Beyond the Horizon: New Dawn

10) "Seventy-Six"

Seventy-Six dropped his fork on the table as a high pitched screech rang through his ears. It was something that had begun to become more frequent over the past three days. He looked down at his body. The BlackDiamond uniform felt foreign to him, but also like home. It was difficult for him to understand or even explain it to others. He hated thinking about how he felt. It just made him feel like he was going insane. But all that mattered to him was uncovering the truth.

In some moments, he was able to remember more of the past and felt like BlackDiamond was truly his home. In others, his mind went blank and he did not remember anything about his time with BlackDiamond. It felt as though he were living a lie. He chalked it up as a result of the torture at the hands of Mars. Elias told him the full recovery would take time and that he should continue his day to day life at the BlackDiamond Headquarters as he did before. But he had no idea what that routine was. He was flying blind and had no one to guide him.

"You alright?" Thirty-Five asked, startling him. Seventy-Six felt guilty as soon as he made eye contact with her. Though he did not remember doing it, he knew he had scared her to death the other day by having the gun to the guard's head. It was the first time he saw her since then.

"I'm sorry about before," Seventy-Six apologized. "I-"

"You've been through a lot," Thirty-Five interjected. "I want to help. We want to help."

"We?"

"Zero. She wants to help too."

Seventy-Six rubbed his forehead with his hand. The name was familiar but he was unable to put a face to it. "Where is she?"

"Most likely in the ring sparring."

"Feels like that's where she's been spending most of her time since Beta left."

Seventy-Six froze as soon as the sentence left his mouth. He knew that was the case, but for some reason it felt strange. It was as if he knew that he should not have known that, yet the information was there in his mind. He looked back down at his uniform. Maybe Elias had a point, he thought to himself. Being in a familiar setting did help jog his memory. Perhaps he was being told the truth all along and he was really one of them. He rose from the table and turned to Thirty-Five. "You up for a little sparring?" he asked.

"Hey slow down," Thirty-Five advised. "You're still in recovery."

"Scared you going to lose as always?" he asked. A part of his brain was telling him that he did not know her but he pushed it away.

Thirty-Five sighed as she folded her arms together. "I could plant you on your ass without breaking a sweat," she boasted.

"I like the fire," Seventy-Six responded. "Let's go."

The pair left the dining hall and made their way to the boxing gym. As they entered, they could hear the loud thuds of fists landing against a punching bag. There were soft grunts that accompanied each punch, and a man encouraging the person to keep going.

Seventy-Six and Thirty-Five walked to the back of the gym where they saw Zero and Twenty training together. Zero continued to grunt with each punch she threw and Twenty continued to push her. "Commander?" Twenty asked as he noticed Seventy-Six and Thirty-Five approaching them. "Before you ask," Seventy-Six began, already feeling the pity he had for him. "I'm fine. We're here to work."

"Shit," Twenty responded breathlessly with a smile. "We could definitely sparr. I'm thinking-"

"You sure that's a good idea?" Zero asked as she continued to punch the bag, her hair in strands clinging to her sweaty face.