Across the Deadzone

Chapter 8: Wystan

The bell clanged, signalling we could finally leave. My shoulders were tense. The playful teasing I'd received off and on throughout the day hadn't helped.
I packed up as quickly as I could and made my way to the front desk.
By the time I got there, Callum had already started his shift. Plopping myself down heavily beside the distracted red-head, I leaned back in the chair, propping my feet up on the rusty table.
"Hey," he greeted offhandedly, fiddling with what looked like a lighter in his lap.
He finally got it to light, held it up with a satisfied grin, and said, "See? Told you I could fix anything."
I gave him a look, my eyebrows raised and he huffed, letting his hand slap against the table before looking to me expectantly.
"What?" I asked, utterly lost.
"The girl!" he exclaimed with a roll of his eyes. My mouth opened and I let out a tiny 'oh.'
"You're gonna bang her, right?" he asked in response. "It's been a while since you've had any action. Six months since you were with Colma? So, what? Six months without sex? That's rough, buddy."
I scoffed at him. "A lifetime without sex? That's rough, buddy."
He shoved me, almost tipping my chair over. "Shut up," he muttered.
I laughed. "Okay, geez. I can tell that's a touchy subject. Besides, she's leaving in two days."
Callum rolled his eyes again, this time like I was completely stupid. "Dude, Colma was totally out of your league..."
"Thanks?"
"And somehow, you still got her." He shrugged before rambling on. "Not saying this new girl isn't out of your league, too- she's seriously hot- but if you snagged mother-freaking-Colma, you can definitely get her."
I frowned at him. "Don't call her hot." I couldn't say that I didn't agree with him, but it just sounded weird and wrong. Callum sighed, throwing an arm over the back of his chair and throwing me a knowing look.
"I'm just saying," he said matter-of-factly, opening his mouth to say more but I cut him off.
"I'm- I'm gonna go with her." Callum said nothing for a long moment, then snorted loudly, causing a few passerby to glance our way.
"You? Seriously? Dude, there's no way. You're joking, right? You better be joking. If you're not, I'm gonna have to take you to Colma, and I don't think you want that, do you?" He rambled on for a few seconds, and I tried my best to ignore him. "Why would you cross the Deadzone for a girl you haven't seen in, what? Nine years?"
I nodded, but didn't answer his question.
"Why?" he repeated, worried about my sanity by now. I shook my head, staring blankly out at the crowd of people still milling around, trying to come up with an answer that would make sense to him.
"I don't know," I started, and Callum huffed, rolling his eyes and leaning back in his chair. "I just know that I have to."
"And if you die?"
I swallowed, trying to keep a lid on the fear that threatened to bubble up at that thought. "Then... I guess I die."
He scoffed. "Whatever, man. But she doesn't seem like the sentimental type. How'd she react to you saying you were gonna follow her through the most dangerous place in the world?" He laughed, mostly to himself. "You're more loyal than any dog around here."
"I haven't exactly told her yet," I said slowly, readying myself for another barrage of verbal abuse.
Instead, all he said was, "Oh, my God. You are the dumbest person I've ever met." I pushed my hair out of my face, leaning forward in my chair.
"Maybe if you did this for someone you'd actually be able to get a date," I snapped.
He slammed his hand against the table, sending off little clouds of rust, grinning maniacally despite what I'd just said. "So you do like her."
"Oh, my God, why is no one listening to me today?" I groaned, looking up at the cave ceiling high above me.
"Cause you sound like a whiny ass baby. Then again, you always sound like that," Callum jokes. I got to my feet and he gave me a weird look. "Where are you going? I thought we were gonna get food after my shift was over." 
"I'm gonna head back to my flat. I'm kinda tired," I said. It wasn't a complete lie. I was really tired. But I also just didn't want to talk to him at the moment.
He gawked at me but I turned my back. "Fine, but don't expect me to be at your send off! It's not cool to bail on a guy after you made plans." He was only joking, I knew him well enough to know that.
"See you tomorrow, Cal," I called over my shoulder.

I trudged back to my flat. I wasn't expecting that conversation to go well, but I never thought it would go that badly. Yeah, maybe he'd call me an idiot, but then accept that I needed to do this.
Scoffing to myself, I thought, so much for supportive friends.
I slowed to a stop a few feet from my door, finally pulling myself far enough out of my thoughts to notice that something wasn't completely right.
Outside my door lay a dog that I recognized as the one Cleo often doted on when I went for breakfast. It wagged its tail as I stepped toward it, my head cocked.
I reached down to pat its head, trying to remember its name.
"Timber. That's your name, right?" The dog wagged its tail harder. "Why are you outside my door?" I asked, even though she couldn't respond. "Well, you can come in for a while." The dog hopped up, following me closely as I dragged the door open and stepped inside.
Ophelia was sitting on my threadbare, half-broken couch, one of my books in her hand. A loaf of fresh bread sat on the table. She looked up when I walked in before her eyes fell on the dog, who made a beeline for her. She let out a sigh as she held out her hand.
"What are you doing here, Tim?" she said, trying to sound stern but her words came out fondly. "I told you to stay with Cleo."
I plopped down on the couch across from her, my head hitting the arm with a hard thunk. I closed my eyes, pretty much ready to sleep. "So you found her okay?" 
"Your directions were a tad bit vague," she responded shrewdly and I offered her nothing but a small half-smile. "But, yeah, I found her. Eventually."
I let out a yawn, stretching my legs out in front of me. I glanced over at her. She was absently petting the lab that had followed her back to my flat. At least Callum was wrong about one thing today: I was equally as loyal as this dog.
He was probably right about me being insane. But I had my mind made up. I hadn't left Hemmington since the day I'd found the cavern-town. There was nothing left for me here now that I wasn't with Colma, other than relative safety, I guess.
"What are you thinking about?" Ophelia asked me.
For a second, I considered telling her. We used to tell each other everything. Just as I opened my mouth, I thought better of it, saying instead, "Can I ask you a question?"
She said, "Yeah, sure," but her expression turned guarded and she turned away from me slightly. With a sigh, I went on anyway.
"What happened to your family? Are..." I trailed off, not knowing how to graciously end that sentence. Most people nowadays didn't have family, nor good tales of what happened to them. And Ophelia was traveling alone, which led me to assume that her parents and little sister Thalia, were dead. But her parents had been like a second family to me, and her sister, in my not-so-humble opinion, adored me and-
She cut off my rambling thoughts. "I don't want to talk about that."
I cleared my throat, nodding. I understood that. "Why do you wanna cross the Deadzone, then?" Timber put her head into Ophelia's lap, her large, brown eyes sad, as if she could sense the girl's pain.
"It's personal." We fell into a long, awkward silence. "What about your parents?"
I pushed my hair out of my face, shoulders tense. Timber jumped up onto the couch beside us- cramming herself into the small space- turning around three times before finally getting comfortable.
"They, um, didn't make it." I fixed my eyes on the wall in front of me. "A Rubble Creeper got 'em both. Pretty early on."
Ophelia sighed, finally showing some kind of emotion. She reached across the dog between us, taking my hand gently in hers. Her skin was rough and calloused. The contact was... strange; not something I'd expect from this new, cold version of Ophelia. "I'm sorry, Wystan. Really."
We sat in silence like that, our hands clasped, until we both fell asleep on the couch, Timber snoring between us.