AN: My internet connection has been down, but there's two new chapters up, so that should make up for it. I'm so sorryL. I meant them to be one chapter, but it got too long, so they're still kind of one idea. I hope you enjoy, and please R&R!
Chapter 6
"Rise and shine sleepyhead!" That disgustingly cheerful voice is just part of a dream. I'm still sleeping because it's
still night.
"Barricading yourself with denial won't change the facts, Dan. It's a beautiful morning…" It's not a dream, it's a nightmare. "The sun is shining…" No it's not. My subconscienceness is just trying to mess with my head. "The birds are singing…" Birds are not trustworthy on this subject, they have no internal clocks. Jondy's voice raises an octave and continues in a three-year-old sing-song imitation. "And it's time for Danny to get up!"
"You can't make me." I mumble, still keeping my eyes protectively sealed shut from the sun that is not there. Several snickers break out as a blast of icy water douses my entire body.
Spluttering, I leap to my feet. My eyes open in time to see Jondy giving Zane a high-five as they stroll toward the breakfast fire. Zane grins broadly at me over his shoulder, his eyes dancing with mischief. He has a bucket hanging from one hand.
"That. Wasn't. Funny." Water from my hair is running wintry trails down my back. Even with a warm ray of sunshine concentrated on me, I shiver as I sit down beside them, scowling sidelong at the pair of them. The smile disappears off of Jondy's face and she widens her eyes with innocence.
"It wasn't meant to be funny. We just assumed that, since you wouldn't wash with the guys when you had the chance, then by now your own odor must be overpowering to you. We were doing you a favor. Pretty soon you would have started attracting earthworms." That almost gets a smile out of me, but does little to my mood. I'm sopping wet and that was possibly one of the most unpleasant ways in the world to wake up. Jondy's innocent composure lasts another second, then is ruined when Zane gives a light snort.
"Your face…you really need to get a sense of humor, Dan. Come on, I mean look at yourself." Grudgingly, I look down at myself. The ground underneath me is now damp from the run-off. When I get up I'm going to have large splotches of mud on my pants. More slow drops are still working their way down the wrinkles in my clothes, removing some of the dirt that had built up on my once-white shoes. A drop of mud that used to be dirt slides off my cheek and lands at my feet. A small smile starts to quirk at my lips. I must look absolutely ridiculous.
"That was still a rotten way to wake me up."
"If you'd gotten up when we told you to, it wouldn't have happened." Jondy says lightly, passing a bowl of food. I take a hearty mouthful, then barely overcome the instinct to spit it out. Max made breakfast this morning. Since I'm an honorary prisoner or something, I'm not given any work. Otherwise, every chore is passed around the whole group, so I've sampled her cooking once before. It was enough to recognize it again. That time, Zane had told me in the barest of whispers that it was best to try and swallow as fast as you could, before your tongue or your gag reflex had a chance to react. Now he only winks at me sideways, trading subtle, amused glances with Syl and Terk.
Terk. Of all of them, he's the only one who still honestly scares me, and the only one who still gives me the impression that my every move is being watched. Oh, I know they all still keep an eye on me, but no one else manages it with the same ready-to-bring-me-down-at-a-moment's-notice attitude projection. With the exceptions of when it's his turn to sentry while we're on the move, I've been within a hundred yards of Terk 24/7 for the last three days, but he still has yet to say a single word to me. He just watches me with predatory eyes.
Breakfast ends quickly, immediately followed by, of course, walking in whatever random direction has been selected for today. I start moving with minimal awareness, deeply immersed in forming a firm analysis of each X-5 thus far.
The others seem at the least tolerantly disinterested, at the most, companionable. Jondy and Zane have apparently taken a particular interest in me, and have rarely left my side simultaniously since the first day. They could also just have been assigned as guards and are making the best of it, but half the time Zane seems little more than an overgrown kid, and when the mood strikes her, Jondy's not much better, so I have trouble passing it off as a complete act. It's made gathering the story much more pleasant, and much easier. They're more than happy so far to while the hours away answering questions, telling how they named themselves, giving the outlines of Zane's life since escaping, explaining the origin of the 'sibling' idea.
I'm taking my time getting to the more painstaking questions: Why they escaped, why they're causing such a fuss all over the country, why for some reason Max refuses to carry a gun, and others. This isn't entirely of my own choice. I've tried bringing several of the questions that have been playing havok with my brain about casually, but, particularly around Jondy, they are skirted severely, bringing out rare solemnity in Zane and a dark overcast in Jondy's eyes as whatever defenses that had been down are brought back up. I'll let them become more used to me before I start to press again, and the more space I allow between each question, the more they will all seem like idle conversation anyway. I have plenty of time.
I've still only had limited if any direct contact with Syl, Krit, Tess, and Sean, largely because they seem to have little interest in talking to me like Jondy and Zane and, to some extent, even Max do. All of them are obviously still warey of me, still wondering exactly what it was that I was doing following them, but as far as companionship goes, they operate passively around me.
Tess struggled at first with how to deal with my presence, but eventually settled on conveniently overlooking my existence whenever she talks to someone near me. She always manages to give me the impression that the words are being carefully aimed over my head, an impression that always brings me down to earth in my position as an outsider, and gets me back on task with the story. As far as her personality goes, she seems very down to earth, taking only mild interest in the constant practical jokes being played around her, and the majority of her conversation being rations, scouting reports, and possible camping areas.
Sean, with me only knowing him for three days, is best described so far as a cross between Tess and Zane. He takes each of his designated responsibilities very seriously, but when he's not concerned with them, but is often linked in references to previous escapades of Zane's (seemingly at anyone's expense). At the very least, he is more than happy to match wits in any banter that strikes up between anybody. He's spoken to me, but only briefly, the kind of courtesy you'd bestow on a vague aquaintance who's suddenly turned up on your doorstep.
Syl and Krit are so far impossible to think about individually, they are a pair. During the day, they are the main sentries, and fit the profile exactly. Both hold up their ends of conversations that strike up, and function normally within the group, but are practically broadcasting restless unhappiness. I once saw a wolf that had been newly captured and placed in a zoo. The two of them remind me of that wolf. But as all of their emotions seem more directed at the world in general than me specifically, they don't scare me as Zane does. They merely strike me as disconcerting, and remind me to stay on guard.
We've been on the move for maybe an hour. The X-5s have broken into their usual divisions. Terk and Zane are off on sentry for now, but Syl and Krit are in the front, loosely followed by Tess and Sean, who are given a large following distance by me, with Max and Jondy's low murmurs barely reaching my ears, for all that they are only a few paces behind.
The two of them are almost inseperable. According to Zane, they've been closer than any of the others since before they learned to walk and talk. Jondy is fiercely devoted to Max, who only ever seems to truly smile around Jondy.
I puzzle over Max for perhaps the dozenth time since I was captured. I don't like to be obsessive, but as a reporter, I like to understand the people around me, and as a general rule, I'm very good at it. Max is the only one that I don't really know what to make of yet, and the only one that I don't know where I stand with. Not knowing makes me…not scared, but definitely alert-and-aware around her. Cautious.
In her own way, she's been courteous to me, not as teasing as Jondy can be, or as formal as Sean, but courteous. Underneath that though is a scrutiny to match Terk's, excepting the predatory threat.