The Fox and The Forest (EDITING)

No good in oblivion(2.1)

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"Who was that?"

The Captain had heard the sound too, for she turned away from Tom and pushed open the door. A series of hurried creaks followed, finishing with the slam of the ship's hatch.

"Oi!" The Captain shouted, following the intruder.

Tom willed himself to breath a sigh of relief after she'd left the room quarters. But his lungs were still un-moving and the oxygen tank was still just a melancholy facade, dimly pressing against his spine.

Instead then, he walked towards the book case, making sure he wasn't close enough to risk bothering Ray. He'd already dealt with the rejection of his brother. He couldn't cope with the the sting of rejection again.

"I didn't think the people in the Lake District were always this aggressive..." Tom began, eyeing his revived burns- courtesy of the Captain.

Ray tilted her head up. She seemed to be searching his face, as though she could not recognise him. "Tom?" she inquired and tilted her head to one side, in preparation to listen to his reply.

"Yes. It's me. It's Tom." he answered. And as he spoke, Ray relaxed slightly, as though his voice confirmed his identity, not his face.

Tom much preferred to attempt  conversation with Ray, rather than ponder the presence that had been lurking behind the door a moment ago. Though he had the unwanted suspicion that those eyes had belonged to the very same figure whom he had felt watching him above deck.

"It's only a matter of time before the government find out about the disruption and the Captain is held accountable. They might have seen you help me," Ray stated. She spoke with an un-shattering honesty. The kind that both refreshed and worried Tom. "You're in trouble too."

Ray loosened the cotton blue scarf slightly from around her neck.

"I doubt the Guards would've seen me. There's none on the ship. I checked."

"No, but there are Watchers." Tom's stomach clenched at the possibility of more unpleasantness and he tried not to regret his decision to speak to Ray.

"How exactly am I supposed to look out for Watchers?"

Tom ran his shaky fingers along the dust soaked bookcase. If only he had his dictionaries with him now. They would give him comfort like they had in The Forest Facility.

"You don't look out for them. That's the point. They look for us. The Guards you can see just fine but the Watchers are among us. They are the most dedicated to the Purification and the government."

"I knew I should've stayed in hiding," Tom cursed. It was much better to hide and be safe. And yet, it seemed the world was determined to not let him do so. Jasmine especially. Her speaking to him had proved that.

"If you want safety- I know a place." Tom offered, thinking about the delicious comfort of the boathouse.

Ray sighed. Fear had mangled her body with it's frost-cold skeletal hands.

"They've already found me. I was trying to escape all that when you stopped me."

Tom shivered, as he recalled the watery death that fluctuated below them as they spoke.

"Look, you don't have to punish yourself in this way," he tried with futile hope. "The world already does enough of that. But there's goodness too. There's no good in oblivion."

"You think I didn't know that!" Ray cursed and Tom finally looked back up at her from the bookcase. "Of course I did. But death was an option," she explained.