TEKULA: SUBJECT ZERO

CHAPTER FIVE

A/N: Sorry guys if the cringe is real with this one 😬

WHEN THEY SAID Alaska had a lot of snow, this wasn't quite what Quinn had been expecting. When she woke up the third Monday morning of her stay, she was nearly ready to cry from the blinding white light that reflected through her window from the snowy landscape outside.

There was always snow. Always. It was never ending. The snowfall was like a hyperbola: it came so close to stopping at zero, only for it to pick back up again.

Of course, the snow was fun at first. For, like, a day, but after that it was only a nuisance. Whenever she went outside it was freezing cold. Her boots were always soaking wet, and literally everything was frozen and slippery.

Besides the snow, and contrary to her initial statements, she was beginning to like her new home. She spent the majority of her time indoors doing homework with the occasional help from Joseph, or Josie, as she now calls him.

The young soldier was actually pretty good at Calculus--something she was eternally grateful for.

Not that she would ever admit it.

She didn't realize she would like homeschooling so much. In fact, she wonders why it was never an option before. No other students to distract her, no drama, the lesson taught at her own pace, and no assignment deadlines.

The rest of her time was spent writing songs and Facetiming Spencer. She was able to buy more instruments from Amazon, and Josie would go pick them up for her. So far, she has taught herself to play the drums, the ukelele, and the mandolin.

With no one around to criticize her, it made practicing instruments much easier. Truth is, Quinn's very self conscious of how well she played in front of her father, not that she has ever admitted such.

She and Spencer have held up their promise of calling everyday, and even calling more than once a day. Whenever she called, he would always pick up, even if it was at one in the morning.

Quinn was exceedingly grateful to have such a friend as Spencer. He is someone she has always been able to count on. She briefly wonders if, had she stayed, they would have become something more.

"Ooh, that's bad," Quinn says to herself as she looks at her reflection in the mirror. "Or maybe not," she chuckles. She was too lazy to take off her eyeliner from yesterday, so now its smudged all around her eyes and even down her cheeks.

Quinn tilts her head back and forth, trying to find the angle where her features are the sharpest, not that she really needs much help there. "Hmm. I kinda like this aesthetic."

Shrugging to herself, she hops in the shower, drying off and dressing afterwards.

Hearing a knock at the door, she quickly brushes out her black hair and towel dries her bangs. "I'm coming. Sheesh!" She shouts to whoever is still knocking repeatedly on her front door.

She swings the door open, only to come face-to-face with a smug Joseph.

"Morning, Quinn," he chirps, brushing past her into the drab living room.

"What was all that banging for? I already had a headache, you didn't need to make it worse," she grumbles like the ornery person she is.

"I just wanted to irritate you, is all," he says, relaxing back on her couch.

Quinn pinches the bridge of her nose. It seems the more time they spend together, the more irritating he gets. She wonders if this is what it's like to have an older brother.

"Look, is there a reason you are here?"

"Your father has given me permission to escort you through a part of the bunker. I thought you might want to go today."