Abide » Alden

2. Silence

The next day Paesyn had gotten a chance to really see everybody. She talked a bit with Carol, Daryl, and others. She met Saddiq who's a doctor. Carl died to save a doctor. That fact alone gave Paesyn a sense of obligation to acquaint herself with the man. The man had better be worth Carl dying over.

Yet again, Maggie has placed Paesyn as a babysitter for the prisoners.

'Maybe she doesn't trust me, or maybe she doesn't think I can handle anything else,' Paesyn thinks. Her mind continues: 'its not like anybody would actually trust me. I am unstable and useless. Being useless makes me worthless. But not completely worthless if I am great in killing things,' Paesyn conceded with herself.

Paesyn squinted her eyes to filter out the bright sunlight. Of course the savior she had to observe was the mouthy one from before.

The savior approaches while keeping a respectful distance between him and Paesyn.

The savior nods to her, "We meet again." His voice had a softness that only reminded Paesyn of her father or a group member attempting to comfort her.

And that slice of nostalgia made Paesyn want to be sick. She couldn't think about that stuff anymore.

Paesyn plays the gesture off, "Yes, we do."

The savior looks around before initiating eye contact with the brunette, "My name's Alden. What's yours?"

Paesyn shrugs before meeting his gaze, "None of your business, Alden."

Alden shrugs and steers his attention to his surroundings. He put his hand on a post supporting the stables. He looked around at the community.

Citizens were out and conversing. Some were helping others and talking, some were walking a horse or two. The workers were working and everything was in order.

Or so it seemed.

Paesyn could not focus on anything other than the threat of an all-out war that will soon break out. Paesyn was stone-cold enough to perfectly handle an all-out war. But many others involved weren't. Many were too soft.

Paesyn understood why Maggie and a few others were soft on her, but she hated the gesture. She knew they weren't soft to a fault. As starved as the woman was of love in any form, she did not welcome it now after what had happened. Having a total stranger—a savior nonetheless—being soft on her did not settle with Paesyn.

She wanted to try with all her power to make this man turn away and treat her like the rest of the prisoners did. Better yet, he should treat her like that rat, Jared, did.

During Alden's time out of the pen, he did not press or push Paesyn into a position she didn't want to be in. He didn't know of what happened to her but he sensed something was wrong.

He noticed the way her jaw set and her hands clench when himself and other men approached her from out of sight. If anyone caught her by surprise the person would most likely get a mild concussion. He noticed the way she pulled her very short hair when stressed. She never smiled and had a very closed appearance. Her attitude may suggest otherwise but her body language implied a low self-confidence.

He somehow observed all this from inside the pen.

He knew she did not want to talk with him and he respected it. Paesyn was perfectly comfortable with the silence between them.

Eventually, Alden's free time ended. He was led back into the pen and after the door closed, Alden looked into Paesyn's broken eyes.

He studied her scar that ran from above her right eyebrow to the corresponding cheekbone. He wondered about the story behind it and if it was part of the reason she hated saviors.