The Boy from the Bunker

Episode Four, Part 5:

Episode Four, Part 5:
I m i t a t e

With the safety of his family on the line, Wynnlow knew that it was time to shut up and listen to Sol. He couldn't live with himself if Quill, Azha, Bas and MaReya were banished because of him.

He had gotten up early, although he didn't manage to sleep much as it was, and drifted around the grounds - observing everyone he saw. He was still too ridden with guilt to face the others. Ares was their family as well, especially to Quill, and he knew that nothing he could do would ever be worthy of their forgiveness for leaving Ares behind.

When it reached a reasonable hour, Wynnlow followed into the medic tent where he had seen Aeryn walk into only a few minutes earlier. She was surprised to see him - possibly because it was so early, but a smile soon appeared on her face when she realised that he had came to see her.

He sat himself on the edge of a vacant bed, one of his legs folding underneath him as he sat. Aeryn could see that he was hesitant to talk, so she let it him be, waiting until he was ready. He sat there, mindfully watching her tend to the patients, moved by her compassion.

It was only when Azha limped into the tent that he broke from his gaze, his attention turned to one of the only people he felt he could resemble at that time. Azha half smiled, making his way over to Wynn, collapsing down onto the bed. Out of all the people Basilisk had rescued, Azha suffered the worst injuries. Even the short walk from his tent to the medic's was enough to exhaust him.

"Hey kiddo," Azha greeted him, his hand hitting his knee firmly.

"Hey Az." Wynn murmured a response. He was the only one he felt he could be honest with about Ares' death; be real with about the pain, and not be afraid of his reaction. Not feel like the blame was all his to carry.

Aeryn had made her way over, greeting Azha like an old friend. She was quick to tend to his injuries, studying how they had healed since the previous day. It seemed like a routine pattern for them now, but clearly they were trying to understand how Wynnlow fit in the scenario.

"What's got you here so early? I hope that leg isn't giving you any grief." Azha quizzed.

"No, no, it's not my leg that's-" he began, cutting himself short. He didn't have the strength to talk about Ares. Not today. "It's not my leg." He answered.

"Ugh, don't tell me it's another injury? What happened, Riverly beat the crap out of you?" Aeryn teased, her eyes never parting from her task.

"Not yet." Wynnlow mumbled. By Asha's expression, he knew he needed to give more information. "She wants me to learn how to shoot today." He admitted.

The shift in Aeryn's position was noticeable. A slight scrunch on her face that informed Wynnlow she was confused about the situation.

"What is it?" Wynnlow asked, something unshakeable in his voice. A seriousness that wasn't usually there.

"Nothing, nothing, it's um..." Aeryn was incapable of lying. Wynn could read her like an open book. "It's just that Riverly's never really dedicated so much time into training someone. And shooting is her strength." Her facade broke, and she began to boast a little. "Girl can really shoot." Her laughter died down quickly, still making sense of what she thought the young Sovereign was up to.

"How did you get her to agree to that?"

Wynnlow shrugged. "She kind of stormed off from me last night. I didn't know what to make of it."

"She did? What happened between you two?"

Wynnlow sighed, hoping that Aeryn would seemed as baffled as he was. "She was asking me all these questions about the Bunker. She said that it wasn't possible we survived without communication from above, or had as much knowledge as we did."

"Knowledge?"Azha interrupted.

"Yeah," Wynnlow agreed. "Like how we thought we might be the only ones alive. She was arguing that by the time mass population decrease occurred, we would have been long underground. But I was trying to explain how it was reasonable to assume that only the Insusceptibles would have survived, and there wasn't even many of them. The Irremediables would have died from The Surge, or in the war."

At the mention of the word, Aeryn seemed to look around anxiously, acting strangely similar to how Sol had done. It was beginning to freak him out.

"See!" Wynnlow exclaimed. "Just like that. She got mad when I said Insu-"

"Wynnlow, don't." Aeryn cut him off, leaning close.

He froze mid sentence, his mouth agape as he leaned back slowly, gazing at her in complete confusion and fear. He knew by her shared reaction that they were serious.

Looking to see if Azha was any more educated than he was, he turned back to Aeryn, desperate for some answers. "Do you mind telling us what's going on? Maybe why everyone freaks at that word?"

We only said one thing. "Riders."

"Riders? As in Blood Riders?" Wynnlow sought confirmation.

Aeryn bit down on her lip nervously, looking around again to make sure no one was listening to their conversation. She nodded. "They hunt for... them." She revealed. "You know... The ones who can't be afflicted."

"Okay..." Neither of them understood. "I still don't get it."

Aeryn sighed. It seemed there was some sort of consequence for what she was revealing to them. "The rumour is, someone from Blood Riders is in Basilisk." They we're still completely lost.

"No one knows who it is. But if they have reason to believe that there are any In-" she closed her eyes, held her breath in fear. "Any un-afflicted in Basilisk, then they'll send a war to take our people."

"And what do they do with them?" Azha asked. "The un-afflicted."

Aeryn hesitated, shook her head. Wynnlow could see that th very thought was distressing her. Before it had even registered, he had placed his hand on top of her's.

"Hey, it's okay. You don't have to say it."

Aeryn's gaze drifted from their hands, up to his eyes. "I'm sorry." She apologised. "Riverly knows the most about it. Maybe you should ask her."

Wynnlow nodded, smiling at her in sympathy. The words echoed inside of him: 'Riverly knows the most.' And he wondered what it meant, thought maybe it would explain her reaction to what he had said. Before he could imagine all the possibilities, she was there. An enigma in person.

f o u r  //  p a r t   f i v e
This book is in the same world the Counterfeit trilogy is written in. It is set 15 years after the end of book 3.