Beyond The Wall {BxB} Book 1 #COMPLETE

11

The morning rain hitting the roof above brought Trinity out of his hibernation. He sat upright, pieces of hay falling from his hair and skin. He saw a neat pile of clothes beside the slightly open door with a tray of unknown meats beside the stack. The stall door was slightly ajar so he knew someone had found him. He crawled on all fours to the tray and clothes. He leaned over and poked his head out, hoping to find whoever brought him these necessities. Aside from voices of men from the distance, no one was around. He sat back on his haunches and picked up a neatly cut piece of meat and sniffed. His belly rumbled, begging for a taste. It was cooked to a crisp brown, so identifying what meat it was would be a whole other task. He sank his teeth into it, tearing a chuck of meat off and swallowed. It satisfied his underfed appetite, which could only mean that it had to be human meat.

"Yeah, it is what you think it is." A familiar voice pitched in.

He looked up at Sven, who leaned against the frame of the stall. His arms were crossed over his chest, his hip thrown out in that signature sass stance. Trinity looked back at the meat in his hands, eyes widening in horror. He threw down on the tray with a yelp and moved back into the hay.

Sven rolled his eyes and used the metal tip of his boot to kick the tray in his direction.

"Calm down, it's from a freshly deceased body before they were burned. Would you rather die?"

Trinity paused then nodded before pouncing on the food. He devoured the human meat in a flash. He hasn't exactly ever had a proper meal, not that was possible of course.

Sven stepped into the stall and sat back against the wall. "I heard the testing didn't go over too well. What happened?"

Trinity slowed his chewing. Now that he thought about it, his memory was drawing up a blank. There must've been some kind of trauma to force what happened in the back of my mind.

Back in the deep recesses of my neurons lies my memories of everything my body forced me to forget. But, I do remember recognizing one face....

"Commander Arik was there. That's all I remember. I-" And suddenly, all the memories of last night came flooding back. Everything but the last few days in said experiments. Tears welled up in his eyes, the last half of his chunk of meat falling from his hand and onto the hay splattered floor. The feel of each touch, each kiss, and peace came back, crushing his heart. He remembered watching Arik walk out.

He promised he wouldn't leave me but....he did. I was stupid. I was foolish in believing that we could...could be what? Ava, I'm sorry. It's my fault. I acted on feelings I haven't experienced before. I'm still learning to be human. But, he gave in too. He felt the same way. No! It's my fault. He must be so ashamed. I....

A hand clasped his bare shoulder and squeezed, forcing him to look into emerald eyes. "What? What happened? What did the Commander do?"

Trinity's lower lip began to quiver but he bit down to stop the quivering. He didn't- no, couldn't- say a word. How could he? Any normal human must know what to do in this situation. He wasn't normal, though. He was sure he was overreacting. He was confused and lost all at once. He was sure of himself that the Commander felt something with him too but, he could've been reading the signs wrong. Hell, Arik was pumped up on adrenaline last night. Nothing but an adrenaline fueled mistake. Granted, Trinity knew this wasn't fair to sweet Ava. Just visually recalling her welcoming smile in his mind brought on an onslaught of guilt. A trigger might as well have been pulled, setting in motion an imaginary bullet into his heart. Human emotion confused him so. So, how could he tell Sven? He wasn't even really considered a friend so, how he could he trust him to keep his mouth shut?

"Sven, I....It was all my fault."

Sven frowned, releasing his death grip on the kids shoulder. "What the hell did you do?"

Trinity kicked the tray away from him and pulled his knees to his chest, resting his chin on top. He didn't know if he should just keep that little tryst a secret. At this point, though, it's moot.

"I-I-I can't figure out my emotions. I'm so lost. I don't know how to do this human thing. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I'm weak. Commander Arik took me in. You were at the courthouse that day. He was always kind to me and his wife, Ava, was always so motherly towards me and this is how I repay her?" Trinity broke down, sobbing his heart out.

"Trinity?"

Trinity raised his head, sniffling. "Y-Yeah?"

Out of the blue, the palm of Sven's hand smacked him across the face, forcing his neck to retract back. Trinity touched his stinging red cheek and looked at Sven, shocked by the audacious move. Before Trinity could protest, Sven raised a hand stopping him.

"I'm going to be blunt: you're a fucking cry baby. I agree that you are weak. Granted, you aren't accustomed to the ways of your own species but, I don't give a shit. I don't give special treatment to runts, even if they're the Commanding officers' wet dream. You can't even defend yourself and that test proved it. Face it: you're a joke of the human race. Now, quit your crying and explain to me directly what happened."

Trinity sighed, wiping away his tears with his palms. "Well, um, what's the term? I almost had sex with Commander Arik. Did I use the right word?"

Sven's face paled, but he was fighting back a grin as well. "You're kidding me, right? That's it? That's why you're crying?"

Trinity frowned. "Yes. Is that not a logical emotional response to being abandoned here?"

Sven snorted, slapping his knee multiple times. "Oh god, you really know nothing. As clueless as a toddler."

"Sven, he's married. I-I feel horrible but at the same, almost content. I now know he felt something for me. He took care of me. He housed and fed me. His wife, Ava, was a complete Saint as well and this is how I repay her?" Trinity stumbled to his feet, grabbing at his hair in handfuls.

Sven rolled his eyes and stood up. He grabbed Trinity by the arm and dragged him out of the stall, ignoring the fact he's naked. He forcefully dragged the boy behind as he walked out of the stables. He turned a couple corners then stopped in front of a wooden house falling into disrepair. He pointed to one of the broken stained glass windows. Following his finger, Trinity cautiously walked up to the bay window. Despite the glass being covered in a layer of dust, he was able to see what was going on inside. Music from an out of tune piano was blaring, men were sitting on stools at a bar, drinking themselves stupid and women in eccentric dresses and makeup took some of the bar patrons into various rooms upstairs and down the halls. He was about ready to ask what the purpose of this tour was but, his mouth shut immediately when he recognized that same petite, platinum blonde woman. She was doused in make up, her dress torn so roughly her breasts and belly were exposed. Even under all that caked on makeup, Trinity knew her. It was Ava.

"There's the woman that you call Saint. She works in a brothel while Commander Arik is away. She gives blow jobs to any young man walking through that door." Sven pulled him away from the glass and walked him back to the stables. He pushed him back into his empty stall. Trinity was wide eyed and silent. He didn't know what to say.

"So, you were doing the Commander a favor by giving him something he's obviously lacking; physical intimacy. But, like I give a fuck. My point being, despite Arik wanting to do the honorable thing by staying faithful, the other side of his marriage coin isn't returning the favor. He coddled you with kindness and you expected his dick up your ass but it ain't happening. You're weak, you put all of yourself out there and for what? For some muscle head whose wife is screwing around? No, Trinity. Ava would've gotten what she deserved."

Trinity scowled at Sven. "You're awfully cocky. Crass too. You have no filter, do you?"

"Nope!" Sven saluted him proudly, right fist over his heart and his other hand behind his back.

Trinity reached down and picked up the pile of clothes. His hands smoothed over the brown vinyl jacket with a sword and armor emblem on the back. He looked up at Sven, raising a brow in question.

"Today, my dear runt, is the day you will learn to be one of us. As your testing failed, the military has frankly decided that I will be your mentor in training you during boot camp. As the commander is on a mission, you are put into my competent hands. I will make sure you learn hand to hand combat, as well as maneuvering equipment training. We're on our way to joining the Survey Corp. So pack your emotional baggage and we're off!"