ROTM Chapter 6: PLEASE SAVE ME (Part 2)

    1.5:

    I've been at 31's house for hours, just resting my back and telling her and 24 all about the baby. She tells me about hers too, considering she's three, probably almost four, months along now. They let me rest for the night, and then most of the day the next day. My whole back is killing me, and the baby's been kicking me nonstop. It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I'd like to take a nap without being suddenly being awoken by my kid karate-chopping my insides. 
    "You're getting close." 31 says. "How far along are you now, technically?"
    "Almost twenty-three weeks." I say. "It's getting complicated... I've truly been pregnant for thirty-eight, but because of the medicine, my body's taking it as the twenty-third."
    "Weird. Since you're almost in your third trimester... what do you think you're having?"
    "I really have no idea. I mean, there's a few times where I've been convinced I'm having a boy, but I'm not really sure."
    "Did you know there's myths that supposedly predict what you're having?" she asks, jokingly.
    "Psh, no way." I laugh.
    "No, they're totally real! People have been using them for a long time." she says. "I mean, they aren't always correct, but they're still fun to test out!"
    "What do they even say? Give me an example."
    "Um, hm... If you're not sick at the beginning, you're having a boy. But if you're sicker than not, you're having a girl."
    "Damn, guess I have a little lady on the way." I joke. "Any idea what you're having?"
    "I think I'm having a boy. You, on the other hand, you're totally having a girl."
    "How do you know that?" I joke.
    "Intuition, I guess. Considering I already had one, I guess I just know how it feels, and I'm getting a little vibe like that from you."
    "That's funny." I say. "Well, we'll find out soon, I guess."
    
    She laughs a little, and then says she's going out to the town square for an hour or so to pick up a few things. I decide to rest my back a little more, just because I'm actually starting to get pretty big, and my bones are aching more often than not. 31 leaves, and before she exits the house, she tells 24 that I'll be resting and to just check on me occasionally. She kisses him, then heads out. 24 asks me if I'm alright, and I explain that my back just hurts a little. He tries to console me by saying that he's sorry and he wishes there was something he could do, especially to get 30 home.
    "Well, we have made some progress. I'm sure we'll figure it out soon." I say.
    "I suppose. I just feel bad for you... you're having a baby and 30 doesn't even know." he pauses. "I wish they'd all come back for your sake."
    "We'll get them home."
    "I just have a sense of guilt... being a father, I know that 30's going to really be surprised when he finds out about the baby. I mean, he'll be happy, really really happy, but he'll probably be upset that he couldn't have gotten home sooner."
    "Maybe." I say. "We'll just have to wait and see."
    "Yeah. But really, as a dad, I must say 30's going to feel pretty bad. He loves you."
    "I know, and I love him too."
    "I'm sure. I'll let you be now, so you can rest. I'm sure you're aching at least a little."
    "Can you tell?" I joke.
    "Well, no, it's just that my wife's already been pregnant once, and she explained to me how it feels."
    "Oh, true." I say. "And yeah, my back's in a bit of pain. Thanks for being concerned."
    "Hey, don't worry about it. Get some rest."
    He leaves the room and closes the door most of the way, so that the light from the front window won't go in my face and keep me up.
    I'm surprised at how nice 24's been to me. Not that we was ever mean, it's just that he always comes off as generally sarcastic and as a know-it-all. But now that he know that I'm having a baby, he's being such a softie. He's being... a dad. Maybe he's just getting some extra practice considering 31's having another baby. I kind of feel a little bad for him, in a funny way. Poor guy, his wife, and his wife's best friend are both pregnant and we're just sitting around and being lazy, and poor 24 has to do everything. When 31 leaves, he has another pregnant person to watch over. I try not to be a burden, just rest and let 24 do his math and science and take care of 55. I wonder what they'll name their next one. I don't think numbers are an option now. They might have to give their kid an alphabetical name. I ponder on this for a while, then begin to wonder what 30 and I, or just 30 will name our baby. I fall asleep, and I am awoken by the sound of the front door opening. I hear 31, but I hear a second pair of footsteps as well. They don't sound like 24's, they sound... lighter. 
    "Is she awake?" I hear 31 say.
    "I think so... she's just lying down and resting."
    I don't lift up my head, but I hear a few people enter the room I'm in. 
    "1.5, you have a visitor."
    I sit up, yawn, and stretch out my back. I look over to see a young girl with tan fabric, and bright green eyes unlike anything I've ever seen. She's about as tall as 31, and wears a tattered, white dress over herself. I wonder why on earth she might be wearing something like that. 
    "Hi there, what's up?"
    "I-I'm Nove." she says. "I have a message for you, from 30."
    My heart skips a beat. He's alive! Oh my goodness! This is so good! Somebody knows 30 and made it here! We can find him now, and he can come home! This is amazing! Externally, I keep my cool. I very much would like to hear what she has to say. I shouldn't have gotten so excited a moment ago, what if she's about to tell me that 30's dead? The thought makes me feel like crying, and gives me a pain in my chest.
    "I-I'm listening..." I say softly.
    "30 says he's okay, that he loves you so so much, and that he wishes he were here to take care of you."
    Okay now I'm freaking out. He's okay! He's alive! I'm so excited!
    "He's okay? Oh my goodness!"
    Nove stays clam, and seems to be happy to have gotten the message to me.
    "He really misses you... he would be here with me, but there was only enough time for one of us to escape the prison..."
    "Prison??" I ask. "Do you remember where he was being kept?"
    "Yes. I was in the same place as him. He's in an underground prison in the Northwest, about ten or eleven miles up. I escaped from a opening in ceiling that was boarded up."
    This. Is. Huge!! We finally have someone who knows exactly where all of the guys are being kept! Now we just have to get them out! This is a game-changer! A godsent (is there is a god)! 
    "24, get us a map." I say with a smile.
    "Will do." He nods, and leaves the room. I turn to Nove again.
    "Thank you for coming... you're a lifesaver." I pull my blanket off of me, and I am able to get myself off the couch (somehow) without any assistance. I press on the lower region of my back in hopes to stretch it out a little. 31 isn't really phased by this, but Nove, on the other hand, looks confused. She looks at my abdomen which is, well, getting pretty big at this point. I'm wearing a sweater, so my bump is pretty easy to see. I look to 31 for a second.
    "Would you mind telling 29 that I'm coming into the office today? We're figuring this out ASAP."
    "Of course." she says. She goes into the other room to get 55, and then heads out. I fold the blanket I just had on me and place it on the couch. It's a comfy couch, a part of me just wants to get back to resting on it again. That's not important right now, though. I'm getting to the bottom of this. I'm getting 30 and our other friends home right now.
    "I can't believe this..." I say to Nove. "He's been gone for months... I-I thought he was dead!" Just then, the baby kicks me pretty hard. I smile and laugh, knowing that a resolution to all of this might be in the near future. I pat my belly. 
    "Ow, damn!" I joke. "I know you're excited that your dad's okay, but that's no reason to go punching me that hard!"
    Nove chimes in on me talking to my kid. 
    "Uh, 30 said you were pretty sick... I didn't think we meant, well... this."
    "Eh, me neither. I didn't think I was pregnant." I pause. "But... he was captured before I could tell him..."
    She looks at me with sympathy.
    "I-I'm so sorry."
    "Oh, don't be. It was out of our control, I suppose. Even the pregnant part." I pull my jacket off the coatrack and put it on. It covers me entirely, hiding my pregnancy effectively.
    She cocks her brow at me, not understanding my unusual situation.
    "I'll explain later." I joke. "I'm going to my office to organize a plan to rescue my boyfriend, along with like eleven other people. You coming?"
    "Yeah, let's go get him." she smiles and nods.
    "Good, because we need you anyway." I joke. "Let's head out, no point in wasting any time."
   
    We leave 31 and 24's house, and head to the government building. Nove looks around in awe the whole time. She explains she's never seen a place like this before in her entire life, and is shocked. I joke with her in hopes to make her feel comfortable and ready to share information with us. 24 meets us in my office, holding a map of the town and the wastelands beyond here. He rolls it out on my desk, and holds it open for us.
    "Okay, so, we're here." I point to the sketch of the town on the map. "Where'd you come into the town from?"
    "The town square, right there." She points. "Outside the prison, well outside the gap I escaped from, there's a sign that says 'Waterloo village" or something like that.
    "He's in Waterloo Village?" 24 jokes. "That's so easy, how could we have not picked up on that?"
    "Welp, it's underground, and plus you're working with me, and I only have half of a brain because I'm pregnant." I laugh.
    "It's right near the sign - it's a big, gaping hole in the ground. The entrance is camouflaged. It's behind a flap in a door."
    "Oh, wow." I say. "This is... this is great. We know exactly where they are."
    "We just have to go get them." 24 says to me with encouragement. 
    I get a chill down my spine, just thinking that nearly all of this will be over soon. We know where to go, how to maneuver the place, and exactly what to do. And it's all because of one person! I am very thankful for Nove right now. She just changed this whole situation around. Because of her, we're going to resolve all of this. In just one day, she changed everything. I inhale, and then exhale, trying to stay calm, but I'm just so excited!
    We've figured it out - now we just have to execute a plan to bring all of our friends and family (and lovers) home! I smile, and the baby kicks. All of our men are going to be here soon!