Aer II

38

  Daisy watches as Nix's shoulders rise and fall as he sleeps next to her. She's glad he's been able to get some rest. A large part of her hasn't stopped feeling guilty since their conversation earlier.   
  She's taken so much out of him, and never appreciated how he stood by her side no matter what. She was so caught up in her own feelings she never took time to step back and realise everything he had done for her, and everything he'd risked for her.

Daisy sits up and notices Joe isn't there. She gets up and makes her way down the steps to find Joe standing at the door, looking out into the night.
'I can hear them looking for ye,' he says as he smokes his cigarette, he hands one to Daisy.
'You know a lot about them,' she lights up the cigarette.
'We've been dealing with them for five years now,' he says.
'No, you seem to know a lot about them personally'.

Joe looks at her 'you're quite the observer'.
'Have to be nowadays,' she says.

  'John and Josh are my brothers,' he says 'I was the original Joseph, I stayed with my brothers because, obviously, they were my family. I tried my best to stand behind Josh, to try and go along with his word but I couldn't. Not when the power got to his head. He was a good person, who genuinely cared about his people. But loss after loss after loss changes someone, and he didn't change for the better. We all have an evil side, but we don't show it, he could show it because he knew his people would never leave him because they needed him'.

'That's why he doesn't attack the safe houses,' Daisy says 'because he knows you might be there'.
Joe nods 'he keeps us safe, he knows we want the cult to come to an end but deep down he's a good person, and I know he wouldn't hurt me or hurt the people I care about, so we don't attack them'.

  'How did he manage to grow the group across the country?' She asks.
Joes shrugs 'I wasn't a part of it then, but I know Josh would send leaders to different towns to grow the cult, some joined voluntarily, others were forced'.
'We had a man with us, Rob, he took over the Imramm,' Daisy says.

'I know Rob, I like Rob, but he's a coward,' Joe lights up another cigarette 'he can't stand up for himself, he's one of the ones that realise once you're a Savy you're always a Savy, and Josh will make sure you're reminded of that'.
'What do you mean?'.
'Safety, it's easier for Rob to just go along with Josh because he knows he'll be killed if he goes against him'.

  'There's a town not far from here, walled, everything,' Daisy says 'the leader ratted on us and Rob went along with it, but I could tell by him he didn't know what was going on. But the town, how come ye never went there?'.
'What would Josh prefer a secure town or a little farm?' Joe asks, before answering his own question 'we don't have anything to offer him, and again, I'm his brother but I still wouldn't cross the line, right now we just manage to co-exist with them'.

  'You know I'm going to kill Josh right?' Daisy looks at him.
He seems to smile slightly 'do what I couldn't'.

   The next morning they're all ready to go, the sun is rising and there's already a strong heat off of it. Daisy managed to get some sleep, she felt more secure after speaking to Joe, knowing the cult wouldn't attack at any time. But the cult doesn't know Joe's group have her and Nix, and Daisy has a feeling things might change if they find out.

  'You sleep well?' Daisy approaches Nix.
He smiles 'sure did, you?'.
'Alright,' she says 'woke up at one point, found Joe smoking at the door, he told me some interesting stuff'.
  Nix raises his eyebrows 'oh?'.
'Josh is his brother, he left the cult ages ago but that's why Josh doesn't attack the safe houses,' she says.
  'Let's hope he doesn't find out we're with them'.
'That's what I'm thinking too,' she lowers her voice as the others come outside 'we don't want to risk their safety'.
   'We'll be out of their hair in no time'.
'Maybe,' she looks up at Nix as he rolls his eyes.

The sun beats down on their heads, they're all wearing as little close as possible but each one of them has balls of sweat rolling off their skin.

Joe says they're more cautious than normal because the cult are looking for the two people they have, that normally they can enjoy the walk back to the farm. A part of Daisy wonders why they're sacrificing their peace for her and Nix, other groups aren't as lucky when it comes to the cult, so why would they give up that?

   Electric fences come into sight, barbed wire tangled throughout them. A man stands at the gate and opens it when he lowers his binoculars. It's strange to see just one person standing guard.
They walk up a long driveway into the farm. They've a lot of ground, a lot of crops and livestock. There's huts scattered everywhere and a large, modern farmhouse in the middle of it all.

Joe brings them into the farmhouse, Daisy looks around at all the furniture and decor, someone with a lot of money used to live here.
Then she begins to see the photos of horses, the races they won, different jockeys, whatever stud owner that lived here probably had a private jet to get out of the country before everything ended.

People lounge around, some are tipping away with jobs, but they seem relaxed and don't take much notice of Nix and Daisy.

'So this is kind of our main 'hub', I suppose you could say,' Joe says 'there's some rooms here, but most people live in the huts outside, we mostly have meetings here or if we're planning jobs we meet here'.
'I wasn't expecting this kind of farm,' Daisy says.
'We're lucky,' he says 'we can see for miles, we've good soil, and we feel safe'.

  'Freaks a problem around here?' Nix asks.
Joe shrugs 'we get the odd one or two but the Savvys control the Freaks and they keep them away from here'.

'Look, Joe,' Daisy says, unsure if she should say it or not, it's been awhile since her and Nix had been anywhere nice 'do you really want to sacrifice what you have because of us? Josh is looking for us and what if he finds out we're here?'.
'The thought crossed my mind when I first saw ye, and again last night, but you're just humans. I mean we're barely adults, I'm not letting you stay out there like wild animals. I truly believe Josh won't attack this place but I also believe he knows ye are here and the minute ye step foot outside these fences he will find ye. And as I said he's enjoying this game'.

'As long as we're not risking your safety,' Daisy says.
'I love my brother,' he says 'and we've learned to live in harmony with them but I will not stop others from taking them down, and if we've to help, we've to help'.
'Do you know why we're here?' She asks.