Christine just got her rations when Julian called out to her. Making her way over to their group and was glad to see Marie and Anna already with the group. She considered Julian a friend, but he was loud and often rude and correcting him only aggravated the situations. Having Marie and Anna there would help.<br/><br/>As if on cue, Marie spoke up to Julian’s exclamation. “That’s stupid. What are we supposed to do? Kick their kneecaps? They would shoot us dead before we got close enough.” Marie was the smartest of Christine’s friends, though that didn’t mean she was the most listened to. She was also the shortest of the bunch. She was typically quiet, until it came to Julian. She could argue with Julian for days and not get tired of it. Before she left with her family, Melanie said that meant they belonged together. Melanie would know. She understood these things.<br/><br/>Anna had gotten quieter since the start of the war, both in the sense of making an argument and in her speech. Sometimes Anna got so still and silent that Christine was likely to forget she was there. Now, though, she spoke up. “I am glad that we are still in school. I like being out of the house.”<br/><br/>Christine had frowned at Julian the moment he spoke up, and now voiced her own opinions. “I think you frightened off Samuel.” Her tone was one of mild disapproval. Christine had been a little more on edge since the start of the war and her father’s joining the army. She ate her rations quickly and then opened her bag under the premise of searching for something else to eat, such as a snack her mother may have slipped her. In truth she was looking for Argent. Knowing the blob of mercury was there in her bag always reminded her to keep clam. She had secrets to keep for herself and her Uncle Anton. It was a big responsibility but she could handle it with a little reminding.<br/><br/>When she looked in the bag, however, she was in for a shock. Argent’s container was not in the bag. For a second she convinced herself that maybe she had left it at home, but she remembered carefully wrapping the container in the scrap of cloth she used to hide it in her bag. She knew that she had Argent in her bag that morning. It must have fallen out somewhere. Taking a deep breath and putting her bag back over her shoulder she tried to stay calm and think. Where had she been? Where could it have fallen out at? She needed to not let her friends see that she was upset. She had to keep her secrets and find Argent. She kept fidgeting as she thought, and tried to keep from just running off to search for Argent.<br/><br/><br/>(((Hahaha. No, Christine doesn’t know how to handle even an unarmed man yet. The thing with Argent is this idea: It fell out of her bag, rolled off, and possibly popped the lid since Argent is bigger than he was because of the lead and maybe because of Christine playing with him to see what happens. She might have found a thermometer not from school to try it out. There’s less space/more pressure so the lid opening wouldn’t take as much impact or work as it would have before. So Argent  can be loose and Christine is going to have to go find him, and possibly deal with Julian being loud and rude and that’s a lot of pressure for one kid to handle and keep cool)))