutting her eyes, dwelling on what she had done. It had been awful, and she didn't know how some words and time would be able to erase her actions.

She let out a sigh and looked in front of her again. The University was far off in the distance. She still had quite the distance to travel before she would arrive there. That meant she had plenty of time to think about what she wanted to say to Jim and Abby once she had arrived. She had plenty of time to prepare for things. Since it was still relatively early in the day, she sat herself down in the field she was standing in and put both her palms to her forehead as she thought. “I have to find the perfect apology. I have to be honest, and I have to show them that I truly am sorry, but how...”

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As Fran was sitting in the field, brainstorming, the Dean had finally caught up with Abby and the rest of them, hearing the full length of the tale, and had some news for the six of them. By the time he told them he'd found something new of the situation, they were all a little scared at hearing just what was going on. They knew the situation could turn sour, but they really didn't want the situation to do so. There was too much out there already. To get worse would only mean that things would get worse for all of them.

“When I was looking for you, we got a report from one of the staff for the evening classes” said the Dean, calmly talking in the middle of a field, the three Larges each sitting in a circle around him, one of the Minors in front of each one, resting against their legs and feet. They all had looks of curiosity and concern on their faces as they heard of this 'report'. The Dean looked at all of them, not wanting to tell them what he knew he had to tell them right now. “It seems that the incident in the Large District, as well as the incident in the Infirmary has caused a reaction in the AL Militia. It seems they're on the move.”

Sarah and Abby both tensed up at this statement. While they had yet to realize just what 'on the move' meant, from the Dean, they both knew that it wouldn't be anything good. Everyone looked at one another and then back at the Dean, asking about the situation. He took a few moments of pause before continuing. “It seems that many have seen an armored truck slowly moving through the city, heading in the direction of the University. We're not sure just what the truck is holding, but we do know that there are several members of the Militia on board, and they have something huge on the back of the truck that's covered up by a big tarp. I can only guess what that can be, but we have to do something, to ensure that they don't get here to do whatever they're doing.”

“Excuse me, sir, but...how do we even know they're coming here to do something hostile towards us?” Emily had asked this, her naivety strong. She was young, and still had a lot to learn about the AL Militia. The Dean looked at her and smiled. “I would like to believe that, Ms. Emily. I would like to, very much. However, my instincts tell me they're planning something else. Were they just to pick up Ruby, they wouldn't need an armored vehicle, or a group of soldiers. I fear they have something else in plan. There have been rumors going around that the organization has been working on some compiling large amounts of arms to combat with Larges.”

The Dean took another breath as the group was looking at one another, trying to ponder the meaning of this 'fix'. He looked at them and looked towards the main building, not far from where they were all sitting. “I can only assume that whatever is under that tarp is going to be a problem for us. We need to be ready and, although I have faith in all of you, we need some sort of group to help defend the university from any sort of attack, whether it be conventional or biological. I'm going to go the main building and call in Argo Drake. He's a Large I've known for quite a long time, and I think I can get him to come and help us figure out what's going on.”

The Dean didn't give them much of a chance to respond before he started to walk away. “You six need to be careful, especially you, Abby, Helen, Emily. If they really do have something to use against the taller folks, you must be extremely careful. I know you are tall and can stand a lot, but you're still human, and you're not invincible. I want you to stay together and keep a close watch from the main gates. I'll be in my office, making calls and taking measures to prevent whatever is coming...”

With that, he walked off, heading to the main building, while the six remaining looked at one another, trying to process what they were just told...


 

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