❝ no one doubts your determination. but you need to rest. ❞ / @yosufro
callie knows she’s right. she’s barely done any of that since she got here, but she’s just so focused on trying to do what she can to prove herself and to prove her worth. for years now, she’s wondered what it would be like to leave her father’s sanctuary and be on her own again – to discover what this new world has become and her place in it now. she never belonged in that bunker; she knew it long before she ever stepped inside for the very last time, too — and now, she’s insistence on proving that to everyone here.
she is not her father, she does not stand for the things that her father does. he wanted power, to shelter those around him and make them answer to him. but she wants life — a chance to grow with the people around her, to help as they need, to be a part of something bigger that is allowed to grow. like this.
❝ have you ever felt too tired to rest? ❞ she asks, small but exhausted smile tugging at her lips as she shrugs her shoulders, head falling back against the wall while she slumps in her seat. ❝ it’s just kind of . . . a lot. it’s like, sensory overload. finally being in a new place after years of being in the same dark hole. but i mean it when i say i want to do my part to help here. i can rest later, you know? i — i want to help. it’s the least i can do, after you’ve helped me. ❞
Clara couldn’t help but admire Callie’s veracity. Some of the survivors that passed through El Sanctuario sought safe harbor with no intention of working for it. This place, thanks to Nesto, was indeed every bit the sanctuary that Los Hermanos promised people it would be. But rules were rules and anyone who didn’t like them or refused to abide by them were more than welcome to resume their current state of being outside the hospital’s perimeter.
Callie wasn’t like that at all. Knowing who she was and where she’d come from, most of the people here half-expected her to yearn for a free ride. But Clara saw something different in her, something good. Whether Callie knew it or not, the medic had put in a word for la princesa ( as some of the hermanos called her when they thought no one was listening ) just so she could see how they functioned and what El Sanctuario was like. Turned out, Clara’s investment was paying off.
“ Sure — which is why you should rest now. Shit’s only gonna get harder the longer you put it off. ” She didn’t seem the type to shy away from a full day’s work, but newcomers often took advantage of as much R&R as they could before setting to work in their respective, assigned duties. A wry grin ghosted along Clara’s lips as she shook her head. She liked Callie, respected her, even. But she knew that fighting her on this would get both of them nowhere ( stubbornness — something they had in common ). “ How ‘bout this, then? I’m gonna keep doin’ what I’m doing. You be my right hand. Sometimes I’ll need you to just listen, other times I’ll actually need your hands. For now, you keep your ass in that chair ‘til I tell you. And you can ask me anything you think might help you understand us a bit more. Deal? ”
