CHAPTER THREE: INTO ISOLATION

"Drink it," she told him, as he stared at the green concoction. "As soon as you're groggy, I'll begin." It was night, and with the lamp light Vanessa's eyes could finally focus, although the tiny veins spread across them were horribly inflamed.

Vash held his nose and downed the gross stuff. "Oh, man, that's nasty," he murmured, lying back onto the couch.

Vanessa smiled slightly. "It's better than being fully conscious when you're having stitches." She brought out a needle and thin metal thread, and a stack of towels.

Vash pulled his arm onto his chest, flinching from the motion.

"You're taking this pretty well," Vanessa observed. "But I guess you've had worse, right?"

"Yeah, maybe," he replied, distant. "What should I tell Knives? He'll look for you…"

She dropped into the chair beside him, rubbing her eyes. "I don't know…Tell him…Tell him I'm dead. That the humans had nothing to do with any of this...That…I killed myself."

Vash shuddered. "Suicide…I wouldn't believe it; you think he would?"

"How good a liar are you?" she asked, and shook her head. "No, I don't know."

"At least…At least give me some advice," he asked. "I just can't connect with him. Tell me if it's best to…to…kill him."

He saw her smirk. "Not you," she replied surely.

"It's not safe," Vash commented, "Having Knives in a town. There's too many people here to hurt."

"My advice to you, Vash, is to take him as far from civilization as you can. Find some of that lost technology you love and fly him the hell away from it all."

"Easier said than done," Vash replied. He closed his eyes. "Yeah, I'm feeling woozy now…"

Vanessa carefully cut away his bandages and exposed the bloody laceration. His flesh was sliced so perfectly, it would be simple to stitch.

"Oh, man!" Vash whined in his daze. "I can't cut a break! I don't know how to deal with him, I don't know where to take him, what if I lead him into a big city on accident…What if he heals and goes off and…"

"Damn it!" Vanessa interrupted, squeezing the needle between her fingertips. "You talk like it's already lost! Figure it out like a mature adult!"

Vash turned his face away as it began to pucker into weeping.

No, he's hardly more than a child, she thought. He can't see things on the global scale that Knives considers…The questions of evolution and ethics are so simple and unquestionable to him. He didn't know what it was like to feel inhuman, because he hadn't meant to cause all that suffering.

Vanessa touched her book, checking it to be sure it was secured safely to her belt. Who do I apologize to? she wondered. Am I really sorry?

A tear fell from Vash's cheek, his face fully relaxed.

She began to stitch, gritting her teeth with grief at each dive of the needle.

Vash couldn't feel a thing, but she felt anguish from her work as though she was actually hurting him.

Vanessa went out to the market on a windy, hot day. Her hair was pinned up and her cloak was wound around her. She carried her backpack, empty from selling her goods, and filled it with sacks of dried fruit, nuts, and dried bread (zwieback toast). All her purchases were obviously those she would soon need as she would leave for the desert.

A man approached her and became furious.

"Hey, what's the matter, sir?" Vash asked pleasantly as he walked towards the angry man in the marketplace

Vanessa stepped towards Vash, hiding fear with calm. "He's mistaken me for someone else," she explained softly.

Vash put his hand up in an innocent gesture and smiled, but was cut off before he could speak.

"She killed my best friends!" the man screamed, his face red with rage. "That witch, she's evil, I'd recognize her anywhere!"

Several other villagers approached to hold the man back and speak calmly to him. "Not her, she's a God-send," they assured him.

"Damn it!" the man yelled, spitting mad but realizing his position, alone and unarmed. "I'll be back, you bitch! I'll kill you for what you did to them…Mick, and Boris and Jones…I'll kill you!" With that, he dashed to his jeep and sped out of town.

The villagers chalked the event up to sunstroke, and went about their day.

"Huh?" Vash wondered, confused yet relieved. He rushed after Vanessa as she walked away.

Vanessa readjusted the strap of her pack but didn't turn to face him. "Hi."

"What was that about?" he asked quietly.

Vanessa's voice became low and serious. "Back when he and his buddies were teens, they locked me in a filthy cellar for weeks…I haven't seen them since, but he said they became horribly sick and died right after I left, and…"

"He thinks you caused it?" Vash finished. "Well that's weird, how could you have? Boy, he seems convinced though…"

"Further reason for me to get the hell out of here," Vanessa muttered.

Vash became silent as he watched her eye a cart of survival supplies. He grabbed a bag of jerky and murmured, "You should try this. You'll need your protein."

Wordlessly, she bought the dried meat and stuffed it into her bag.

"It's so easy for you to up and go," Vash murmured as he hurried alongside her. "I wish I could be like that, then I wouldn't have such a hard time carting Knives off into the sunset."

Vanessa kept her voice at an excited whisper. "Easy? You think it's easy to have to abandon all the relationships I make? And when the people you have to leave are the ones you prayed existed your whole life…"

"Can I ask you something then? I really hate to put you on the spot like this, but…You don't have to be alone," Vash offered. "You can go with us."

He paused for an answer, but she stood silent. "See, I'm really being selfish; I'm so tempted to take it the easy way out, but I just can't come up with another solution. And you stopped Knives from…you know… Well, nobody can do that!"

"Nobody else?" she asked, hushed.

Vash shook his head.

Vanessa grabbed his wrist and headed towards the main town toma stable. "We can't carry him; we'll need a toma-drawn cart."

"But tomas hate me! Can't we use a car?" Vash whined, stumbling behind her.

"No, it'd leave a smoke trail," Vanessa replied.

Suddenly, his face lit up,. "You're really going with us!?" he happily exclaimed. "But are you sure, I mean I can hardly ask you to deal with a guy like him…Things could get real ugly real quick…"

They arrived at the stable entrance and awaited the approaching toma keeper. "I've made my decision. We'll use my cave until he's able to travel on his own legs."

Vash pleasantly purchased two tomas and a crude cart with a wad of double dollars. They'd come back for them soon.

On the way back to the house, Vash leaned in to continue his inquiry. "So you live in a cave?"

Vanessa nodded. "If anything chaotic occurs, we'd be too far from civilization to cause any real problems. But in such a place it's not impossible that we'd end up destroying each other…"

Vash frowned. "Hey, now, that's not the way to think…"

Vanessa turned to him, abruptly. "It's nothing to dwell on, but it's realistic. And, worst case scenario, we'll have a humane alternative. We may, after all, only reach the conclusion that we have no place amongst them." She sped her pace and rushed into the house.

Vash felt himself at the edge of tears once more, but choked it away as he followed, assisting her as she assembled the purchases they would need to survive their trek across the sand.

NEXT SECTION:  http://members.aol.com/artchick12/intoisolation2.html

HOMEPAGE:  http://hometown.aol.com/artchick12/myhomepage/index.html