Sequel: Rendering Flames
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Wanderlust

Sixteen

“We're going on a routing trip later, plan out how we'll get closer to the border and everything so be ready,” Jaden told me as he walked past me the next day.

I was still reeling about the story Millie had told me, Constantine wasn't lying when he said it was page turner. I tried to remember how Kruger looked in my memory, to try and make the connections. I tried but I never got a detailed image, just a face that I knew but I can't describe.

“Okay,” I answered, even though he was out of reach. I stared after him, feeling a new found respect to him in some aspects. Sure, he was still cut off and brief all the time with me but I knew now that it was out of focus. I got it, that he didn't want the distraction or uncertainty of anything. On the other hand, it wouldn't kill him to just relax every once in a while.

I was sitting on the railing on the porch, enjoying the mild weather. I swung my legs over and walked into the house, grabbing a jacket from my bedside and stuffing my gun in the back of my pants. I didn't like the feeling, I felt like it could go off and that would end disgustingly. We didn't have any more holsters though, I would have to get over the irrational fear.

“We're surveying together,” Jay walked in, checking his gun.

“I thought you and Mila always did these things together,” I asked, crossing my arms together as we walked out onto the porch.

“I need a break from her,” he shrugged. “It's to much.”

I gave him a concerned look, about to answer but Jaden started talking. Jay and I would take the deeper woods. Mila and Constantine would take the mountain side that Mila showed me and Jaden and Millie would survey the woods behind the house. It would be nice to get fresh air, to walk around.

As we all parted, Jaden told us to be back here by sundown. It was about three o'clock in the afternoon, giving us a few hours. Jay and I walked silently but I was bothered by what he said. He didn't really mean it was too much for him. Mila told me her story, she told me Jay was supportive. Where did it go wrong?

“Jay,” I started hesitantly, “what did you mean by it's too much?”

He gave me a side glance, not saying anything for a minute. I saw him relax a little, his shoulders slumping forward. “I love her, I really do. I know she told you her story and I get it, I know it's hard to deal with. It took my forever to get over my families death, but I got over it, I moved on. She isn't, she just is stuck in the rut that she isn't even trying to get out of. I don't what more she wants from me. I've tried being supportive, I've tried giving her space—hell, I even tried being in a separate room and having no contact with her. She won't talk to me about it and it's driving me insane, I can't do it anymore.”

I took in his perspective, knowing how Mila felt but knew that Jay could only do so much. “Have you told her what you just told me? I'm sure if you asked her, she would listen.”

“No, she's to stubborn. She'll shut me out like she always does and I don't want anymore problems between us.” It already seemed he had given up working through it.

“I don't know what to tell you unless you're willing to work through it,” I shrugged, wishing he'd be less pessimistic about it.

The conversation didn't go on from there, it was left as it was. The woods were deserted, no abandoned structures around to investigate. We were truly alone out here but I couldn't help but feel paranoid. What if Kruger was watching us? It was more dangerous with me here because I didn't know why I was here. Who knows what I did to have my memories erased and to be tortured. I wonder if I would be dead right now if I had stayed on my own, if he would have found me and just killed me instead of releasing me into the forest.

“There are some animal tracks but nothing out of the ordinary for a forest,” Jay squinted, looking up at the tree tops. The sky was clear but the sun was sinking fast and we turned to head back to the house.

It was quiet, the only sound were our footsteps as I saw the house in the distance. I could see Millie and Jaden waiting on the porch, Constantine and Mila not back. They probably could afford the time because they took one of the Jeeps. Millie raised her hand to wave us down, a smile on her face. I raised my hand high, waving back. A loud shot came from behind Jay and I, zipping through the air as as a hot pain ripped through my upper arm.

I collapsed to the ground, in shock. It throbbed and felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my arm. I rolled onto my back, breathing the pain with each breath. Jay dragged me to my feet, forcing me forward. I ran and suddenly one confusing lone bullet had turned into dozens. We weaved through the trees, not daring to run in a straight line. Millie and Jaden were already in the house as Jay and I dove up onto the porch, the door flying open briefly enough for Jay and I to crawl inside. Millie slammed the door shut, hiding behind the door frame.
“What the hell,” I hissed, looking down at my blood soaked arm. “It was clear, there's no one out there.”

“It's not good,” Jaden swallowed, peeking around the corner to look out the window. The shots had stopped and it scared me. Who knows how many there were, or if Mila and Constantine would make it back unscathed or be ambushed.

“How's your arm?” Millie scooted over to me, carefully examining it.

“I think the bullet when through cleanly,” my voice shook with harsh pain. “It hurts though, please stop touching it.”

“Sorry!” She backed off, her hands dropping from it.

“We need to wrap it up,” Jaden told me, kneeling down to look at it. “You'll lose a lot of blood if you don't have something to soak it up and help plug it.”

He got up, walking down the hall to Constantine's room. I wondered who had shot at me, if the bullet was even meant for me. I was more bewildered that there were people out there. There was no one out there when Jay and I were in the woods.

“I wonder whose out there,” Millie whispered, reading my mind.

Jaden came back down the hall, unwrapping a roll of gauze in his hands. “Hold still,” he ordered, bending back down to eye level with me.

He wrapped my arm several times, stuffing a wad of gauze over the bullet entrance and exit wound. He tied it off, blood already seeped through the bandage. He tossed the gauze aside and kept low as he crossed the room to his bed. He started playing around with his various weapons, packing them on like he was about to walk into a war.

“Do you think it's border?” Jay asked, peering out the window Jaden had been earlier.

“They wouldn't be this far out,” Jaden shot down, dumping a hand full of bullets into his pocket.

“I don't know, I mean, they hit her from a distance far enough away for us not to see them.” Jay slid down to the floor, running a hand through his longer hair.

“True,' Jaden muttered. “We don't have the firepower to take them on, I mean, they could have killed us easily by now. They're here for a reason.”

“What if that reason is me?” I asked panicky, “Or worse, you.”

Jaden raised a brow to me, “Why would they be here for me?”

I tilted my head, “Because, you know...” My expression edged on and I saw Jaden roll his eyes dramatically.

“Great, she told you.” Jaden rose to his feet, pacing back and forth, “If they wanted me, or even Millie, he could have gotten us a long time ago.”

“He could be expanding,” I blurted out unthinkingly. “I mean think about it, there has to be a lot of groups like ours. He'd want eyes everywhere.”

“Or he's after you for what ever reason,” Millie cut in, looking pointedly at me. “What ever you knew must had been important, Dahlia. He wouldn't have gone through all the trouble to erase that from you.”

“But he could of killed me,” I sighed, thinking hard. “I would have killed me if my position of power was threatened.”

“We're getting ahead of ourselves,” Jaden suggested calmly. “It could just be a rogue group, protecting their territory.”

“I highly doubt that,” Millie frowned. “I'd rather be preparing for the worst, we can't underestimate their ability.”
Shots started firing again and we dropped to the floor as low as we could, my good arm shielding my head as the front door flew open. Jaden sprang to his feet and aimed his gun at the intruders but lowered it when Constantine and Mila raced through.

Constantine and Mila looked at us, Constantine immediately coming over to aid me. “So you are aware of the brigade of border patrol sitting in our backyard, right?”

“Told you,” Millie snuffed to Jaden. He grimaced and pulled at his hair a little, it was an understatement to say he was stressed.

“What happened to her?” Mila asked, noticing the blood that still coated my arm but flaked off as it dried.

“I was lucky enough to get snagged,” I sighed, politely moving my arm away from Constantine's probing hands to get a look under the gauze.

“Are you the only one injured?” Mila asked the question to me but directed her gaze to a brooding Jay, who kept his eyes down.

“Yes, I'm the only one,” I snipped awkwardly, not wanting any trouble with their everlasting argument.

“We need to get out of here,” Jaden stressed. “They could be right outside, who knows their intentions.”

“I think we know their intentions,” I muttered under my breath, thinking of my arm.

“Well let's go, what are we waiting for?” Mila asked, rising to her feet slightly.

“We don't know if they have us surrounded,” Millie sighed, her light hearted attitude fading quickly as reality set in. “There could be dozens of them, we don't know.”

Everyone was quiet, there wasn't a sound for several minutes and I grew edgier and edgier. My arm stung with a fire but I could ignore it. The blood had soaked through and I needed more gauze or something more absorbent. My fingers drummed against my leg as I felt my gun dig into the small of my back.

“We can't just sit here,” I spoke up in a quiet voice, earning the attention of everyone. “We have to do something.”

“What do you want us to do, Dahlia? Go out there and introduce ourselves, clear things us and have a nice conversation about the weather?” Jaden seemed edgier than I would have thought. I thought he'd more proactive in a situation like this.

“That's not what I meant,” I snapped. “We're sitting ducks.”

“I'm well aware,” he pinched the bridge of his nose. “We could spread out, but we couldn't all get out of here at the same time.”

“That's fine,” I shrugged, just wanting some sort of plan. “I'll take one of the front rooms since I'm already injured.”

“No way,” Millie cut in. “You need to be on of the first ones out of here.”

“No, the least dispensable people need to be out of here first. I'm not one of those people,” I told her honestly, knowing that if it came down to it, I wasn't a life saver for anyone.

“No, Millie is right.” Jaden looked calmer as he spoke to me. “Don't try and be a martyr, it's a bullshit excuse that you'll regret.”

I opened my mouth to retort but a creak outside the front door had us all frozen. We silently moved away from the front of the house, our eyes trained on the front door. I could feel their presence, I could feel the violence they brought with them.

“They're here,” Constantine spoke quietly, ducking into a closet with a missing door. Everyone disappeared out of sight quickly, throwing what ever plan we were forming out the window. I felt my hands shake from the adrenaline pumping through me, kneeling down to my belly. I slid under a low lying bed, concealing me from view unless you knew where to look. I closed my eyes as I heard the front door be kicked open. I covered my mouth to keep my unsteady breaths quiet. It was the only job I had, be quiet and don't move.
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I wasn't really planning on updating today but I was really bored and decided to anyways. I'm about up to the next chapter in planning, after that, it's kind of black and white. I have one way I want to go but then I change over to the other way. I don't know, I'll figure it out. It's mainly figuring out how to write key scenes and how the characters would react, not how I would want them to because I can't ignore the personalities that I created for them and all that shit.

Thank you to the new subscribers! Welcome and bare with me, this story is still developing and it's only chapter sixteen. I was planning on having this thing finished by twenty five chapters but Lord knows that's not happening anymore. Doesn't it always happen that way though?

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Also, Happy 4th of July!

Avec l'amour

-Mel