‹ Prequel: Wanderlust
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Rendering Flames

Twenty One

I sat in the bed of the truck as it rumbled over the rocky, rooted ground of the trail carved out of the surrounding heavily wooded area. It was a trip into town, one that I volunteered to go on to get out of the house for a few days. It was a mildly nice day out, there was a mist in the air, it had yet to rain..

“I’ve told everyone not to let you venture in town given your history,” Jaden commented as he poked his head out the open back window, moving my attention from the passing trees to him.

“Hush,” I shoved his forehead, smirking. “It wasn’t my fault people were paranoid in that town.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t have to do with the fact you’re such a people person already.” He rolled his eyes before he ducked back in.

My smile faded slowly as the guilt I had been grappling with since I woke this morning swam around my thoughts. I kept thinking of Millie and Beth, what they had been doing all this time Orson and I had been gone. Did Orson just leave like this all the time? Just disappearing for months while Beth would wonder when and if he would be back? I could understand completely why she hates it when he goes out. It had been almost been four months since we had left and so much had happened, how do I return the same? How do I explain everything that had happened?

I lifted my shirt enough to see that my wounds had scarred over, that I was healed. Orson had healed of his small injuries long ago. I was forgetting small things, like how to sign to Beth with fluid motions or the earthy smell the cabin always had. How did I find myself trying to make a new home when I already had one? This was different though, I knew this of course. I had found part of my home here when Jaden showed up. I shouldn’t have to even question that he would come with Orson and I when we do finally leave but I am. Because as much as Jaden is the same, there are bits of him missing that I cannot understand. How could he not want to get to Millie as soon as he could? How could he not be longing to be with the only family he has left, that he actually loves to be more specific. It was like I knew the roots of him but not what was on the surface now. He should be running back to see Millie.

I held onto the side of the truck as we went over railroad tracks and landed on a road. I leaned over and saw that after leaving at the crack of dawn, we had hit rural civilization. It was much different than the only other town I had been in. That one was uncomfortable and sparse but this was busier and no one payed mind to us as we rolled down the streets.

Luke parked the truck along a sidewalk, cutting the engine. I slowly climbed out from the back of the truck. I looked around me as I stood alongside Peter, who was talking to Alex. I didn’t hear them though, I couldn’t. All I could focus on was all the people, there were so many. I can’t remember being around so many people and it was making me feel as small as I felt when I woke up in those woods by myself. Lost and alone. My chest tightened and I gulped back a shuttering breath. I was once again reminded how easily I could feel out of my element and I hated it.

“Ready?” I looked over to Peter and I opened my mouth to speak but only a small noise came out.

“I’ll go with her.” Jaden cut in, smiling as he put an arm around my shoulders.

“Alright,” Peter shrugged, not noticing the distress I was in.

Everyone separated, going their own way. Jaden took his arm from around my shoulders, turned and leaned against the truck, folding his arms across his chest. He didn’t say anything but just waited quietly. I took a deep breath into my gut, trying to calm myself. I turned my attention to see Jaden gazing up at the clouded sky.

“What are you doing?” I asked him, my voice was shaking.

“You scrunch your shoulders when you’re stressed,” he started and I realized he was right, leveling tensed shoulders, “and I know you don’t like big crowds.”

“Oh,” I looked to the ground. I didn’t know he saw that much of me.

“You good now?” He casually asked, trying not to rush me.

“I’m fine.” I nodded, stepping up onto the sidewalk.

“One of these days I’m just going to stamp that onto your forehead so you don’t have to try and convince people of that all the time.” My face frown a little at his comment as he led me against the current of people.

I didn’t know where we were going but people bumped and shoved into me as they passed, not apologizing as they went on their way. I just tried to avoid everything as my shorter legs tried to keep up with Jaden’s longer ones. I saw commotion ahead of us, accompanied with a riled up voice.

“Open your eyes people! This is what he doesn’t want you to know!” I looked and saw a young looking woman being subdued to the ground by two men of Kruger’s law enforcement, there was never any other enforcers except his around it seemed like.

Papers were scattered around her. I quickly grabbed one up in my hands and looked through the pages. I had stopped walking and when Jaden was tugging on my arm to get me walking again, I held it up to him.

“What is this?” I handed it to him and his face flattened considerably.

“It’s a newspaper. National news are illegal unless it is petitioned by Kruger himself. You know how Kruger likes to keep people in the dark. People still get them out though from other sources, although I don’t know how credible this is.” He turned it over and focused in on the heavily inked words ‘CANADA AND UNITED KINGDOM URGE FOR AN INVASION OF KRUGER'S TERRITORY AND LAND’.

“You know it’s bad when Canada gets involved,” I commented, looking at the picture of troops in some formation.

Jaden didn’t answer me as he folded it and tucked it into the back of his pants and under his shirt. He grabbed my wrist and dragged me along until he got into a store. Thinking we were there to get things, I walked out of his grasp but he quickly grabbed me again and pulled me into the the bathroom in the back.

“What are you doing?” I watched him lock the door behind us as he held the paper up to my face.

“Do you think this would actually happen?” I was taken aback by his urgency and shrugged.

“What do mean? I don’t know, Jaden. Maybe?” He turned through the pages and paused on something, folding it over and showed it to me.

“Just look, Dahlia.” I looked at the picture, my eyes reamed in both shock and fear.

“How could there possibly be a picture of this happening?” I said to myself, my fingers running along the picture.

“Explain,” Jaden demanded and I looked up at him with narrowed eyes, “please?”

I shoved the paper back to him, not wanting to look at it anymore. I felt sick, remembering glimpses of the ones I’ve been too. “They’re public executions.”

“There’s no surprise that Kruger does that,” Jaden replied looking at me curiously. “You’ve seen these?”

“It’s practically mandatory that you attend. Usually the punishment fits the crime. I don’t want to remember the things I’ve seen, Jaden. I do know that if someone got a picture of this happening, it means that someone has already infiltrated and that at least means to me that an invasion could totally happen.”

Jaden looked down at the picture, a frown on his face. I stared a the familiar opening in the middle of hundreds of people, the shameful opening of public ridicule. I could remember only important members of Kruger’s regime would allowed to participate and watch. If you didn’t, it was considered an insult. And you had to watch unflinchingly as people would be brutally killed in front of you.

I had forgotten of course how brutal they could be until my eyes found themselves looking down and the picture of a little girl and an older woman, probably her mother, tied limb for limb just barely off the ground onto posts. A guard behind them, the small girls throat cut open wide as the frozen moment of the woman’s cries and screams started to haunt my consciousness.

“At least it was over quickly,” I barely said aloud.

Jaden’s eyes snapped up to mine as I hurried to wipe the tears that had gathered in my unblinking eyes. I reached for the door, ready to get out of the cramped and dirty bathroom. But Jaden grabbed me and pulled me into an embrace, my arms stayed idle in surprise for a moment before grabbing onto him.

“Sometimes I forget that you are from a place like that. I’m sorry if that brought back bad memories, I should’ve thought about that before shoved that picture into your face.” I chuckled in pleasant surprise, pulling myself from Jaden’s arms.

“I think you just admitted you were wrong,” I weakly joked.

“Yeah,” he smiled widely, “remember it because it doesn’t happen often.”

I carefully took the paper from his hands, ready to throw it in the trash when a page fell to the ground. As I reached for it, I read the headline. Something about the working camps being overpopulated, thousands to be released on probation. I got a funny feeling in my stomach, holding it up to Jaden.

“What are working camps?” I asked him curiously.

“They’re like prisons but everyone is required to work around the clock pretty much, given enough food and shelter to keep them alive but mostly healthy.” He read through the article and I thought about all the people who had to be trapped in there, if they really did anything to belong there.

“It would be to lazy to sit in a cell all day, probably Kruger’s reasoning behind it. It would explain,” I paused as I remembered the endless supplies of food and clothing I had growing up, “it explains so much.”

“Poor bastards probably didn’t even do anything to deserve being there.” Jaden crumpled the page up, taking the rest of the paper from my hands and tossing it into the trash.

“You don’t think that is where people are, people that we knew back at the Hanger.” My thoughts started running wild, reeling at the thought of Mila having to be put through another horrible experience.

“Don’t.” Jaden stopped me from continuing, “I know what you’re thinking and thoughts like that will drive you crazy.”

I nodded, “yeah, you’re right.”

He opened the bathroom door, letting me go out before him into the store.
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SO SORRY! It's been super busy for me lately. Just moved into my apartment and dealing with classes starting up again but this time at a new place. Exciting but nerve-wrecking. But I've found time to write and update finally.

Things are going to shift again and get exciting. LEAVE ME A COMMENT? Imagine me just saying this kindly and not yelling this at you, although I know that's how caps are. Just want to grab your attention, that's all.

Again.. Comment/Sub/Rec

Love you all.

Avec l'amour

Mel