Silver Lining - The Host fanfiction

Chapter 53 The Warrior

Why was man created on the last day?
So that he can be told,
when pride possesses him,
God created the gnat before thee

-The Talmud

Burns

 

Another human. I can hardly believe it.
There was small overhang, something like a cave, where he was hiding and he obviously wasn’t well.

When I first found his curled up form against the far back of his hiding spot, I didn’t even know he was human.
His back was turned towards me and he was muttering to himself. When I went over, I noticed he was feverish and I turned him around.

That’s when I noticed his eyes. There was no silver in them.

I knew the darkness of his hide-out made it obvious that there was silver in mine and even in his delirious state he realized what I was.

That’s when he started to struggle. That’s when I decided to get Emma.

She’s still trying to get over the shock.

“He’s afraid of me,” I tell her, “but you’re human. He needs our help. He’ll calm down when he sees you.” I take her hand and guide her towards the human.

“What’s wrong with him?” she whispers.

“He has a fever,” I say, “and I think he’s injured, but he won’t let me near.”

“I’m not a doctor,” Emma protests.

“I know,” I say softly, “but your mother was. And Sky’s friends are Healers. Maybe you’ve picked up something.”

She bites her lip and kneels next to him. Hesitantly she places a hand on his shoulder.
His feverish eyes search her face and land on her eyes.
I can see him relax.

“Where’s the monster?” he asks hoarsely.

“There are no monsters here,” Emma says, “just me and Burns.” She places a hand on his forehead. “You have a fever,” she states.

“My leg hurts,” the human says.

Emma looks down at his leg and so do I. It’s angled in a strange position.
Broken.
Fortunately there’s no bone sticking out.

I look at the man a little closer. He seems familiar somehow.

There’s white at the roots of his hair. His eyes are a plain brown and his skin is sunburned.
He’s well in his forties at least. I wonder where I’ve seen him before.
Was he someone David knew?

But then I know.

He’s one of the humans that escaped the Seekers.
So he did get away. But where are his friends?

I move closer and place a  hand on Emma’s shoulder. She looks up at me. “I’ll get the first aid kit from the car,” I tell her, “there should be some Cool in it. I can’t fix his leg, but at least the fever will be gone.”

“Wait,” she says. She stands up. There’s a haunted look in her eyes. “What if he’s not alone?”

I blink. “Wouldn’t that be a good thing? It means there are more humans, Emma. You’re not the only one anymore.”

“They’ll hurt you,” she whispers. She grabs on to me. “You are the enemy to them. If they find you, they’ll kill you. They can’t hurt you, Burns!”

I cup her cheek and try to calm her down. “It’s alright. I won’t be long. We didn’t see anyone else. It will be fine.”

“They could be hiding.”

“They wouldn’t leave their friend alone.”

“You don’t know that. They might have gone for help.”

“Where?” It try to reason with her, “where would they find help? It’s us Souls now.”

“Don’t go,” Emma begs.

“He needs help, Emma. He’s injured and sick. You should understand. He’s one of you. He’s a person. I can’t walk away from someone that needs my help. It’s against my nature. Please Emma. He’ll be calmer when you stay with him. You’re the same species. I won’t be long, I promise.”

I free myself from her grip. “Stay with him, please,” I say and I walk out of the cave.

It’s not that far to the car. I contemplate on what else we may need.

Blankets. More food. And water.
The fever will be gone in an instant after I use the Cool, but with that leg, we’ll still be stuck here for a while until we can work something out.
We cant’ take him to a Healer and I don’t know much about fractures either.

In the worst case we’ll have to  sit it out for a few weeks until his leg heals on its own.

I wonder where he’ll go once he’s better. Maybe his friends were taken by the Seekers. Maybe he had nowhere to go. He could stay with us then and Emma won’t be so alone.

I smile.

I did it.

I kept my promise.

I got her back with humans.

My smile drops.

Yes, she’s back with humans. She won’t need my company anymore. She can be with someone of her own kind.

A sigh escapes my mouth. I’ll miss her. And I only just got her back.

But it’s the right thing to do.

I make a bundle of my luggage and head back to where I left Emma. She seemed scared for me and I don’t want her to worry. She’s been through enough lately. And she was right to be cautious.

It’s not  that I worry about other humans, it’s like I said, they wouldn’t have left their friends , but there were Seekers after this human and they might still be around.

It seems I have two people to protect now.