The Boy from the Bunker - Season 4

Episode Five, Part 2:

Episode Five, Part 2:
You'll Always Have a Family

You can hear it in the silence. You can feel it on the way home. 
You can see it with the lights out. 

It had been dark for a couple of hours now, and because of the decoy, Sol knew they would have plenty of time in the morning to cover the rest of the distance to the labs. She slipped her bag off her shoulder, feeling that they were somewhere well secluded from any of the paths Targo would take, and pulled out the tent, beginning to set it up. 

As Sol got to work, Wynnlow focused his attention on starting a fire, managing to get it burning quite quickly. He pulled over a couple of logs that were laying nearby - possibly fallen from the great fire, and set them down in front of the tent for him and Sol to rest on. 

As she finished with the tent, she turned around, impressed at Wynn's efforts. 

"I'm glad you've learnt to do your part," she teased, remembering the first time she took him out and she had to set up everything on her own. 

"Very funny," Wynn replied, passing over his bottle of water to her as she sat down adjacent to him. 

"You think it will work out tomorrow?" He asked. 

Sol looked over, knowing he wasn't just asking for the sake of it, but that he needed assurance. 

"Yeah, it will." She answered. "It has to. We've made it this far, and I... I won't let anyone take my people away." 

Wynn smiled a little but dropped his head, still somewhat afraid. 

"What if the serum doesn't work? If we get it, but Elara still has her visions?" 

Sol sighed. "Then we'll try something else. And something else if that doesn't work, and something else again until we get it right. And as awful as it sounds, if everything else fails, then maybe we'll just have to hope that she gets used to it. That they'll fade in time. Fear has a way of doing that, you know..." 

"Yeah, but it never really goes away." 

"You're right," she nodded, "but you get stronger. You overcome it. You make it through to the other side." 

Wynn exhaled, his eyes lingering on the Sovereign as he absorbed her words, feeling at ease because of what she had said. 

"I think even if things don't get better, they get easier," she continued, mostly just speaking aloud, not even paying attention to Wynn and his ceaseless gaze. "People always find a way to adapt to things, and Elara isn't any different. She's matured so much since she first came to Basilisk. If anything, I would say this is the strongest she's ever been, not in spite of the visions, but because of them." 

Finally, Sol looked at Wynn, noticing that he had been quiet for some time. His gaze didn't falter as she stared back, or diminish even the slightest. 

"What?" Sol asked guardedly, her voice soft as she struggled to realise why he was starting. She was usually pretty good at reading him, but not then. 

Wynn smiled, chuckling to himself faintly as if it was a ridiculous thing to be nervous about, drawing his eyes back up to her from when he had momentarily looked down.  

"Nothing," he said, "it's just..." 

"Just what?" Sol was beginning to feel more apprehensive now, desperate to know what he was trying to say. Was there something wrong? Had something happened? 

"You're my best friend." 

His confession caught Sol off guard, breaking through the highest of walls she had built up, tearing down any secrets or doubts or fear. She looked down, smiling to herself, almost not knowing what to say. 

"Yeah," she murmured, her eyes flickering up to him, not a single part of her hiding. "You're mine, too." 

Wynnlow's smile grew wider, and he laughed once again, amused at their vulnerability with each other after where they had started. It was something he thought about a lot: how when they met, she could barely be in the same room as him, and now they trusted each other with their lives, not feeling right if they weren't facing everything together. 

Wynn exhaled and stood up, handing his untouched rations to Sol. She took hold of them, waiting for an explanation. 

"I'm pretty tired. You can have mine," he murmured, gesturing to his food. "Night, Sol." 

The Sovereign smiled, not watching as he climbed in the tent behind her, let the light of the fire burn her eyes. 

"Night, Wynn," she murmured back, her voice too soft to be heard. 

The day ahead of them didn't seem as daunting anymore, and she was engulfed in a relief that she had allowed Wynn to come with her, feeling like everything was slowly working out for the best. She didn't allow herself to feel it a lot, but it was there, beating inside of her: hope, yearning, weakness. 

//// 

"Wynn, wake up." 

The boy stirred, giving himself a few seconds to remember what was happening before he pushed himself to sit up. He always took forever to wake up in the morning, whereas Sol was already wide awake, eager to get on with the day ahead of them. 

Wynn pulled himself out of the tent, stretching outside, almost blinded by the light. 

"How long until we lea-"

"Shhh!" Sol hushed him, narrowing her eyes as she stared down at the radio. 

Wynn smiled at her fierceness, listening in to who he assumed was Basilisk on the other end of the radio. 

"Yeah, they left about 20 minutes ago," Kodiak's voice rang through. 

"Alright," Sol sighed. "Who went with Dreea to meet Kane?" 

"Ares, Fenn, Bas and Azha," Kodiak answered. 

"How's Elara?" 

Wynn listened in at Sol's question, almost coming to a standstill, knowing that everything could change because of his answer. 

"She's fine," the Sovereign told them both. Sol looked up at Wynn to make sure he had heard it, and he nodded, smiling down at her, ready for her to continue. 

"That's good," Sol replied. "I guess we'll get going in a few minutes, too. Make sure you keep the fences guarded just in case something goes wrong," she instructed. 

"Will do, Riv," Kodiak agreed, the conversation coming to a natural end. 

Sol set her radio down and moved towards the tent, beginning to fold it up. Wynnlow stood opposite her, doing the same from the other side. They were both quiet; nervous about the stakes they were facing, knowing that everything was resting in Sol's prediction of how Rhea would respond. 

She had to be right. The decoy had to work, or Kane was right: Elara wouldn't survive for much longer. 

Five // Part Two
You're my best friend.

I loved that for obvious reasons.