Twenty-four
I had expected the Wildlands proper to be more dangerous, but the worst danger seems to come from Alex who pushes the two of us through the forest until I'm sure I can't take it anymore. My legs are rubber, and he almost threatens to carry me if I don't pick up my pace. But there's something in his eyes, a wild look of fear and desperation that makes me keep going without him having to carry me. It's completely possible that Alex still isn't being 100% honest with me about what dangers we face.
The water runs out despite Alex's rationing it between the two of us. He grunts when I ask him about it, a small frown on his lips. “We are nearly there.” Then he pushes us harder.
It's sundown before I see the buildings in the distance, and like water splashed over my head, it reinvigorates me, and I'm the one practically pulling Alex along to get there just to have a place to rest finally.
The buildings don't appear tall-- not like the Southlands. They're all different shades of brown as if they were crafted out of mud. A large wall made of rough bricks the same color as the buildings, surrounds the town, but beyond that, I see ploughed lands full of blooming plants, some even bearing what looks to be fruits and vegetables.
At the gate there stands two guards, a male and a female, both of them with their hands on their hips at our approach as they watch Alex. He lifts his hands and mutters something very quickly that sounds like he says, “In peace.” It relaxes the two guards only slightly. They both look at each other and the male attaches himself to us when we walk past them.
I glance from Alex to the guard. They don't say anything, so I don't either, but it seems an inconvenient way to allow guests in if guests are allowed at all.
“We need water and a place to stay for the night. That is all,” Alex says again, his words low but still with an edge.
The guard seems to examine us both very closely. Particularly me. “You're Neutral.”
The three of us stop off to the side of a very busy street. I shift my weight, both of my feet hurt and I just want to sit down. “Yeah.” I don't know what my territory has to do with anything, particularly getting us food and water.
The male guard is tall, as tall as Alex, maybe even a tiny bit taller. It doesn't look comfortable on him like it does on someone like Alex or Jimmy or even Aaron. His eyes are nearly brown, with green on the edges, a strange color that stands out against his tanned skin, and his hair is almost red. Blending in must be difficult for him; maybe that's why he seems so awkward.
“All right, come on, I know a place.” He leads us off towards a building at the end of a street with a lot of people hanging around out front. Their eyes fall on us, but they see the guard and seem to accept it. Still, Alex puts a hand on my shoulder and stays close to me.
Inside it's dark. It reminds me a lot of Pat's place with the delicious scents warming the air. The guard has us take a seat and then he goes to speak to a man in the next room over. Just as he takes his leave, a large woman, soft curves wrapped in an apron, comes over to us and stops at our table with a smile.
Unfortunately for her, smiles are starting to make me suspicious, and Alex hardly looks any better. She keeps her smile though, a gentle smile that rounds her already plumped cheeks. “I'm one of the owners. You two look like you've been dragged through the forest by your hair.”
Alex and I glance at each other, and I speak to him. “We look better than I expected.”
She giggles. “Now I'm sure wild man here has something he caught along the way. If you two are sharing, I can make you a nice meal and repay you with a place to rest and wash up.”
Alex is the judge. He's the one who knows how these things work. He takes a look around and another look at her before he takes the bag from me and pulls out the large leaves that hold what's left of the cooked meat. He apologizes to her with his face down at the table. “It's not much.”
She pats his shoulder. “It's more than enough.” Then she walks off towards the room where the guard stands talking to the man glancing our way every few minutes. The woman pats the man and smiles at the guard so that he follows her into the room. A minute later, he comes out with two glasses of water, giving a shrug as he passes the other man in the doorway who stands with his arms folded while shaking his head.
The guy puts the glasses down on our table and takes a seat while Alex takes a large gulp from his cup. When Alex looks up over his half-filled glass, the guy is just sitting there watching the two of us. It doesn't seem to please Alex in the slightest.
Alex's displeasure has no effect on the man at our table. “So you're a Lost Lander. And you're a Neutral. And you two just happen to be wandering the Wildlands together?”
He doesn't seem to be much older than Alex. In fact, at first glance, I'd assume that he was younger from the messy hair and his oversized jacket. His hands rest on the table, and I notice they're stained with black grease that's seeped into the corners of his nails and cracks in his knuckles. It might be part of why he hides his hands inside his sleeves, with the long fingers poking out as they rest on the wooden table.
Alex doesn't say anything, but I feel comfortable with this stranger. Something about him doesn't scream danger though he does seem to be doing his best to appear stern. So I answer his question, trying to be as vague as possible. “We have something we need to do.”
He turns his brown-green eyes on me and narrows them suspiciously. “You don't need to do anything you know. I can help you if you need it.”
Alex tenses, and I almost reach a hand out to him to assure him that I will be continuing on with him no matter what. I don't know what this scrawny guy with his dirty hands thinks he can do for me, but I did agree to help Alex. I won't go back on that.
“I agreed to help.”
The food comes out with a smile from the plump woman who runs the inn. “Stephan,” she says when she sees the guy at our table, “Don't be bothering these two.” She turns to me. “Don't mind him; he's got a protective streak that's downright adorable.” Then, because her words aren't embarrassing enough, she grabs his cheek and pulls him away from our table.
That finally makes Alex smile. The two of us eat our soup in silence.
Our room is small and there's only one bed. It's large enough for the two of us though Alex offers to sleep on the floor. He must realize that I won't agree to that because he doesn't even bother fighting me about it. He just slips into the bed next to me, pulling the blankets over the two of us. I'm already half asleep by the time my head hits the pillow, but I feel Alex pull me to him. My head rests on his chest, his very warm chest that even through his shirt warms my cheek.
There are some luxuries in the inn that we don't have out in the wild. The first being water that we can use to wash up some, and the second is not having to use a bush. But the last and most important is a full breakfast, with fresh eggs and fresh bread perfectly toasted. It surprises me that the woman would freely give us food when we have nothing left to give her. When she puts the plates down on the table, she gives a wink to Alex that makes me wonder if that has something to do with it. Maybe she has some sort of crush on Alex or something; he is very cute. It's still strange since she gave us one small room with one bed so she must have an inkling that the two of us slept together, literally if not figuratively.
I glance up from my plate and catch those eyes from yesterday, the man she'd called Stephan. He sits at a table away from us, but he sees me and heads over to us with a careful smile and his eyes still narrowed. Alex notices the movement towards our table right away, and I catch his glare at the man. For a moment he looks as if he's going to stand up and face him, but he doesn't. He does move his chair closer to me though. It makes Stephan hesitate, but he takes the empty chair anyway.
“You have some friends looking for you,” Stephan says.
My breakfast is almost done. I silently wish to be able to finish my breakfast before I have to deal with whatever is coming up today. “What friends?”
“From down south.” He pauses to take a breath, “You may want to leave now.”
“You won't tell them you've seen us?”
“Not if you don't want me to.”
I take a swallow. Alex doesn't look up from his plate. He's already cleared it. He glances up at me with his brows knotted, but he doesn't say anything about it. From the bag, he takes the canteens out and mumbles something about asking for water before he leaves me and Stephan alone at the table.
I watch him go, stepping casually between tables, clearly belonging here in one of these villages as much as he belongs in the forest. I'd probably have bumped into chairs or had to ask people to move so I could fit through.
Stephan calls my attention back softly. “Do you want me to?”
It's another chance. A real chance, not just one being offered by Alex that he might choose to not follow through on. Maybe that's why Alex stepped away and left the two of us alone. To give me that chance again.
“Alex says he needs my help to get his daughter back.”
Stephan looks over towards Alex, his hands in his lap as he leans back against the chair. “It wouldn't work between you two.”
I look up, surprised at his bluntness, and for once I'm the one to catch someone else with a red face. “What would that have to do with anything?”
“I've seen the way you look at him.” Stephan sighs. “Lost Landers from his area claim their women. They don't exactly ask them if they want to be claimed. It's a completely different way of life.”
He sounds so sure of it that it hurts. I hadn't even been thinking any further than the day and the trek ahead of us. Alex has always been unattainable, since the moment I first saw him. I didn't really need Stephan to remind me.
“How would you even know this anyway? I thought no one knows anything about the Lost Territory.”
He clears his throat and looks down at the table, his messy hair falling over his forehead. “Because I was born there.”
Suddenly there are two Lost Landers in my life when before I couldn't even conceive of there being one. It's impossible to imagine Stephan claiming anyone the way he's suggesting Alex would. He's so tall and awkward. He's not menacing in the least. Alex is his opposite in every way.
Stephan scratches at his hair. “I haven't been there since I was little though. I was raised here in the Wildlands. Their ideas are more along the lines of Neutrals from what I'm told. You know, a steady partner per person. Supposedly, because most of the Experiments were Neutrals, their ideas just fall more naturally in line.”
The tie between those experimented on and Neutrals is not news to me, and yet it still shocks me to hear him say it. It's possible that it isn't true, or that it's a misunderstanding being passed down from the older ones to the younger ones. I don't bother arguing with him.
Alex appears suddenly with the canteens filled. “Let's go.” His voice is gruff. He cuts the words off with a snap.
Stephan turns to me quickly before I stand up, a hand reaching out across the table, “Hey, you don't have to listen to him.”
I stand and Stephan does too. “We're going.”
He lowers his head and leans back in his chair as if he had failed at some mission to keep me. Nothing more is said between us. Alex takes my hand and leads me out of the village back into the wilderness.