The Boy from the Bunker - Season 3

Episode Three, Part 4:

Episode Three, Part 4:

A r e   Y o u   W i t h   M e ?

I don't know if you mean everything to me, 
and I wonder, can I give you what you need?

Sol and Joren escorted Wynnlow to the gates, making sure it was safe enough for him to leave. As soon as the gates opened, Wynn was walking out, already feeling as though he had spent long enough at Basilisk without needing to be there another second. 

He felt a latch on his wrist, stopping him from moving any further, and he turned around, reluctantly looking at Sol.  

She couldn't bring herself to say anything at first. Simply turning his hand over and placing something in its hold. 

Wynn looked down, unable to believe what he could feel until he saw it for himself. 

"So you can you protect yourself." She told him. 

He exhaled, nervous to accept the gun, but shoving it into his back as he thought about all the danger his family might be in. As he went to thank her, he saw that Sol was already turned around and walking back into Basilisk, parting him with the thought that Wynnlow didn't need her anymore, but that couldn't be further from the truth. 

With his anger dying down, there was room for guilt to creep in, and as he wandered away from camp he couldn't help but wish she was there to accompany him to the others. 

///

Wynn and Joren had been walking in silence for around 10 minutes, and the tension was thick in the air. It wasn't anything personal, but Joren was ferociously loyal to Sol and had been a witness for years of the abuse Eryx had put her through. As a former Sovereign, he knew better than anyone the weight of her choices, and the burden of everything that even Wynn couldn't comprehend.  

"You know, Wynn, no matter what happens, there will still be a war to face after all of this." 

The boy looked over at Joren, wondering what his point was. 

"I know you've made it this far, but someday something might happen, and not even River will be able to do anything about it." 

"Look, Joren-" 

"I understand that you didn't sign up for life on the Ground, but you need to accept that this is your life. Bad things happen. There's nothing you can do about it." 

"I have." Wynnlow insisted. 

"Have you? Are you sure?" Joren searched. 

"What do you mean?" 

"I think you're still holding onto the idea that everything should feel like it did in the Bunker. Everyone together. No disastrous consequences to face, nothing that could tear the people you love away from you." 

"So what are you saying? That I shouldn't be trying to get Elara back? That I should give up because that's how it is sometimes and I need to face that? I'm sure you were relieved when it was Sol that I was trying to bring home, but because my sister is an heir so another Clan, you're worried that makes her a threat. That's what you mean, isn't it?" 

"I mean you shouldn't go so hard on Riverly. She's down 100 of her people, war is on it's way, and two of her people are in trouble out here. She's playing a losing game." Joren sighed. "You care about her; it wouldn't be so hard for you to admit that when she needs it, right? When she needs you." 

"She needs me at Basilisk so I'm not somewhere out here where I could run into Riders or Targo. That's what she meant." 

"No." Joren shook his head softly, bringing himself to a stand still. Wynnlow stopped as well, his heart resting on the verge of what Joren was trying to say. 

"She means she can't let anything bad happen to you. Just like Kodiak or Dreea-" 

"Kodiak's out there with my sister right now. She doesn't seem too concerned about the fact that they haven't returned yet." 

"She sent out another Sovereign, the strongest of shooters who survived the virus, and left herself vulnerable to an attack. You think she'd tear herself apart like that over anyone? No. If it was anyone else, she wouldn't risk it. Not with war coming and the persistent threat of Targo lurking around."

"For Kodiak." Wynn answered, struggling to admit that Joren was right, and that he wasn't aware of everything Sol was doing for him. 

"And for you. Because she knows your sister is with him." 

Wynn looked away from the older man, biting on his lip as reality sunk through to him. 

"Why would she do that for me?" 

A warm smile lit up Joren's face, and he stepped over to Wynnlow, resting his hand firmly on his shoulder. "She needs you." He repeated her words, the same words he had been trying to get him to realize for a while now. 

"Me..." Wynlow breathed out, comprehending what he was hearing. "What use am I to a Sovereign?" 

"You know, I wondered that myself for a while." Joren chuckled, picking up the pace once again. "And then I realized, and I think a lot more people started to, as well. Riverly, Kodiak, Aeryn - I bet even your family see it too." 

"See what?" 

"That you don't give up on people. Even when you should, or when everyone else has, or when it gets you into trouble." Joren answered. "You saved her, Wynn. Maybe she's just trying to return the favor." 

Three // Part 4

Nope. Don't like this.