The Girl from the Ground - Season 1

Episode Seven, Part 3:

Episode Seven, Part 3: 
The Garden of Eden 

Veer pushed through the low hanging branches, impressed by how well she was managing to stay hidden. She had passed numerous members of New Riders without being caught and at one point, she could have sworn she moved right past Zach and Maya without them noticing. But they weren't her focus. At least, not as much as they should have been. All Veer could focus on was trying to find Theo and making sure he was safe, as well as what answers he had to Elijah's whereabouts.

She paced around the small clearing where they had met every other time before and hoped Theo would be able to find his way back. He didn't strike her as someone who had a lot of experience with navigating, but even if he had, his reluctancy to take Veer's weapon at their last meeting meant that he would probably be too afraid to use it if it came down to it.

Veer counted the minutes as they passed, hiding for safety in the thickness of an overgrown bush every now and then when she could hear someone nearby. How long could she afford to wait? At what point did she have to abandon her hope of getting an answer from Theo and have to take matters into her own hands to try and find Elijah? Or would she begin to worry that something had happened to Theo to prevent him from returning?

Her heart raced in her chest and though she tried every breathing exercise that her mother had ever taught her, Veer couldn't find a way to calm herself down.

She gripped tightly onto the blade in her hand and ventured away from the clearing, travelling further south in the direction of New Riders base. She was bound to run into Eden at some point soon, and maybe Harlow and Izzy depending on how the war was progressing.

As if she couldn't wait, Veer pulled out her radio and tried to get through to Harlow, but there was no answer. She tried Izzy too, but it was just silence. If she called Eden and didn't hear back, Veer knew she would start to assume the worst, so she did the only thing she could do - put on a brave face, tuck the radio back into her waistband, and move forward.

She had even managed to ease back into her usual state of calmness up until she heard movement on the other side of the trees. Veer froze in place, tightening her blade in her left hand and pulling out a gun in her right. She didn't want to use it - especially considering she was low on bullets - but she was alone and didn't have anyone for backup if things took a turn for the worse.

"Please be a Basilisk. Please be a Basilisk," she whispered to herself, not wanting to add another tally to the list of people she had killed. Though it was only a short list - far shorter than the other Sovereigns and the majority of her people, it still felt too long.

Could she do it? Could she take a life? If there was no one there she had to protect?

After a few moments of silence, the movement began again and Veer favoured her left hand as the person approached, trying everything to keep her feet as rooted to the ground as possible.

Another crackling of dried leaves on the forest floor and then a face appeared. A boy. A child. Theo.

Against all instincts, against all her training, Veer dropped her weapons and ran over to him, engulfing him in her embrace before he could even say her name.

"I'm so glad you're alive," she said, smiling at the feeling of him laughing against her. She just knew that in his life, he hadn't laughed as much as he should have.

"You too," Theo replied, grateful that Veer didn't let go when he thought she would have and instead, she held on for a little while longer.

"Are you okay? Are you safe?"