Evolution

Chapter Twenty: Escape

My guts told me that telling Ronan could only be an asset. He and Jesse may not have gotten on, but I trusted him and he trusted me. He could help. He didn't like this place as much as we did, he wanted out just like we did. This was the right decision.
Keeping vigilant, making sure we weren't followed, we made our way to the middle of the prison yard, which was now empty. Once we were there, we sat down with our legs crossed and I explained to him the entire situation, the entire plan, everything that I knew, everything that Jesse knew, everything that I had discovered over the short time stay. Ronan seemed taken back, he was gobsmacked, yet he believed it, just like I had. After the initial shock of information, he leaned back and sighed.

"What do you plan on doing now?" He asked

"We have to get people out, we have to get Nora out, but we need to find somewhere to get them out safely, without being seen"

"So, we need to escape? From a prison?" He raised his eyebrows

I laughed and nodded "Yes"

"Well, I knew this outbreak thing would bring some new challenges, but wow" He lightly laughed back "You know Jesse is going to be ropable when he finds out I know about all of this right?"

I nodded "Yes"

"Then why'd you tell me?"

I shrugged "I trust you, you can help. Besides, it's not up to him to make all of the decisions"

Ronan smiled, but it slowly fell as he stared at my face

"Can I ask you something?" His voice was soft, settled

I was afraid of what he was going to say, but I nodded anyway

"What's your name?"
It wasn't as bad as I had been expecting, but it was still a question I wasn't sure I was ready to answer.

I sighed and straightened my legs out in front of myself

"My name is.. my name, it carries dead weight" I told him, all signs of smiles gone "This new person, Arrow, she's a lot better"

"I find that hard to believe" He tilted his head sideways

"Why is that?" I watched him carefully, his eyes on mine, gentle

"A person with 'dead weight' is real, strong and brave. They are the best people in life. They take emotions that people like me have probably never experienced and create such an incredible outlook on life from them, they see things differently. But people like Arrow, people that choose to ignore those emotions, choose to ignore who they are and what they have endured, they are filled with sadness, they allow it to brew inside until it explodes and destroys them" He explained, his voice low, even, holding me in place

There was no forcing back a smile this time. There was no hiding just how amazing Ronan had made me feel.
He was right.

"Morgan" I spoke, my voice cracking

Ronan's lips were now like my own, partially open, smiling. He scooted towards me and out-held his hand
"It's nice to meet you, Morgan"

More than willingly, I shook his hand, chuckling

-

I don't know how long I had sat with Ronan in the dirt pile of the yard. It must have been hours because as the night air drew on, I became cold and tired. Ronan slung his leather black jacket over my shoulders, creating warmth for us to continue talking further into the night. Despite having given Ronan a snippet of my life, my real life, I wasn't yet ready to announce anything more to him. He was patient and easily moved on to other topics. Our conversations didn't have to be about the outbreak, they didn't have to be about what had happened to us after the outbreak. They were about things that normal friends talked about, like normal people in 2016 talked about. It was so refreshing that I didn't want to stop talking to him. I didn't want the night to end. There was no doubt in my mind that Ronan was an actual, genuine friend, a friend that I could trust with anything. Ronan had broken a seal that hadn't been opened in years. For that, he deserved my attention, he deserved me, the real me.