RADIO

chapter 34

That night was longer than most nights the teens have been through. Nico and Alexa slept peacefully next to eachother with Oliver between them, near a stack of hay for at least some comfort.

Tris got some well needed rest alongside Jane and Rider. As usual Haze was passed out, sitting with his back against the barn doors that had now become closed. Dibbs sitting next to him, also asleep against the door with Rocky in her lap despite his bigger size.

Duchess was still awake. She rested her head against the wall of the barn, dozing from time to time but she had previously agreed for the night shift so she forced herself to stay awake. A soft sigh left her nose and she placed with a stick she had found in the hay she sat on. Her legs crossed over one another with a notebook beside her.

“I can take this shift” Monty spoke, nudging her leg from behind the hay she sat on.

“Hmn?” She perked up.

“Want me to take over?” He asked.

“Ive got it” she mumbled quietly.

“You sure?” Monty continued to prod.

Duchess nodded. Monty frowned in response and dragged himself up and sat next to her, his mechanical prosthetic dragging against the floor a bit. “Look, we’ve been through a lot together, just let me take this shift, its the least i can do” he insisted.

“Really its fine” Duchess chuckled a bit.

“Something’s bothering you” he pointed out while brushing his hand through his short brown hair. She looked up at the tall man that sat just a bit higher than her, noticing his freckles dissapeared in the dark while he grabbed his glasses.

“I know” she responded.

“Wanna talk?” He asked.

Duchess thought on it for a minute. “Maybe” she answered. An uncomfortable feeling swirled in her stomach. She couldnt tell if it was guilt or loneliness, having experienced both emotions plenty of times. “Is it because of Oliver?” He asked, noticing she glanced over at the sleeping baby from time to time.

“Mhn” she hummed in response, too tired to speak real words.

“Ill take that as a yes” Monty said. he tilted his head slightly as he looked at her and finally put a hand on her back, rubbing it gently. “I know you miss them” he said in a gentle tone.

Involuntary tears arrived to Duchess’s brown eyes and she bit her tounge. “Sorry” she breathed.

“It’s alright” Monty said, encouraging her to go on.

“It’s just that, my youngest sister was that age last time i seen her” she confessed, blinking hard. “Yeah?” Monty spoke. Duchess sighed, “yeah.”

Monty leaned back a little to see her face a bit more seeing as he was sitting the opposite direction, “i miss my family too” he told her. “i-i know, everyone does” she leaned back onto her hands, “its funny…all those years ago i wanted to leave them so bad,” she chuckled, unable to tell if it was truly ironic or if she was disassociating from reality, “but now i want them back more than ever” she sighed.

“You had how many siblings again?” He asked.

“seven, each one more annoying than the last” she huffed, “i didnt mind it much though” she smiled.

“It’s good you smile while thinking about them” Monty gave a soft grin.

“Yeah” she sighed through her nose once again, “any plans for when we reach Oregon?” She asked him, changing the subject. Monty shrugged, “a few, maybe finally settle down and start my life finally” he said.

Duchess scoffed, “nah. Your life has been started, its the start of living, not the start of your life” she advised him.

“I guess so” Monty smiled.

“Thanks for the talk Monty” she grinned.

“Anytime” he reflected her smile, “want me to take this shift?”

“Ive got it” she swatted a hand at him reassuringly.

“Okay” Monty said with a slight ‘suit-yourself’ head tilt. He got comfortable beside Dibrian and went back to sleep. Duchess sat there in the dark, resting her eyes a bit and listening closely to her surroundings.

The wind seemed to have picked up a bit and she could hear the creaking of the wood above her. Soft putter patters became louder and she realized it was raining. So she opened her eyes and looked up at the loft above her. grabbing her backpack and throwing it over her shoulders she climbed up the ladder to the loft and reached the top.

A small circle window was closed so she weaved through the various boxes or crates in the loft and opened it.

A heavy breeze pushed it open all the way once she undid the latch and it crashed against the wall. “Woah!” She yelped, jumping back. The rain started to leak in through the small window and Duchess took a second before approaching it. She looked outside and could see the top of the woods.

She sighed contently as the water hit her face gently.

She had always loved the rain. It was comforting, at least to her.

Then her radio squawked from her bag. Immediately she searched for it and after a few seconds of rustling through her bag she found it. There was harsh static going through the speaker.

“Shit” she gasped, quickly taking it out of the way of the rain.

She listened closely to the static. “Hello?” She spoke through the radio. The static didnt change so she switched through the channels. Still nothing.

A sigh of frustration left her mouth and she sat down, crossing her legs and fiddling with the radio. She pressed buttons and unscrewed things to see if there was a problem with the inside but once she opened the back, it stopped making sounds.

“Oops” she mumbled.

She left her things and quickly climbed down the ladder, trotting over to Rider. “Hey” she whispered loudly, shaking her shoulder. Rider woke up easily and looked around, “what?” She asked, grabbing her broken, yet still useable, glasses and putting them on.

“My radio is broken, could you help me fix it?” She asked.

“Yeah” Rider streatched her arms up high tiredly. She let out a deep sigh and Duchess grabbed her hand, helping her to her feet. “I heard static and thought it was Everett, now its not making any noises” she said, leading Rider up the ladder.

Rider gasped at his name, "Everett, I almost forgot about him" she said, "I wonder what he's up to"

They sat down across from eachother and Duchess gave her the radio and Rider started to tweak with it. “Did you drop it?” She asked.

“Yeah” Duchess lied a bit, feeling a bit embarrassed to admit she was the one that broke it.

Rider let out a soft yet annoyed sigh and continued to mess with it.

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Hello there
Yes it's been a while for an A/N
I hope you all are enjoying the story. These future updates might be late, I've moved into a new home and am finishing up finals bc it's just that time of year for this shit 🙄.
I will do my best to keep up with this.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night ❤️