Episode One, Part 4:
New Life

When Wynn woke up, a new world was waiting for him.

An unacquainted pain ached all the way down to his toes, shooting vicious shivers along his spine - something twisting the nerves in his body.

It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness of the day, and even more, time for him to comprehend where he was, but when he was met with an unfamiliar surrounding and what appeared to be the inside of a tent - nearly as large as the living quarters of his Bunker alone, the horror of what had happened came flooding back into his heart.

Frantically, Wynn scanned his eyes around, noticing rows of empty, made-up beds, high shelves stacked with bandages, backpacks, and blankets - and a large desk in the middle directly across from him, but no one from his family... Where were his parents? His brothers? His little sister? Any of the 16 other people he had spent almost his entire life with - in the Bunker? He had no answers. And every time he tried to figure them out, he only ended up with more questions.

Then, right as Wynn was ready to succumb to the fear in his heart and the inescapable agony of his wounds, he found someone.

"Azha," he mumbled, barely recognizing his voice as it came out dry and depleted, but it was the last thing on his mind. All Wynn could focus on was the man resting on the bed at the far end of the tent; the man who he had seen every day for the last 14 years of his life; the chancellor of the Bunker.

There was a flood of emotions crashing in his mind, but the one he was fighting to hold onto was relief. He savored it - desperately trying to cherish the feeling before it was ripped away from him like everything else, but it didn't last long. There were still 15 other people unaccounted for, and Wynn couldn't rest until he knew they were all safe.

With his worries seeming to multiply, he began to wonder how long he had been unconscious. Had it been a few hours? Was there still time to dig through the wreckage of the bus and search for survivors? Or had it been days? Had Wynn been brought into the tent a long time ago, and everyone he had ever loved had died before he could open his eyes again?

Unable to lie and wait for answers any longer, Wynn pulled himself to sit upright, swinging his legs over the side of the springy mattress before he had a moment to remember what had happened to him. Immediately, he wailed out in pain and if it weren't for the agonized sobs that continued to tear through him, Wynn was sure he would have passed out within a second.

In between his blurry and blackening vision, he caught sight of a raven-haired stranger running in his direction from the far end of the tent. Her eyes widened once she realised what he was trying to do and without wasting a moment, she pushed onto his shoulders, forcing him against the bed.

"Hey, you're okay. You need to lie down," she said. Amongst everything else he had been faced with already, the girl's voice was warm and soothing - completely contrasting the world as he knew it.

He wanted to say something, but incoherent groans were the only sounds he could make in protest as his body tried to resist her gentle hands and obvious concern for him.

"Please. You need to rest. You can leave once you're healed, I promise."

There was something about her that made Wynn feel obliged to listen to her. It wasn't the tenderness in her touch as she guided him to lay down, or the compromise of freedom she had offered him, but the way she began to adjust the pillow underneath his head and pull the blanket over his shoulders to keep him warm. It was something his mother had always done for him and his siblings whenever they were ill in the Bunker, so it didn't take much for Wynn to convince himself that finally, he was in good hands.

He complied with her requests and let his head fall back against the bed, letting out a deep breath after a moment's trial. One of his hands moved up towards his forehead, suddenly becoming aware of the pounding ache he could feel consuming him, and he wiped at the beads of sweat resting on the edges of his face.

"My name's Aeryn," the girl introduced herself, bringing a damp cloth into view and dabbing around Wynn's face, taking care of his evident discomfort. "I'm one of the lead medics here at Basilisk. What can I do to help you? What's hurting the most?"

"My... My family," he choked, finding his throat dry and difficult to speak out of. "Find my family."

"You're from the rescued Bunker, correct?"

Wynn debated his answer; 'rescued' didn't feel like a suitable term. 'Invaded' is how he would have described it, but he didn't have the strength to argue.

"Ares... Quill... Elara," he coughed. "My siblings. Where are they?"

She bit down on her lip, pulling the material away from his face, and seemed to focus on concealing her frown, even though she wasn't doing a good job at it.

"Kane and Martha - my parents?" Wynn tried again, hoping that their names would spark a recognition with her; that if they were safe, they would have already introduced themselves and demanded to be called for the moment Wynn woke up and asked for them. But without an answer or even a glimmer of hope within reach, Wynn was no longer sure he could keep fighting at all.

If it wasn't for his leg - which he could feel had now been properly bandaged over - he would get up and search the entire world for them himself. He'd tear through every clan, shelter, and hiding place the world had to offer until they were all together, and the only thing left for them to do would be to go home.

But everything was terrifying and unfamiliar to him. If he were to walk out of the tent and later come back, he wasn't sure he'd even be able to recall which bed he had been on. And if he looked around, now, there would only be one person from the past 18 years of his life that he had seen before, and he was lying unconcious on one of the beds. There was no other recollection; no permanence; not a single thing in his tiny, but surely-expanding world that offered him any comfort. 

What was he supposed to do? He couldn't do nothing and hope that everything would work itself out, or that someone would come along and tell him everything he wanted to know. Who would he even ask- 

Then - suddenly... A name seemed to ring out to him - louder than all of the misery hollowing away in his chest. 

"Riverly." 

"Riverly?" Aeryn questioned, a spark of hope evident in her voice - recognition. 

Wynn nodded, letting out a breath of alleviation as he realized she understood who he was talking about. 

Aeryn smiled, squeezing her hand reassuringly on his arm. "I'll go get her for you," she said. "Just promise me you'll stay here."

 Wynn nodded, although, hoped that he wouldn't have to wait too long. If someone had told him when he was in the cave that he would be overwhelmed with relief that Sol was being sent his way, he never would have believed them; but there he was, feeling like everything rested in the balance of Sol, and he knew right then that if he wanted to find his family, it would all come down to her. 

One // Part Four
A new world was waiting for him.