New Beginnings

Prologue: A Fresh Start

Prologue: A New Start

Broken down and hungry, for your love, with no way to feed it.

Where are you tonight? Child, ya know how much I need it.

-

Too young to hold on

And too old to just break free and ru-

"Mr Walker?"

Dex's eyes snapped open to be met with an old, snail-looking woman hovering over him. He gave her a confused smile before removing his headphones and tucking them away into his red and beige flannel shirt. It took him a second to come to, just a moment ago he was lost in Jeff Buckley; reminiscing on the past. Wondering how he ended up here. God, this felt pathetic.

"Mr Walker?" The woman repeated in her shaky, but warm voice.

"Hi, yes, sorry." Dexter quickly got to his feet, his 5'10 frame towering over the frail old lady. She'd probably shrunk over time. He extended a hand on instinct. She gave him a confused look but shook it anyway. Old habits die hard, ay Sarg? Even handshaking with the ladies.

"Dexter Walker? Here for the firewatch job down at Thorofare?" She asked politely.

"Right. The.. firewatch job." Dex smiled at her again, attempting to mask the hesitation he felt. Is this really what he wanted? Out of everything he could've chosen? Too late to back down now; lest they label him a quitter. Survived the Gulf but couldn't face the forest. That'd be a funny engraving on a headstone.

"Okay, perfect!" The old woman said in a chirpy manner. "If you'd follow me.." She gestured to a door off in the corner of the room. Dex simply nodded, trekking slowly behind her, forced to match her pace.

He didn't really mind. Slow was nice. He needed slow.

As they were walking, she began to chatter away about the next few hours. "You'll be meeting David in the office here; you've spoken to him on the phone. He'll talk to you for a little while and then he'll take you out to the edge of Shoshone. He's a sweet man, David. Good at his job too! You won't go far wrong following his advice."

Dex just smiled, not too sure what to say. When they spoke on the phone during the interview stage, David did seem nice. He remembered the odd feeling the first time he'd heard the man speak; toned just the same as his father. Gentle but strict.

Funny how the world works. His dad would've called him a pussy for this job.

Arriving at the office, the old woman looked him up and down. "Good luck! You'll do amazingly." Before departing she offered another sweet smile, a signature of her grace. Nice, Dex thought. He loved nice people. Loved their innocence. It was a special sign of a well-lived life. Especially with someone in their twilight years.

Dex looked toward the door and sucked in a deep breath. The start of a new life. Weirdly, he was more nervous about this than his deployment interviews. Maybe because he wasn't so sure. Maybe because he wasn't exactly cut out for the job he was about to take. Dex always wanted to be around the loud hustle and tussle of cities or popular towns. He used to like noise, and couldn't sleep without it. He'd listen to the BBC broadcasts all through the night, till he fell asleep.

Now he hated noise. Noise never meant anything good.

Dex pushed all of these apprehensive thoughts to the back of his head and blinked a few times, messing with his hair a little in the reflection of the small window pane. He tucked his shirt into his trousers and tightened his belt a little. Got comfortable in his shoes. Anybody looking at him would think he was off to war. And he was. Just not a conventional one.