The Boy from the Bunker - Season 6

Episode One, Part 1:

This book is dedicated to @byeb1234 for all of their continued support over the past 5 books. You're always the first person to vote on my chapters and you never miss an update! Thank you for coming on this journey with my characters. It means the world to me. 

Episode One, Part 1:
D a y s   A p a r t

6 days after Sol left.

Wynn sat on the roof of the shed, his legs dangling over the edge mindlessly as he gazed forward towards the red hills. Another day had gone by without Sol, and another without his brother; he wondered if he would ever be able to stop counting how long it had been, or if every setting sun was just a reminder that he was about to add one more number to the forever-growing separation between him and them.  

He should have been grateful to be alive. Of the eighteen people he had spent almost his entire life with in the Bunker, he was one of the seven that was still breathing - that still got to wake up in the mornings. And yet, he would have traded his place for any one of them in a heartbeat. 

Wynn could hear someone approaching behind him, but he didn't so much as glance over his shoulder to see who it was. He waited until Quill walked to the edge, sitting down to his left. On his other side, Elara came and sat down beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder after a few moments of silence. 

Wynn let out a heavy sigh, collapsing a little now that they were both there with him. He glanced over at Quill and he noticed there was a space between them like he had left it purposefully; the last time the four of them were there together, it was where Ares had sat, and the time after that, it was the three of them and Wynn was trying to say goodbye - thinking that he might not ever see them again... 

Quill reached out into the space, his palm open for Wynn to take hold. He managed a faint smile, taking his brother's hand in his own, and continuing to stare ahead. 

He knew he needed to say something; he hadn't managed to speak to either of them about what had happened since they brought him back, but he couldn't put it off forever, and it wasn't fair to keep them in the dark. 

"I'm sorry that I was gonna leave," he murmured, feeling Elara lift her head up and look at him. She had been so angry with him and he hated himself for allowing her to feel that way. 

"I know you are," she whispered back. "I know you would have looked for every other way, and I'm sorry that there wasn't one. That someone had to go in my place. If I knew all of this would have happened, I would have just let them take me-" 

"No," Wynn was stern, squeezing her tighter into his side with his arm that was wrapped around her. "Don't ever say that again." He ordered. "Don't talk about it like anything that happened was your fault." It was hard for him to not be able to place the blame on someone: he wanted to say that it was all because of his dad, but he didn't know if that was the truth. 

"Sometimes," he paused, searching for the right words, "as tragical as it might be, terrible things happen and it's not anyone's fault," Wynn said to them both. He knew that he couldn't waste the time he had trying to find someone to blame, he just had to keep on living without the answers and without the closure. He had to live in spite of everything tearing him apart. He had to live because there were other people feeling the same way as him, looking to him for direction, and he couldn't give them a reason to give up. 

"What happened to Ares wasn't anyone's fault," he glanced over at the space between him and Quill. "And neither was Sol leaving. That was a choice she made." 

"A choice to protect you..." Quill answered for Wynn, hoping he would see it that way. "A choice that meant we didn't lose another brother." 

"Yeah," Wynn breathed, trying to see it that way, but struggling to push through the hurt. He didn't want Sol to sacrifice herself. He wanted her to be safe and with her people, not all alone without a single memory of her life. 

"There's blame," Quill said, "and then there's admission. Two different things." He pointed out. "Just as different as leaving and taking someone's place." 

Wynn looked over, trying to understand what his brother was saying. 

"She didn't leave you, Wynn... She saved you. She loved you." 

The older boy breathed out into a smile, quickly looking away as he knew it wouldn't last long. He knew Quill was right, but he didn't want him to be. It only made everything hurt twice as bad. 

His brother continued, but nothing else was said afterwards.  "And loving someone is taking their place." 

//////

Sol woke up, struggling to remember where she was. She adjusted to the sudden light that had pulled her from sleep, feeling as if was a harsh start to her day. If it was anything like the previous one, she knew it would be exhausting, and truthfully, she was afraid of how long things would feel this way. 

Would she ever remember what had happened? Would they ever tell her why everything before waking up in Targo's Medic Range no longer existed in her mind? 

She knew the story they had told her was deceitful; when out on a mission, she had been attacked by rogue members of an unknown clan who caused a strong enough trauma to her head that they subsequently forced her brain into resetting, thus, losing all of her memories. She just knew that it wasn't the truth. 

The ache in her body wasn't in her head. She could reach up and feel through her hair for any bumps or cuts, and there was nothing. The real pain was that whatever had happened made her feel completely empty inside. Like there was nothing left in her chest or in her soul, and who she was now was merely a ghost - desperate for any signs of life. 

One // Part One
Loving someone is taking their place.

Originally published: May 10th 2020.
Dom Sherwood told me he loved me.
(Literally the only reason I wanted to publish it on that day).

Republished 19/05/20