Aer

6

'Look something feels different about this,' Daisy explains her choice to bring Dars back with her 'I feel like I can trust him'.

'You can't trust no one,' Charlie says 'I've been up here, doing runs since I got to the bunker I've seen over the two years how quick kids can change, how all they do is fend for themselves'.

    'Dars has a camp, we're the ones at a disadvantage'.
    'He may have a camp but how do we know they're not cannibals or something like that?'.
'I don't know,' she says quietly 'but I've a good feeling, plus your arm isn't going to heal itself'.

'A good feeling....' Charlie sighs 'I don't care as long as I don't have to pull any extra weight'.
  'Do you trust me?'.
He looks at her 'No'.
  'Charlie...'.
   'Fine, yes I do'.
  'This will be okay'.

They meet Dars outside. Daisy decides to leave the bike in the shelter of a small shed, no need for Dars to see it, it'd make them look better off than they actually are. Plus her fuel is low.

'Alright,' Dars smiles as she opens the gates, she's got a good feeling.

They walk in silence in the wood, all lost in their own thoughts. Daisy makes her way up to Dars, she trusts him, but she'd like to get to know him better, to see if he really is trustworthy but it's not just her desperation for somewhere safe making her think she can trust him 'How much longer?'.
'Not long, it's just up this little hill now,' he says.

'Charlie's a good person,' Daisy looks back at Charlie, he's lost in concentration, scanning between the trees, listening to everything 'I know he acts up but he's good'.
'We all have our flaws,' he smiles at her 'a lot of us hide them, but I like Charlie, he shows his, he's an honest person'.

Daisy isn't sure about that, but she knows Charlie would save her life, she just doesn't know if he'd save Dars' or his people's lives.

     The path leads to an opening, it looks like it used to be a car park but it's all overgrown. The barbed wire fences come into sight, they're nothing special but they're protection.

'You've many attacks?' Charlie asks.
'Nah,' Dars says 'haven't had any Freaks around in awhile, I don't think they like the trees or the steep hill'.
   'What about other kids?'.
Dars frowns 'Kids come and go but I don't know of other settlements'.
'Well there was us,' Charlie says 'You leave this mountain?'.
'Nah,' he says 'we're safe up here, don't know what's down there'.

     A kid runs up to the gate, a small girl, probably only around thirteen 'Hi Dars'.
  'Hey, Megan'.

She unlocks the gate and pulls it open. They walk inside. There are little cabins everywhere, kids go about their business, mostly working, some are just relaxing on the steps of their cabins. All of them are armed, but only with weapons like Charlie's and Daisy's, no fancy guns like the other group.

    'Charlie will be okay,' Dars sits down across from Daisy in his office.
'That's good,' she smiles 'What way was he with your doctor?'.
   'Himself'.
    'Well, that's enough said'.
Dars laughs 'he was very cooperative'.
Daisy smiles 'I thought he might like the place'.

'Has it always just been the two of ye?' He asks.
Daisy has to think, the truth could backfire and these people may prefer the bunker to their camp here, but why would she ever owe Aaron anything?

But she has to think of more than just Aaron...Alex...what was Charlie going to tell them, she stops overthinking and answers 'That's all that matters now, just the two of us'.

He looks her up and down 'Just you're very well kept, you don't look or smell like any of us do'.
'Does it matter?' She looks at him 'We're not much of a threat to you'.
   'Just hoping I could be trusted'.
    'I don't know your people'.
'I'm their leader,' he says 'I choose what to say to them and what not'.