Episode Five, Part 5:
Uninhabitable

Sol jumped down the last few steps and landed inside the Bunker with a thud. She reached for the light switch in the dim-light, having been down so many times that she had familiarised herself with the layout of the rooms and where most things were by now.

"Alright... Riv, Atlantis and I will go into the main living quarters and determine how many beds we can fit in here," Dreea announced, "and Kodiak, you and Josiah can figure out if you can get the greenhouse to operate."

"Getting a greenhouse to produce food for a hundred people instead of 18. No problem, Dreea," Kodiak mumbled, a weight of frustration clear in his voice as he brushed past them, barely letting her finish speaking before he was out of sight.

As Josiah followed his lead, Dreea shared a nervous glance with Sol, trying to figure out what had caused Kodiak to act in such a cold manner towards them.

"What the hell is going on with him lately?" Sol asked, inching closer to her sister for comfort. "I've seen him stressed out before, but never like this."

"I know. Things aren't adding up," Dreea worried. "Firstly, whatever's going on between him and Elara, then the seizure, now his attitude... Maybe it is all connected, but I have no idea what it all means and I don't think I want to."

"Me either," Sol sighed. "I just want the Kodiak that we know and love. I feel like I've waited long enough to have you guys back, but everything's started to fall apart ever since-"

"Don't even finish that thought," Atlantis said from beside Sol, linking her arm with hers and tugging her firmly. "I know what you're going to say, and you're wrong. None of this is because of you."

Sol smiled fondly as she looked over at her sister, but she still struggled to accept what was said to her, even if she knew that deep down, whatever was going on with Kodiak wasn't because of her.

"What would I do without you," she sighed, taking hold of Atlantis' hand and beginning to pull her through the Bunker. "We should start by marking out how many beds we can fit in the living space," she continued, moving swiftly onto the plan. "You two start here, I'll figure out how much room there is in the bedrooms."

///////

"Can you get this thing working, or not?" Kodiak sighed, leaning impatiently against the wall of the greenhouse, watching as Josiah inspected all the machines that had originally been set up to provide a constant growth of food.

"If you want me to help you guys out, you should probably start treating me with a little bit of respect-"

"You don't deserve any of my respect. I'm the Sovereign here. You and your people are the ones trying to tear my family apart-"

"My people are the ones in control of you, Sovereign, so I would cool it off if I were you."

Kodiak bit down on his lip, trying to suppress his anger. Despite being one of the leaders of Basilisk, he couldn't help but feel incredibly powerless after what Josiah had just pointed out: whatever decisions he would make, whatever he wanted to say or do were all controlled by the constant threat of the implant Hannah and her people had put inside of him...

"Whatever. Just hurry up and get this thing activated to we can go back to camp."

Josiah tilted his head, halting his actions as he contemplated the Sovereign's words.

"You know what? Why should I help you guys figure this thing out?" He asked, dropping his tools on the ground and beginning to pace around the rows of dead, unkept crops. "Don't tell me you guys were actually considering giving myself, Hannah and our families a place in one of the Bunkers..."

Kodiak didn't know what to say; it was obvious that Josiah knew he was right, but no matter whether Kodiak lied to him or told him the truth about his fate, it wouldn't end well for him.

"Just start up the damn greenhouse so we can get out of here and get the hell away from each other."

"I thought I made it pretty clear that I'm the one in charge, here," Josiah snarled, unsettling Kodiak as he picked up a hammer from the pile of tools and inched closer towards him.

Kodiak back away, suddenly regretting having said anything and glanced around the room, trying to figure out the quickest escape route if he needed one. Before he could finish his thought, Josiah raised up the tool, swinging it down only to hit the machine standing to their side.

Kodiak flinched, instinctively covering his head with his hands, but at the lack of injury to him, he peels his arms down, trying to figure out what Josiah had done.

"I think that'll decrease it by about ten percent," he said.

"W-what?"

The older man rolled his eyes, bringing the hammer down onto the machine again. "Twenty percent..." Josiah said. "The damage means it's lost its functionality by about twenty percent - the same percentage of people who you'll have to leave out of this Bunker... Now, anything else you want to say to me Sovereign? Because I'm pretty sure you've just found yourself with a lot of innocent blood on your hands, none of which will be mine or my family's-"

"Kodiak!?"

Both boys whipped their heads round to the doorway, hearing Sol's voice echo through the Bunker. She must have heard the metal clanks from the hammer, or worse, what Josiah had said to him...

Kodiak turned back around to face Josiah, almost waiting for instruction.

"I fancy a little bit of trouble... If she comes in here asking what the hell is going on, you're gonna tell her that you're trying to fix this problem that she's caused-"

"What?" Kodiak was baffled, shaking his head, not comprehending what was being asked of him.

"You want her to stop hassling you with all her questions. You're gonna tell her that you're angry with her; that she's the root of everything going wrong because she came back. The flood, having to move into the Bunkers, the alliance with Blood Riders falling apart, the ultimate death of your people, and how could I forget?- Sovereign Wynn and his precious brother Quill..."

"What the hell is in this for you?" Kodiak spat, trying to stall him before Sol found them and he would be forced into breaking her heart. "They've got nothing to do with you. Leave them out of this."

Josiah smirked, pulling something out of his pocket and bringing it up so Kodiak could see. It was unmistakable and he knew instantly what it was: the controller for the implant.

"If you don't do as I say, I'm sure I can have fun some other way-"

"Hurt me all you like, but I won't hurt Riv-"

Kodiak gasped at the sudden seize of pain tearing through his body, not even able to utter out the words on the edge of his tongue. His hands clasped around his neck, feeling like he couldn't breathe as a burning pain pounded inside the back of his head. After a few, short seconds, Josiah turned the implant off, once again waiting for Kodiak to make his choice.

He hated himself for what he was about to do; he knew that if Sol was in his position, then she would bear the pain instead of forcing that kind of betrayal and heartbreak upon him, but the torture - even if he only felt it for a few seconds - was crippling, exhausting, and electrifying and he wasn't sure how much more of it he could take.

"Fine," he said through gritted teeth, having to close his eyes as he felt them already begin to well up with tears.

"This is all because of her," Josiah smirked, almost instilling the words into his mind. "Everything that's going wrong is because of her. You were better off when everyone thought she was dead. That's what I want you to tell her-"

"Kodiak? Josiah... What's going on in here? It sounded like something...exploded." Sol exclaimed, suddenly appearing in the doorway. She glanced around the room, having entered just as Josiah secured a safe distance between himself and Kodiak.

"Just leave us the hell alone, River," Kodiak said, still keeping his eyes closed, still not brave enough to turn around and face her.

"W-what? Kodiak?"

He could hear the shock in her voice, but more than that, the hurt. It wavered and pulled at every syllable.

"How are we supposed to get anything done if you're constantly hounding me with questions? I told you I was stressed out and you're just making everything worse. Leave me alone."

Sol's eyes filled to the brim with tears and as Kodiak finally turned around to face her, she glanced over at Josiah who was pretending not to pry, hoping that Kodiak would catch on and agree to take their conversation somewhere a little more private.

"Can we go outside for a minute, please?" She asked, struggling to conceal how upset she was.

"No. I already told you, leave me alone," Kodiak tried to keep his words short, turning around in a refusal to look at her any longer, but she stepped forward and latched onto his wrist.

"Riverly!" Kodiak yelled, pulling his hand free and taking a step away from her. Forced into facing her, he now realised that Dreea and Atlantis were hovering behind her, watching on with horror on their faces as they came to inspect the commotion.

"Kodiak, what's going on with you?" Dreea questioned, protectively standing in front of Sol as Atlantis moved forward to comfort her, everyone seeming to be demanding answers from him. "I get everything is overwhelming and you're clearly bottling a lot of things up inside, but if this is too much for you right now, then leave it for me, Riv and Wynn to deal with."

"Sovereign Kodiak, I don't mean to interrupt, but I'm pretty sure I can get this thing working. Leave this to me and talk to Nobel Riverly if you need to," Josiah spoke up, pretending to offer his assurance his way, but Kodiak was able to read between the lines. He knew what Josiah was asking him to do.

"None of us would be in this mess if it wasn't for..."

He couldn't get the words out; they felt lodged in the back of his throat like he was choking, only there was no one helping him breathe through the fear or the fight of it.

"If it wasn't for you coming back."

Tears rolled down his cheeks as he looked over at Sol, wondering if there was anything in the world that would ever make her forgive him... Even if she wouldn't, he wanted more than anything for her to know that none of it was true; not a single word.

"There wasn't anyone threatening the alliance with Riders; there wasn't anyone trying to kill us; there wasn't anyone coming in between Wynn and his family... Everything was fine until the day we left The City. It doesn't take a lot to figure out why, but I guess I'm the only one who sees who the real enemy in our camp is..."

He couldn't bring himself to say anything else or listen to what Sol and Dreea had to say to him. He hurried past them, running up the staircase to leave the Bunker, hoping that they would be able to connect the dots of everything he had said and realise who's name fit with every answer: Hannah.

///////

Once Sol was sure that Kodiak had made it outside, she drifted out of the greenhouse room, feeling somewhat in shock as Atlantis led her away.

"River, he didn't mean that," she comforted her sister, not even knowing where to begin. "There's gotta be some explanation."

"Atlantis is right," Dreea moved forward, holding onto Sol's hand as it hung at her side, her other one being occupied with hugging herself tightly.

"He'd never tell you those things, let alone believe them. Whatever it is, we'll figure it out."

"I just... I don't understand what I've done to make him suddenly...switch. Maybe this is what happened with him and Elara. Maybe-"

Sol was cut off by a loud the echoing from just outside followed by a series of grunting and choking sounds. All three girls shared a worried look with each other - Sol and Dreea quickly retreating their blades as they climbed up the staircase, cautiously investigating the noise.

"Kodiak!" Dreea yelled, completely disregarding her weapon and caring about nothing other than getting to her best friend.

She collapsed by his side, as did Sol who was seconds behind her - both of them grabbing onto Kodiak and trying to calm his convulsing body.

"You're okay, Kodiak. We've got you. You're not alone," Dreea muttered, terrified out of her mind, but she clung close to him nevertheless and was determined not to let go of him until she knew he would be okay. 

Five // Part Five
I'm the only one who sees who the real enemy is.

Poor Kodiak! My heart breaks knowing what Hannah and Josiah are putting him through! I miss his goofy, optimistic self! I'm a little conflicted though: I don't know whether to be excited for writing what happens in Kodiak's story at the end of S7, or afraid...

Btw, it's been a week since I arrived in America! I adore my host family, but I'm still VERY overwhelmed and struggling to adjust to everything and the completely different world that America is compared to England or Australia. It's mad to think I'm only 20 but I've moved countries 5 times already. I thought I was a pro at this, but it never gets easier.

The only good thing I've been telling myself is that at least I have my stories and my books; I was thinking to myself that no matter where in the world I am or how unfamiliar everything is and even if I don't know a single person around me, when I read over my stories or write a new chapter, it doesn't matter where I am because I'm completely immersed in my story world and that is something I carry with me everywhere I go. It sounds crazy, but my characters really feel like a lifeline for me and they make me feel like I'm not alone. I'm so very grateful that God blessed me with the passion for writing because He clearly knew all the ways it would help me in situations I never could have imagined.

28/08/20