Welcome To Trench

Chapter Eight | Two-Faced

I am so so so sorry I haven't updated recently!!! I promise I'll be updating a lot more since Thanksgiving break is coming up, which means I'll have a lot more time to write.
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Elaine kindly waved goodbye as you exited her tent. Now dressed head to toe in a freshly new change of clothes, you stood amid the camp grounds, searching the sea of moving people that paced in every direction for a familiar face. Straight ahead you noticed Josh. You watched him as he pointed and spoke to others. He seemed to be giving instructions.

"Split into groups of five and check the perimeter!" Josh shouted, and people around him quickly started to group up. You stared. He really did seem like the leader of these people.

You felt a tug on your jacket from behind. "Excuse me, miss?" said a child-like voice. You turned around and tilted your head downwards to gaze down at a young boy. He looked to be around the age of nine or ten, maybe younger. What was a little kid doing in a place like this? More importantly, how did a little kid get here? "Have you seen my glasses? I can't find them anywhere, and it's hard to look for them when I can't see very well." He gazed up at you with innocent, curious blue eyes.

"Er, no, sorry. I haven't." you replied awkwardly, still fazed by the fact that a young boy- a child roamed around these areas.

"Could you help me find them? Ben tries to teach me how to read before bed, but I can't read without my glasses, so I-"

The child's words were interrupted by a deeper, more mature voice that startled you and caused you to jump slightly. You glanced over your shoulder to see Josh who smiled warmly at the boy.

"Hey Clancy, what's up?" He crouched down to match the kid's height and rested his arms on his knees.

"I lost my glasses.." Clancy mumbled sadly, looking down at the ground.

"That's no good. Hey, why don't you go ask Jason to help you out? I'm sure he'd be more than happy to give you a hand."

Josh pointed at a man who stood a few lengths behind the boy, and Clancy glanced over to him before turning to Josh once more. "Okay." He smiled up at you with rosy pink cheeks, before skipping in the opposite direction. "Bye Joshie! Bye bye miss lady!" A small grin crept to your lips.

"Good luck, little dude!" Josh turned to you with a small sigh, "Sorry about that. Clancy can be a bit of a handful at times."

"It's fine." You considered asking about the kid, as you had wondered about his origin only seconds earlier. However that wasn't the most important thing you wanted to know at the moment. "Have you seen Tyler anywhere?"

Josh blinked at the sudden change of subject, but answered anyway. "Uh, yeah, I have." You were about to ask where exactly Tyler's whereabouts were, but Josh continued before you could even speak. "Actually, I've been meaning to talk to you."

You raised a a single brow and stared at Josh, "Isn't that what you're doing right now?"

"Well yeah," He hesitated at your sarcastic tone, "but what I mean is I've been meaning to talk to you alone." the last word puzzled you.

*****

Josh held open the curtain to your guys' tent. It was thankfully empty, aside from the company of you both. Once either of you entered, he kindly instructed you to sit down and he did the same. "Tyler told me a little bit about how the two of you met," He started as he seated himself in front of you. You felt nervous, and hoped that whatever he wanted to speak about wouldn't make you feel discomfort. "And although I enjoyed hearing his explanation, I think it'd make more sense for you to tell me your story."

It was uncomfortably silent. You weren't quite sure what to say next as you personally didn't feel there was much of a story to even tell. After a few seconds of you staring into your lap, Josh interrupted the quiet.

"So.. DEMA. That's where Tyler found you, right?"

"Yeah," you confirmed, "well, sorta."

"Sorta?" Josh sounded confused, and the way his brows knitted together slightly further showed how perplexed he appeared to be upon hearing your statement.

"I was on the outskirts of town." You explained, lifting your gaze to look directly towards him. "I almost escaped- and I probably could have made it out on my own too, but I ended up in a dead end." You frowned upon realizing how foolish you sounded. "Tyler just.. came out of nowhere I guess. I don't know how he even discovered where I was." You stared ahead of yourself, looking wondrous as if you were experiencing that moment all over again. "Why wasn't Tyler with you? Why wasn't he here?" You questioned and turned your head to face Josh with a look of curiosity. It really didn't make any sense to you. If there was somewhere safe where many other refugees thrived, why venture out on your own? The risk didn't seem worth it.

Josh turned away again. His eyes darkened to a dull brown and a heavy, sorrowful sigh left his nose. "Tyler.. Can be a bit compulsive at times. Makes decisions on a whim, things like that." He looked down into his hands and rubbed the cuff of his jacket between his thumb and index finger. You noticed the nervous gesture, but thought nothing of it. "He's my best friend, and I trust him a lot. I really do, but.." He bit the inside of his cheek, "I don't like it when he makes questionable choices. It scares us all. I-It scares me."

Shit, you thought to yourself. You swallowed, throat dry and desperate for a drink of water. But even though the idea of a drink sounded tempting, hearing more about this side of Tyler seemed like a bigger deal at the moment.

"You know," He looked in your direction again and you met his solemn stare, "You're not the first person he's attempted to bring back to Trench."

"Attempted?" The word felt eery, and made the hairs on the back of your neck stand.

Josh nodded sadly. "Tyler hasn't ever been successful in his rescues. Until now."

So Tyler has tried to help people escape DEMA before? You thought to yourself in realization. "But, why? Why does he try? I mean- obviously it's not the easiest thing to do if i'm the first person he's ever actually saved."

Josh shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, and I don't think any of us ever will."

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I honestly could've added more, but i desperately wanted to get a chapter out to you guys. More will be coming hopefully tomorrow night! (Also feed me some ideas bc i'm not creative yikes) Also look aT THIS SUPER CUTE DRAWING

credit goes to note28 on tumblr