The Boy from the Bunker

Episode Five, Part 4:

Episode Five, Part 4:
Knocking on Heaven's Door

Wynnlow was woken early the next morning by Sol. It was so early that it was still dark outside, and the gates to Basilisk were still being guarded. Sol didn't seem to say much to him when she arrived at his tent, quickly making sure he was awake before announcing that she was off to retrieve their supplies. She also handed him a bag, and told him to pack offering nothing else to him but the lingering thought that maybe their mission would take a couple of days to conquer.

Wynnlow waited at the foot of his pullout bed for what must have been several minutes. The world was quiet of people, but loud with every other sign of life. As he sat, nervously tapping his feet, Wynnlow was unsure if he was supposed to be meeting Sol somewhere. Her communication sucked, to put it lightly. Then again, everyone else was probably used to how she worked, and what she expected from them. Wynnlow felt like he was still trying to crack through her surface.

After some contemplation, the boy sighed a pulled his bag over his shoulder. As he stepped outside of his tent, he bumped into someone, but it wasn't her.

"Quill? What are you doing? It's like, 5AM." Wynnlow was surprised to see his friend, not only at such an hour, but because he had had been doing his best at avoiding everyone since he had to leave Ares behind.

"What are you doing, Wynn? Where have you been?" There was a drowsy sort of confusion in his voice, tired eyes glancing up at him, a hint of longing reflecting somewhere.

Wynnlow shifted, unsure how to answer Quill. He didn't want to lie to him, but he didn't want to tell he truth either. "Um, I... I was just... We were going to find..."

The word sparked something in Quill. "You were going to find them, huh?" His voice was low, drifting away with his words. Quill looked back up at Wynnlow. "You think they're out there?"

The question he had been avoiding. Wynnlow knew the truth: that some of them were already dead - Ares being one of them; but a part of him believed that if he could bring the rest of their family back to them, then the losses wouldn't seem so unsurvivable. Instead, Wynnlow nodded, pulling his eyes away from Quill.

A silhouette appeared behind Quill. Stepping into the flickering light, Sol appeared, nodding to Wynnlow to approve their departure from camp. Something about her caught his attention, something more than just the way she seemed to hide in herself. 

"Uh, I have to go, Quill."

"To find them?" Quill asked, his voice too loud in the dark night. Then, before either one could answer, Quill followed, "I want to go with you guys. I want to help."

As Quill looked behind to Sol, begging for her approval, Wynnlow shot her a look, one with equal desperation as he shook his head. Sol glanced between both boys, her decision being made quickly. "I'm sorry, Quill. You don't know the trails, and I don't know your training standards."

"Training standards?" He furrowed his eyebrows, confusion nestling inside him. "I'd be the same as Wynn-"

"Wynn has been trained by me. He's ready for this mission. I'm sorry." Sol apologised, her voice sounding rehearsed and cool of her fire. "If you'd like to learn the trails, I can set up a time for Kodiak or Fenn to teach them to you. For now, it's too dangerous. And if you want us to find your family, then Wynn and I have to leave."

Quill didn't reply to Sol. His gaze studied her, trying to determine if he believed her intention. As Wynn stepped forward to join Sol, Quill grabbed onto his arm, pulling him close enough to whisper. "Do you trust her? You're going to follow her out there?"

"I don't know," Wynnlow answered, hiding the fact that he had already left Basilisk with her. "But right now, she's looking like our best chance of finding the others. I'll be safe." Wynnlow told him. "Take care of it here for me."

Wynnlow walked past Quill, brushing shoulders with him on the way. He was unable to look back, afraid that he would fold and spill everything to him. He followed Sol to the tunnel, assisting her with removing the metal slates that covered their exit.

Sol was the first to jump down, Wynn following quickly behind into the muddy hole. As they both reached for their torches, Wynnlow switched his on, the white light immediately shinning onto Sol's face.

"Man, get that light off me!" She warned him, her voice a whisper, tone sharp.

Sol squinted as Wynnlow hurried to move the light, almost afraid of her until he saw what the night had so far disguised.

His reaction was in thought of, surprising Sol in more ways than one. His hand reached out, fingertips extending to touch the soft skin above her left eye. The yellow and purple bruising surrounded her eye, stretching just slightly onto her cheek. Wynn brought the torch back up again, examining her injury further. The depths of his gaze scared Sol. It was something she was not used: she had always been cold and hard on her exterior, no one wanting to look to deep.

Her hand moved up to push away Wynn's hand, he boy barely seeming fazed by her distancing. Though her long, dark brown hair had managed to hide whatever the night couldn't conceal, Wynn wondered what her plan would have been for when they were out together in the middle of the day.

"Wynn, don't even think about asking me."

"You thought you could hide this? And I here I thought you were some sort of genius... What did you do, walk into a pole?"

Sol scoffed. "If I was going to lie about it, I would at least make it something smart."

"So tell me what happened to you."

"Just training, Wynn. I've been going easy on you. When you really know how to fight, your skin tells you."

Wynn sighed, his eyes flickering across her bruising once again. "I thought you said it would be smart."

"Wynn-" she began to roll her eyes, a denial desperately speaking out against the lie she had been caught in.

"Things that are felt like that can't be hidden forever. They're not meant to be."

Sol looked up at Wynn, their torches both pointing at the ground, the lighting around them barely bright enough to see each other clearly. But she found his eyes, and looked into them with an unknown vulnerability - something she had been fleeing from her entire life. Him being here was changing a part of she didn't even know existed. A part she didn't know how to let go.

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