The Ranch

Introduction (1)

The child walks down the aisle and sits in an empty seat at the back before returning to his hazy state. He didn't notice the scornful eyes of the one-eared child glaring at him.

There were five other children on the bus but none of them spoke, including the military driver who, after packing the suitcases, sat down, shut the door, and started driving. Silence filled the bus, and that silence continued for the next couple of hours.

During that time, the bus stopped a few more times to pick up more children. As the passengers increased, they started talking with one another and soon, the volume of the chatter blocked the sound of crunching gravel under rubber.

After around twelve hours, the bus was nearly packed. There were only a couple of seats left, including the seat next to the child. Although the child was near the window, leaving the aisle seat empty, no one sat there.

It wasn't that they hadn't thought about it, but one glance at boy immersed those looking into a sense of unease. But now, the seats were almost filled and someone was going to have to sit there eventually.

It was at this time that the bus pulled to a stop, letting a strapping young boy with blond hair board the bus. Looking to be about fifteen, he had the height advantage to easily see all the available seats. Out of all the empty seats he could have sat in, the enthusiastic looking kid sat next to the child.

Sweeping his tousled hair back with his left hand, he extends his right hand toward the boy, ignoring of the uneasy feeling he's giving off,"Hi! Nice to meet ya, My name's Kai! How bout you?" The passionate boy awaited a response only to be given silence. That didn't stop him from continuing though.

The chatterbox continued to single-handedly hold a conversation throughout the entire trip. He talked about random questions or topics that popped into his head, and even though the bus was already pretty loud, everyone could clearly hear the cheerily yapping Kai.

The child's fortitude was strong, he lasted two hours before giving in and turning his head from the window to face the lightly-tanned Kai.

Noticing this, Kai smiles brightly," Hey hey, so do you know where they're taking us? Oh, what did the guy that recruited you look like, maybe we had the same one? I tried to talk some information out of him, but his lips were shut tight! Oh! He did tell me that everyone that gets to go where we're going is special in one way or another! So what did you do that makes you special? I'm not really sure why I was chosen...I not really good at much, Ah, but people say my memory is really good! One-hundred and twenty-four people to be exact! I don't know how I compare to others but I was definitely able to use it to survive, so it must be good for something! Oh yeah, right, so what are you good at to be able to come to wherever we're going?"

As per the past couple of hours, Kai continues to barf words out of his mouth while the child continues to remain silent. The only difference being, the child stared at Kai with his blank expression the entire time. Kai didn't seem to feel any adversity from the intense eye contact, as his words never stopped.

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...noisy

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The child's eyes start getting heavy and his blinks become slower and slower as he drifts off to sleep. The child has had insomnia for the past month, waking up from dreams he can't seem to recall. Kai's non-stop talking seemed to have a soothing affect, similar to a lullaby. The child's body leans against the vibrating window and he falls asleep.

"Ah, if you lean that way, your head will hurt. Hello? Oh, are you asleep? Then pardon my intrusion!" Kai cupped the side of the child's head to stop it from bumping the window and brought the small face down to his thigh.