The Boy from the Bunker

Episode Two, Part 6:

Episode Two, Part 6:

D e b t s

For the second time that week, Wynnlow woke up in the medic tent, alone, feeling like his entire world had vanished. He looked around, noticing that it was still dark - perhaps the early hours of the morning, trying to understand why he was here - until he remembered.

His eyes were already watering; the crying in his sleep never seeming to pass. But he noticed a light on in the corner, a few people standing around, hushed voices whispering into the night.

He tried to make sense of them, trying to recall names through the fog in his mind. Aeryn. He could see her now, talking to the body lying in the bed. Beside him, he had his doubts, but it looked like Quill; he wondered what he was doing here, for a moment, panicking that something had happened, like him being caught by Basilisk, or having gone after him when he heard the radio. There was someone else standing by him, a boy, but Wynnlow didn't know him, and the girl; he knew before she turned his way that it was Riverly, before she even heard her voice, saying: "hey, how are you holding up?"

Quill was over in an instant, rushing across from the other side of the tent, I semi-relieved expression on his face. Wynnlow could see that he was hesitant to speak, as if there was some sort of confusion over what he remembered, if he did at all.

Riverly could see the answer to her question without Wynnlow needing to speak. The pain behind his eyes glimmered in the dim light, catching sight to her every time she looked at him. "You were in shock. Kodi and I brought you uh, afterwards; I thought you needed to rest."

She referenced to the boy who had been standing with them, the one who remained over in the far corner, Wynnlow now registering it as Azha's bed. As if he could read his mind, Quill updated Wynnlow on his condition, a bid to distract him from the truth they were all hiding from.

"Azha's doing better. They're going to let him go in the morning." Quill declared, sympathy resonating in his voice. "Well," he corrected himself, "release him from medic."

"You can go too, if you want." Aeryn announced, smiling down at him.

"Can I leave the grounds?" He inquired, his eyes unable to meet anyone's.

Riverly shifted her weight to her other foot, seemingly confused by Wynnlow's question. "After what happened last night?" She exclaimed. "You still want to leave?"

Wynn just shrugged his shoulders, not really having any clue what he wanted anymore. "I need to find my family." Looking at Quill, "Our family."

Aeryn looked to Riverly, as did Quill, both seemingly awaiting her permission. She shot blank a frustrated expression, her arms crossing over in defense. "No." She told them, before looking down at Wynn. "Last night was dangerous enough, and in case you forgot, I almost died trying to save your life."

"Like my brother did?" Wynn interrupted, taking a jab at Riverly's authority.

"Wynn-" Quill spoke up, the mention on Ares hurting him just as much as it did to Wynnlow.

"Look, you don't get it." She told Wynn. "My father's a Sovereign. That makes me a heir to his rule. If anyone else found out about this, that could jeopardize everything. And another thing last night proved, you've got a lot of training ahead of you if you ever want to leave the grounds."

"So what you're telling me is I'm stuck here? One of your prisoners?"

Riverly rolled her eyes. "We don't have 'prisoners'. And you're free to leave Basilisk, but you wouldn't survive a day out there."

Quill stepped in, afraid that Wynn would do something stupid if given the chance. "Wynn, maybe we should listen to her. At least until we know a little more about being above ground. She did save your life, after all."

Wynn looked down at his hand, the tattoo marking sticking out to him, already tired to think that Riverly thought he owed her anything. "I'm not going to thank you for what you did out there last night." He told her. "But I will stay. I'll let you teach me how to fight."

t w o // p a r t s i x