Episode Six, Part 6:

O a s i s

I'll come for you if you just stay where you are. 
Don't tell me this is all for nothing. If I can only tell you one thing,
on the nights you feel outnumbered, I'll be out there somewhere.

-

Morning arrived. Or maybe afternoon. There was no way to be certain, but Sol woke up, immediately reminded of how far they had left to go. In the few seconds when waking left a haze, she had almost forgotten where she was. Then, an instinct that made her look for Wynn; a need to make sure he was okay, that he was still breathing.

Sol leaned over, gently shaking him until he peeled his eyes open, skin burnt from the blazing sun above.

"Ready to do it all over again?" She asked, attempting her best smile to lighten the mood.

Wynnlow heaved out a breath, leaning on Sol as she helped him sit up. He was noticeably weak. Barely enough energy to reply. Like if his life had a clock, it would be counting down it's final hours.

Sol exhaled, falling short on all words. There was nothing left to left to say. They just had to keep going until it was over. Until they couldn't anymore.

-

The group had managed to sneak over to the location of Basilisk's vehicles undetected, but the trouble still remained of how they would keep their mission a secret. It wasn't safe to tell anyone that Sol was still alive given that anyone could be feeding the information back to Eryx, but it would be almost impossible to leave with one of the cars with no one hearing.

Joren and Fabian helped Aeryn load the rest of the medical supplies into the back of the jeep, and Aeryn climbed behind the wheel waiting for Kodiak to climb on board.

"We'll take them both back to the Bunker. Get them healed up before we come back here. Riverly will know what to do."

As Kodiak was confirming the last of their plans to Dreea, Elara hovered behind her, not intending to hear anything, but a spark of panic flaring up when she listened carefully to what he said.

"Them?" She asked, peering around into sight.

Kodiak looked to Dreea uncomfortably, unsure how to recover from what he had said.

"He's saying that he'll take everyone back to the Bunker if River needs a chance to rest." Dreea answered, quickly looking away to avoid further questions. She knew the truth about Wynn, but the others who had been in the annex did not.

"But he said 'take them both back. Get them healed up.' What else happened out there?" Elara asked.

"Nothing. Everything's fine, okay? Your brothers will be back home soon." Kodiak did his best to assure her, but the instincts burning in Elara couldn't be extinguished. It was as if she could feel that something wasn't right.

"What happened?" She repeated. "Who is it? Are they okay?" Everyone was listening by now. Joren, Aeryn and Fabian all aware of the conversation.

"Elara-" Dreea tried to interfere.

"Tell me what's happened? Who else it hurt?"

"We got separated from Wynnlow." Kodiak answered reluctantly, avoiding his eyes from the horror on the young girl's face. She was so much alike her brother. Refusing to give up until she had her answers. Not backing down until the people she loved were safe. Kodiak knew he wouldn't be able to keep it from her for much longer.

"But you know where he is, right? He's okay..."

Kodiak sighed. "Riverly knows where he is. It was in the message she left us. That's why we're taking the jeep - so we can get to both of them faster."

"Then I'm coming with you."

"No you're not." Kodiak was quick to reply. "It's not safe. They wouldn't want to risk you going out there, too. And neither do I."

Fabian stepped forward, trying to pull Elara back a little. "He's right. Wynn wouldn't want to put you in danger. Just stay behind until they get here." He said.

"When I was held at Riders, Wynn didn't give up on finding us, no matter what got in his way. "

Elara pushed through both Kodiak and Dreea until she reached the jeep. She jumped up so she was sitting in the back compartment of the vehicle, planting herself firmly as she shot a challenging look at both of the Sovereigns.

"I'm going." She declared. It wasn't a question.

Dreea sighed, turning to Kodiak for his final verdict, not having the patience to debate it any longer.

"I'll keep her safe." He promised, looking over to Fabian, everyone accepting the fact that she wouldn't stay behind when her family was in trouble.

-

"Wynnlow, you have to keep going." Sol winced. The weight of his body had been holding her down for as long as she could remember - his arm around her shoulder, her's around his waist, relying on her to be able to walk. But his leg was now weak, and he could barely drag it any more without collapsing in exhaustion.

"Wynn!" Sol snapped. She was afraid now. He wasn't answering much, and when he did, his voice was slurred.

"We can be home tomorrow if you just hold on." She pleaded with him.

"I can't go much further."

"You have to."

"I can't." There was a raise in his voice. A desperation for her to understand that his time was running out and he didn't want her's to be too. He was breathing heavily, now. Two words, and the air in his lungs wasn't enough to keep him going.

Sol waited a moment for him to calm down, locking her eyes on the distant horizon that never seemed to draw any closer, dreaming of home. She turned back around after feeling a tug on her shoulder, moving just in time to catch onto Wynnlow's arms as he began to fall backwards.

His body crashed into the dry, desert dirt, an agonized groan parting from his lips.

Anxiety raced around Sol's chest; was it just exhaustion, or was it finally too much? Exhaustion she could handle. At least, she told herself that. They'd take a couple of hours just to rest up, then try moving again when the glare of the sun had passed, and the chill of the evening winds had returned. But if he was dying, then there was nothing she could do, and no matter what, she wouldn't leave him.

"Please Wynnlow." Her voice a mere crack in the silence. "Please get up."

But his eyes were already closed, a deep exhale that resembled the sound of 'I'm sorry,' and there was nothing. A heart barely beating. Sol's breaking. A surrender that had reached them much too soon.

-

"That's them, I can see them up ahead!" Aeryn called, pointing forwards ahead of the car.

Kodiak shot up from the back of the jeep, leaning over the seats to see what Aeryn was seeing, trying to find his friends up ahead. Surely enough, they were there. Indistinguishable figures moving up ahead, but it was them.

Elara was standing up, holding onto the back of the vehicle, looking desperately ahead. She seemed to relax a little when she spotted them, relieved at least to be reunited with Quill and Ares, but unable to shake Wynn from her mind.

Kodiak turned back around, looking up at Elara as she watched on at where they were going, a part of her trying to marvel in all the sights she had never experienced before. She still hadn't had a chance just to live. Everything since she left the Bunker, and even when she returned, had been about surviving. He hoped he could keep his promise, and that at the end of all this, she could finally see the world for all he knew it to be.

Suddenly, Aeryn slammed on the brakes, causing both Kodiak and Elara to almost fall off the jeep.

"Jeez, Aeryn, a warning would have been nice." Kodiak chuckled, rubbing at the side of his now aching head.

"Sorry." She laughed apologetically. "It's been a while since I drove this thing."

"What, did you forget where the brakes were?" Kodiak teased, cut off by a thump sounding from behind him.

Elara had jumped off from the jeep, barely a second after it had stopped, instantly running to whoever of her brothers was closer. Quill was overthrown for a moment, completely unsuspecting Elara to bounce into his presence, but relieved nonetheless when he realized it was her.

"Ell?" Ares exhaled, caught off guard by the dancing on her long, red hair, hurrying over to her as if to not waste anymore time apart.

She turned around from Quill, embracing him in the same way, emotion trembling throughout her body.

"What are you doing out here?" Ares asked her, pulling away, but looking over to Kodiak as if the question was really for him.

"I heard about Wynn." She answered, the joy of their reunion already a fleeting memory. "Is it real?" She asked. "Can you find him? Can he come home?"

"Ell..." Ares began, wanting to say, 'don't make me answer that. I don't want to let you down.'

"Yeah." Kodiak said for him. "We''ll find them." He promised Elara, not even registering the weight of his words until he imagined what would happened if he couldn't. At least now he knew he would stop at nothing. Searching on end until he found Sol and Wynn. Until he knew they were safe.

"Well," Bianca sighed, "better hop on board so we get to them, then." She announced, tapping the side of the jeep to encourage everyone to move. She caught eyes with Kodiak, shaking her head in disapproval.

"That was a mistake." She muttered to him, leaning close so the others wouldn't hear as they shuffled around. "Make promises like that - promises you know you can't control, and your people will turn on you. Perhaps worst of all, you'll turn on yourself."

Kodiak bit down on his lip to suppress his emotions, brows arching, a hand forming into a fist at his side. He caught on her wrist as she tried to turn away.

"She is your Sovereign. My Nobel, my best friend. There's not a thing I won't do to get her home. The mistake was listening to you and not coming here sooner."

-

Wynnlow woke up feeling cold, a pair of hands on either side of his face. His eyes burst open in a panic, struggling to remember where he was, why he could feel a strong, dusty wind on his back, why he wasn't in the Bunker. Then he looked up to see Sol glancing down at him, her eyes glistening with terror, and everything came flooding back.

"My leg." He uttered, straining himself as he tried to reach down to grasp it.

"It's okay." Sol lied, forcing a light pressure over the wound. "The material's still holding. It'll do for another day. We'll get you back to the Bunker and everything will be fine. Just hold on."

"I already told you," he winced, "I told you to go."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Then you're stupid." Sol felt an urge to laugh a little, both his stubbornness and lack of a strong insult almost enough to cause a smile, but beyond that, she knew what he really meant was that he was giving up.

"Fine." She agreed with him. "But at least I'll be alive. And I'll go back to Basilisk where everyone is waiting." Sol said. It was some sort of fantasy she had created in her head - the one where her people were looking for her, where her father would have to pay for his transgressions, where she could go back and be Nobel. She was willing to believe whatever lies she could tell herself to get out of the DeadLands, but the doubt still managed to find its way through, whispering reasons for her to give up as well.

"Your brothers, your sister, your family... You dragged me all the way to Rider's territory on a suicide mission to get them out of there, and you did it. You kept them all alive at the Bunker without anyone. You found me in the middle of nowhere and you saved my life. So yes, Wynnlow, I'm telling you hold on because all you have shown me is that you're a survivor. Hold on. Keep holding on. Keep. Holding. On."

Wynnlow shook, overwhelmed by the agony, and by the hope that he shouldn't have found out there - dying slowly in the desert - but he did, anyway. He gulped, breathing out the fear in short, narrow breaths; somehow, his hand locked in between hers, and he didn't even think about pulling it away, or how annoying she was when they first met, or how she never took it easy on him when they training, even when she should have. He just told himself what she did. Keep holding on.

Six // Part 6

One chapter left.

The structure isn't very good in this one, but I like Sol's speech to Wynnlow. Keep holding on.