Protector of Men Ch 56

Zandra wasn't responding to Shade's words, nor his gentle prodding. She was sitting up in his bed, eyes closed, shouting at the wall and moving her legs as if walking. Shade was a little alarmed, not having known about Zandra's dreaming problems.

But as soon as the dream had started, it stopped again. Zandra quietly reclined herself back into the sheets and lay her head to the side, facing Shade. Her eyes were still closed, and Shade was even more perplexed.

I can't leave the room again, he thought slowly, she'll just have another dream…

Do I stay here?

Why not?

So he quietly walked to the other side of his bed and shifted his weight little by little onto the bed, trying not to wake the now peaceful Zandra. Watching her, he pulled the sheets halfway over himself and relaxed. Zandra hadn't woken, and he easily got to sleep. There were no more dreams that night.

She woke up six hours later to the sound of banging far away. It took her a moment to recognize her surroundings, and when she did, she was fearful for the lack of memory… why was Shade in bed with her? Surely I didn't…

The pounding only grew louder as her thoughts raced around in her brain. First things first, and she pulled herself out of the bed to answer the door. Shade was still asleep, his peaceful head facing her way. She tried not to wake him and rushed to the door, unlocking each bolt of the portal with quiet care. She opened the door slowly, and peeked her head out cautiously to see who it was.

"Hey," Kemp said shyly, "Cover says get ready to go."

Zandra was a little stunned, and chose her words carefully in her response.

"Okay," was all she could muster. Kemp smiled what looked like an honest smile and parted. Zandra closed the door slowly again and returned to the bedroom.

Shade was beginning to wake up: he gave Zandra a lopsided smile and closed his eyes in ebbing sleepiness. Zandra wasn't sure what to do.

"Uh, hey…" she started. Shade opened his eyes and watched her, expecting a conversation of some sort. None came, and he was left staring at her in wonder.

"Oh," he started, getting up suddenly, "What was that dream all about last night?"

Zandra thought back to the night before. A dream?

A dark room. A woman, an invisible man… two ghosts, confusion…

"Dream," she repeated, still trying desperately to remember it.

"You can't not enjoy it here," a woman says to him as they sit stiffly on a resplendent bed, a dark room, "There is everything a person could want,"

"Not everything," he replies, looking away and to the floor. The woman is rebuffed.

"I do not understand," she explains, getting up, "You were so different before."

A man walks in the room, another head peeping out from behind. "Just checking," he hisses, closing the door again with a smirk.

"You were thrashing around and shouting last night," Shade interrupted, walking up to her. "Was it a nightmare?"

"I can't remember," she replied, staring off into space.

"Why are you hiding?"

He looked off to the curtains and opened them.

Mountains.

"It seemed pretty intense," he spoke, "I tried to wake you up but I couldn't."

"Is that why-"

"Yeah," he immediately responded, perhaps a bit too quickly, "I guess I fell asleep after a while."

They both nodded absently.

"What was it all about?"

"Mountains."

"Mountains?"

"Yeah."

Shade made a face, but quickly hid it from Zandra's eyes. Unfortunately, she caught it.

"I don't know," she explained frankly, "These dreams have been so crazy lately…" She trailed off into silence, clearly speaking more to herself than to Shade.

"Anyways," she started instead, "Kemp said its time to leave."

It took Shade a moment to switch gears, his eyes turned wide when he finally did.

"Now?"

"I guess so," she replied, "She said Cover told us to pack up."

Shade frowned in thought. Already? It seemed like they were always spending so little time in Zion now… he had been there so much while a part of his old crew… so long ago. Purgatory was a very different life than his old crew. Not saying that he didn't like his new life; he actually preferred it. Now he was a part of something more, with Zandra's One-ness and all. Everything revolved around her, but he didn't mind. He held a leading role in the story, and that was enough.

Soon they had packed everything up and were leaving the room, Zandra saying a silent goodbye as Shade locked the door with finality. She was suddenly reminded of Stephen, them wishing his apartment goodbye… the last time he had been alive. Shade tried to ignore her all too common lapse into silence, and instead walked quietly next to her down to the ships. Everyone was generally sullen as they all piled their belongings into the ship – Zandra having only brought her small knapsack of things, was able to join Kesia in the main deck as the rest of the crew milled around.

"What's that, Trim?" Kesia suddenly asked, pointing at a yellowing piece of paper nestled between his arm and chest. He slowly handed it to Kesia, eyeing Zandra as he did, and then scuttled off into his bunk. Zandra almost laughed from the absurdity of his actions, but was more curious than amused.

"What is it?"

"A newspaper," Kesia replied, flipping through the pages. She seemed uninterested by its articles, and handed it to Zandra.

"Here," she offered. Zandra took it, and Kesia excused herself to get the ship ready to leave. Zandra took her cue and retreated to the mess room to read. She flipped through the pages carelessly, until she found something worth looking over.

"Rebel with Talent named 'The One'" the title read. Zandra ravenously scanned the rest of the article with a mix of interest and dread. There was no telling what it would hold – but Zandra had a feeling that like her other run-ins with Zion had been, this would be more scathing than praising.

"Zandra, recently unplugged from the Matrix, has been lauded as a savior of Zion as of late. Many now think that because of her mental prowess indicated in the matrix, she will fulfill a prophecy outlined by a woman aptly named 'the Oracle' to destroy the Matrix and deliver freedom to all humans."

How do they know this?

"According to the outlined 'Prophecy', the 'One' is all-powerful in the matrix and will be able to defeat the machines and win the war single-handedly. If true, it is a bright outlook indeed. Unfortunately, the staff of the Zion Interface were unable to contact Zandra because her ship, Purgatory, was out on mission at the time of publication. Recently we learned that one of her crewmates, one of the name Alias, was paralyzed from the waist down due to a mistake which some would speculate to be none other than the result of Zandra's inabilities. For more, we asked Isa of the Calling…"

Zandra couldn't read any more, and tensed her jaws in response to her overwhelming feeling of regret. It wasn't my fault. Zandra left the paper on the mess table and got up to return to her bunk; her little oasis of solitude.

But Alias herself popped in before she could leave. Fortunately, it was only for a moment, for Zandra worried that any longer would have caused her to break again. She glanced worriedly at the newspaper, hoping that Alias wouldn't decide to take a look.

"Cover's lifting us off," she said, and threw her wheelchair into reverse, thrusting herself out of the doorway and back down the hallway faster than Zandra could respond with a barely audible 'ok.'

So the trek would begin.