To Be A Leader

Chapter 9: Bridge Over Troubled Water

The crows caw overhead, and the sun's light barely makes it through the thick dark clouds that loom above us. Wolves howl in the distance, and the sound of rattling chains rattle me to the bone.

"Good Lord," Amelia sighs, glancing around at the twisted wreckage of falling buildings and burned out office blocks. "You Abel people do know how to have a good time."

"Do we have to have the chains?" The man besides me asks, his green eyes burning with annoyance. "I'm not exactly going to try and escape through this hellhole, am I?"

"I don't know," I reply, my voice flat. "I don't know you well enough to give an answer, although judging by the suit and tie you're wearing, I'd guess not."

"Yeah, sorry we didn't introduce Andy to you, Five," Sam says a bit awkwardly. "Uh, Five, Andy. Andy, Five. Um, do you think you could take off his chains? I think someone was a bit overzealous there."

Jody hands me a key from her back pocket, and I use them to undo his chains. I send him an apologetic look when I see the forming bruises on his tanned wrists. I know what it's like to have chains. I know what it's like to get bruises from them. Being prisoner is never fun, no matter what side of the war you're on.

"Andy's a member of-where is it?" Jody asks.

"Rotunda Settlement," The portly man answers. "We've recently allied with the Ministry, but like a silly billy, I managed to be buying spices in Castille, which is officially allied with Abel, so I'm a theoretical prisoner and have to be traded. Anyway, you'll get one of your people back in return, so it all works out nicely."

Amelia arches her brow in surprise. "Really? I thought I'd brokered this deal in exchange for supplies. Who's Abel getting back?"

"New Canton, actually," Jody replies. "Bernard. He's been held by some of Sigrid's allies for a while."

"Bernard? Really?" She hums. "Interesting."

"Is it?" I ask, eyeing Andy closely. He looks positively disgusted by the scenery around him. I pay it no mind. I suppose when you're not a runner, you tend to forget how hellish the world looks, all dead and empty, a hollowed-out shell with nothing but burnt rubble to remind us of what the world once was.

"Yes, it is, actually. Come on, Five. Run with me. Let's get Andy here home."

I nod, following Amelia as she leads us onwards. Andy looks around, his eyes usually coming back to me in order to give me a questioning look that I don't particularly enjoy. He doesn't seem like someone who'd side with Sigrid, but again I have to remind myself that not everyone on Sigrid's side are Wakened Land loyalists. Some of them just happen to be people who want a cure. They don't know the truth, or they don't believe it, so to them, being on Sigrid's side seems like the smartest option.

I don't know if Andy is like this or not. He's made no move to get away, or to attack us, but that could very well be because I have a pistol on my hip and an axe on my back, while he is weaponless.

But from what I've been told, he's been nothing but kind to those who guarded over his cell. He's been in Abel for two days or so, but this is the first time I've had the pleasure of meeting him. I was put on kitchen staff for breakfast and lunch for those two days, which had worn me out to the point that I didn't care to meet our temporary guest, but seeing him now, he looks like a nice middle aged man.

But I suppose looks can be deceiving. Just about every villain in the story of my life was someone I trusted, or came close to trusting. It comes to show that books are never to be judged by their covers, and people are never to be trusted at first glance.

But as we run past burnt out office blocks, I notice Andy look around before turning his gaze up to the sky, to the small fractions of sunlight trying desperately to punch through the clouds. I wonder if it will rain. I hope not. The last thing we need is rain. Bernard will be complaining the entire journey back if it does, and my socks will end up getting all muddy and I'll get mud between my toes, which is so gross.