The Unaffected

➠3.3

Subject is blond.

"How goes it?" she asks. She is talking to him again finally, giving him orders. "Well," he says smugly. No one suspects a thing. Mission's clear."

✶

a few days later, we're talking to the aliens about allies. Nick is writing down all the information we'll need to find and recruit these people. They're already sympathetic, but we'll tell them the plan. It's risky, because they could be spies. But Nick seems like he knows what he's doing, and Katelyn and Matt trust him. I think I might, eventually.

I'm beginning to rethink my decision to stay with Katelyn, Matt, and Nick, instead of practicing with the rest of them, because I feel like an outsider. They're discussing and strategizing and I have no idea what to do in this situation. My group was hectic, we didn't plan things, we did them. Impulsively. I like that operation better, personally, but I understand we need to be more careful with this. The entirety of the human race is on our hands.

I want to leave, but that would seem rude or lazy or uninterested and this is important. So I try to help without being a nuisance.

"Right, we'll have to leave soon," Nick says, "or the aliens might find us. We don't want you getting hurt," he says, turning to our hosts.

"So, where is the next closest place?" Katelyn asks.

I wonder why Katelyn and Matt treat Nick as if he's so much more experienced than them. He is slightly more experienced, but not very much, to my knowledge. I make a mental note to ask him later.

"There's a research laboratory that has some Cured who work for the aliens, but they're sympathetic to us. It's a few days drive, so we'll have to camp out in the open for several nights. So I suggest we leave tonight."

"Why'd we come here, then?" I ask. It's probably a stupid question, but I'm curious.

"It's a place to stay, as well as contact our allies," he explains. He doesn't act as if the answer is obvious, luckily. Matt kind of rolls his eyes, though.

"Oh, of course." I nod.

We continue to talk, and I try to chip in occasionally. I feel very awkward and out of place, though.

When they're done, we disperse, Nick, Katelyn and Matt to the bedroom area to talk more, I assume, and I go find Ella, because she's someone I feel I can talk to.

"Scar," says Nick's voice, coming from behind me. I turn. "Oh, I thought you went with the other two."

He grins mischievously. "No, I tend to leave them alone. There's something up with them, I think."

I raise my eyebrows. "Ah."

"How's training?" he asks.

"Pretty good. I like to think I'm picking things up quickly."

"Matt says you are."

"Oh, okay."

"It took me a while to train. I didn't understand much of it," he says, falling in step beside me. We're still walking, although I don't know why.

"You were only ten," I point out. "I'm fifteen. That's a five year age difference."

"Like the age difference between us," he murmurs. "It's not much." That last he says in an odd tone of voice, as if he's talking to himself.

"Long enough to make a difference," I say.

He nods, distractedly. Then he turns and meets my gaze. "Want to go for a walk outside? We can't go to far, but I want you to see more of this place. Considering it's, in a way, our prison, it's pretty amazing."

"Sure," I reply.

He leads the way through a hallway, and then up to the top floor where the door is. We step outside. It's dark, like it was before, but I can still see a bit. "It's only midday," Nick says. "I miss the light of earth. You know, it's only a distant memory for me."

"It feels that way for me, too," I say quietly. "And I haven't been here long. But I do like the dark. It's peaceful. It's distracting."

"Ah, yes, you like distractions," he says. "I remember you telling Ella that."

I laugh. "Yeah. I just like to forget sometimes. This is all so much to take in."

"It must be hard adjusting to our military regimens, as well," he muses. "I've heard the groups kids hang out in now are pretty hectic."

"Yeah. I feel almost out of place. At home, we did things in the moment. It wasn't the best strategy, but it's what I'm familiar with. I feel really dumb around you guys." I laugh awkwardly.

"Don't be," he says. "You're not dumb. You're brilliant." He grins, and pats my head.

"You're exaggerating, a lot," I tell him.

"I'll be the judge of that."

We continue walking, and then stops. "I want to show you something," he says. He stops me, his hand lingering on my shoulder, and points to a glittering red pool, and there's smoke coming out of it. "It's a hot spring," he said. "That's why this planet is so warm. You know, this planet is the only habitable one in this galaxy. It's like earth's equivalent, but smaller."

"It's incredible that no one knew about this before the aliens came," I say.

He nods. "And there are no scientists around to explore it."

"We're here," I say. "Maybe when this is over, I could study this place. Although it probably won't be safe. We'll have to leave the aliens alone."

"Maybe you will, someday," he says, ignoring my last statement. I realize his hand is still resting lightly on my shoulder. It's warm, and comforting, and for a moment, I remember how Clapton and the other kids and I would exchange the occasional touch; hugs, high fives, that sort of thing. Little signs of support, or care, or whatever it was. I miss it. I miss being close to people. So I move closer to Nick, impulsively, and his arm seems to move with me, falling around my shoulder. It's wonderful.

We're silent for a long while, and I become aware of my heart pounding slightly faster than before. My cheeks warm, and I move away, glancing at Nick. He doesn't meet my gaze, just clears his throat. "We should get going." I don't want to, but I reply, "okay."

On the way back he tells me more about the planet's geography. The two of us say nothing about what happened, go back to our usual joking exchanges. Maybe nothing did. Maybe I'm overreacting. I decide I must be.

But I feel like something about the way Nick and I see each other has changed.