Vultures

Thirteen

When Arlo exited the room I was left with a guard, a woman. She wasn't particularly unkind but she was very silent. Maybe she had been told not to speak to me. That was fine, all things considered, I didn't feel very talkative anyway. In the silence my mind wandered painful avenues, slowly processing this situation and new information.

One fact in particular was hard to digest.

The whole time Will had been with me, he was hanging onto that beacon, waiting for the right time to use it. When he decided to come with me instead of drag me back, it wasn't because I had convinced him of my situation. It was just convenient. He lied about his intentions, faked his cooperation.

What else was fake? He kissed me! Was that just part of an act too? I'd been willing to risk death when I thought he was in trouble. I had feared for his life, and all the while he'd planned to betray me to the Core. What a fucking performance. I wanted to deny it but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. I led him right to Aunt Amber's contact, I could have led him to more.

I curled up on the bed the best I could without pain, fighting back angry tears. I was exhausted, hurt, and hungry. In spite of my best efforts, a few droplets of salt water tickled the bridge of my nose, following gravity across my face sideways. I hurriedly wiped them away. What would I get out of this but a worse headache? I needed to stop crying so much. I needed to stop feeling so damn much.

After all, look where feelings got me.

Despite the rebels' obvious distrust, I wasn't treated poorly. I was seen to and delivered food and water. The food here seemed to be only slightly more appetizing than what I'd had in my own pack. I guess taste wasn't really the most important part anyway, I was too hungry to care.

The doctor made his appearance about half way through my meal. If it weren't for his coat, threadbare but clean, I wouldn't have guessed who he was supposed to be. He was an older man, with messy hair that looked like it should have been brown at some point, long and tied back in a short ponytail. His beard was scraggly and nearly as long as his hair. Either he didn't care to trim it or maybe he didn't have the time, he seemed in a hurry when he entered the room.

"Ah, so there she is. I was told you were awake." He said, approaching the bedside.

I didn't really respond, I didn't know what to say. Especially since I was still mid-chew on a particularly tough piece of meat. My mind wandered back to Vic's entrance earlier and the first mention of Wade.

Tending to the other one. I could only guess what Vic meant by that. As much as I wanted to ask about Will, I didn't. Arlo had said he was alive, and I wanted to believe that as much as I didn't want to believe that he'd planned to just hand me over.

"My name is Wade, I'm the only doctor in the house so I apologize for the delay." The doctor found a chair, sighing heavily as he sat down in it, like he needed a minute to just breathe. "They're good at stressin' me out around here. I'm not even that old, and would you look at all the grays."

I heard the woman by the door scoff.

Wade glanced back at her, indignant. "Well I'm not."

"I didn't say anything." Ironically, the first words I'd ever heard my guard speak.

Wade turned his attention back to me, fishing a small flashlight out of his pocket "That's Lindsey, I'm sure she didn't introduce herself yet because she's rude!"

"Vic just said I had to keep an eye on our guest."

Wade chose to ignore her. Unlike the interaction with Vic and Arlo, the air wasn't tense and they didn't truly seem at ends with each other despite exchange. For all I knew, this half-hearted annoyance was their standard greeting.