Into Ruin

Chapter 13 Past and Present

Olivia and Nate had been gone over a week and Edward was still sitting moping about. All his designs for alternative energy and power were coming back as failures, quite likely because his head and heart were elsewhere. The only person he really knew here was Nate's daughter and he wasn't about to have a heart to heart, though he did stop by to check in on the leg she had injured in the storms and bring the occasional snack from the kitchen. Her escape buddy was off being a hero too, although she had the blonde girl and nurse to keep her company. They all seemed to be doing alright.

Olivia had urged him to talk to Marcel about training before she left. He thought about it, but the man seemed to be slowly losing his mind, so Edward hesitated. The community met with failure after failure it seemed when it came to power and a consistent water source. The gardeners were walking pretty far to get their share since the storms took out the windmill pump, not to mention the kitchen staff having to do the same. Plus with people getting hurt and sick, Edward doubted that Marcel needed one more thing to worry about.

"Edward," Marcel's voice boomed, causing Edward to drop the wires in his hand he'd been trying to untangle.

"Mm-" Olivia always called him Marcel, but Edward noticed everyone else referred to him as Mr. M.

"Marcel," the man provided, probably sensing the internal drama or more likely that thinking he just forgot. "How is the latest project progressing?"

Edward sighed. "Honestly, not well."

Marcel reacted with more enthusiasm than expected. "Then I have no guilt pulling you away from it. Liv asked if I would take you through some basic defence training."

Edward wasn't sure how he liked this rather intimidating, attractive, former colleague of hers using an intimate nickname. The word basic also seemed stressed, but Edward may have just been imagining it. He tended to read too much into intentions when we felt inferior.

"I would have offered sooner, but as you know, the community has been experiencing some hardships."

And here Edward thought he could get off scot-free. "Right, that's understandable. If you're too busy-"

"Nonsense. Liv, only makes requests she feels are important."

That was how Edward found himself fending off a Black giant a few hours of the evening all week. The training seemed a bit aggressive for a beginner, but he had to trust Olivia's judgement. Marcel also highly recommended daily run, which Edward had laughed at initially thinking of Olivia hounding him in the desert, but a week into giving it a shot, he was able to run twenty minutes straight without stopping, which was better than anything he'd attempted before. Should this turn into a zombie apocalypse scenario he'd be thanking his mentor.

Friends of Marcel's, Cynthia and Peyton, joined in for a few training sessions. Both had done this before and were more capable than he was. The attention Marcel paid Cynthia was reassuring for Edward and Olivia's relationship because given a choice between himself and Marcel, Edward seriously doubted his own odds.

Edward got a chance to chat with Peyton about the water issues and thought he might just have a solution for them if he could find the parts to replace the mangled windmill and a heat source strong enough to weld them.

The three men set out to find the windmill parts after Cynthia immediately vetoed the scavenging team proposal Marcel had outlined. Edward held in a laugh watching a man his size be taken down by a stern mother figure.

Edward had taken the outdoor scenery into memory as instructed last week. He had been allowed the one route to jog and he only deviated slightly at times. The old warehouses, the homes with torn vinyl siding, the planks strewn about the road welcomed him back and reminded him that he'd skipped yesterday's workout.