The Boy from the Bunker - Season 8

Episode Four, Part 6:

Episode Four, Part 6:
Small Sacrifices 

You were always coming home. You were always 
close. Like you were never gone. 

Elara was sound asleep on a medic bed, unconsciously being wheeled through the hallways by Kodiak as he transported her through the ship - determined to find a safe place to hide her from Athena and the threat of the trials.

As Kodiak wheeled her out of the elevator and onto one of the empty levels of the ship, Elara stirred awake, gradually peeling her eyes open.

The vision of Kodiak hadn't left her mind; she knew that even when she was asleep, her mind had been dreaming dreams of him and nothing else; and even before she looked up and saw him above her, he was already consuming every single one of her thoughts. But the questions flooded in at the same time. How was he here? How was he alive? Where had he been for the past 6 months?

Seeming to notice her subtle movements, Kodiak glanced down - looking straight into the eyes of Elara whose head was at the end of the bed closest to her. He could see she was about to speak; the slow opening of her dry mouth, but he shook his head ever-so-slightly, aware of what she wasn't.

Relieved she got the message to stay quiet, Elara closed her eyes in uncertainty of what was happening, allowing Kodiak to continue wheeling her forward to the end of the corridor.

"Ammon," someone called from up ahead - it taking everything in Elara to not open her eyes. Ammon was the guard who had been talking to her after she tried to- She let out a deep breath, trying to gather her thoughts. Ammon was the guard who had taken her out of the mess hall and brought Izzy to see her... Had it really been Kodiak all that time?

"Hey," Kodiak answered, seemingly confirming her thoughts. "What's up?"

"What are you doing down here?" The person asked.

"There was a bit of chaos with some of the harvest and trying to start the trials," he said, forcing exhaustion to his voice. "Athena took the other one; hopefully he'll be first in line tomorrow, but he managed to use a MediPen on this one. The sedative hasn't worn off, so she can't go back to her cell and we didn't want her in the medical wing with the boy - her brother, I think."

"Fair enough," the person replied. "We were just trying to get away from Leander for a while. We didn't think anyone came down here."

"Yeah, it's quiet, but this place is used," Kodiak said, trying to think of ways to prevent them from coming back. "If you want a good hideout, try the basement level of the ship. I've been there a couple times before and it's always empty. No one will look for you there, either."

"Sounds good," they replied, turning to the other guard that was standing beside them and gesturing for them to take up on his advice. "Catch you later, Ammon."

Kodiak nodded, not trusting his voice to say anything else, and hurried into the room at the end of the hall as the two guards disappeared. He wheeled the bed into the middle of the room, turning on the brakes so it was secure, and immediately worked locking all doors to the rooms.

At the sound of the locks turning, Elara knew it was safe to open her eyes. She looked up, slowly pushing herself to sit up on the bed - drowsy, disorientated and full of hope, watching Kodiak in disbelief as he covered the window on the door and moved a table in front of it to prevent the unlikelihood of it being opened.

Once he was sure they were safe together, he came to a rest, still facing the door with his back towards Elara, needing a moment to take a breath; to prepare himself for what the last six months had all been for, and it felt like the very first breath he had ever taken.