Episode One, Part 5:
New Life

As Wynn waited for Aeryn to return with Sol, he took the opportunity to investigate his injuries. It seemed as though a bullet had been removed from his leg, as he wasn't sure what else it could have possibly been, but in spite of the searing pain he could still feel, he was confident that they had done something right. He wasn't bleeding anymore and the bandages wrapped around his leg seemed secured firmly, not offering much chance that they would come loose.

The larger gashes on his arms had all been tended to - including the one he had felt on his cheek, and whatever had happened to his hand had also been covered over in a much smaller bandage.

The only problem was that Wynn couldn't remember his hand hurting, unlike all the other injuries he already knew to feel for, and as his curiosity got the better of him, Wynn began to peel the edges of the bandage, revealing what had been sealed away from him.

There, stained into his skin slightly below the back of his thumb, were two letters:

S.R.

He tried to wipe them away but to no avail. No matter how hard he rubbed his opposing thumb over his hand, the letters wouldn't fade. If he was honest with himself, he already had speculation at what it was the moment he laid eyes on it and he knew his speculations were correct when the pressing down on the initials caused a deep sting on his skin like it was a freshly received wound... But he didn't want to believe that they would do that to him - when he was unconscious and on the brink of death, no less.

First, they invaded his home; then, they claimed his body? 

Before he had a moment to process his anger or figure out what the letters meant, a familiar voice called out to him; a voice that stitched back together some of the fractured pieces of his heart.

"Wynn!?"

He looked over to where the voice had come from, his cold, angered stare softening as he saw his older brother running over towards him

When Ares reached his bed, he immediately engulfed Wynn into what could only be known as the world's-tightest-hug. His armed wrapped around Wynn's bruised frame, one of Ares' hands moving to the back of his head to hold him even closer. Overwhelmed in emotion, Wynn almost found himself compelled to say to his brother - something which felt like a desperate prayer tied together in four words: never let me go. 

When they finally pulled away, sharing the relief on each other's faces, Wynn looked behind him expectantly, waiting for Quill, Elara and their parents to be following inside the tent. At the same time, Ares' eyes scanned the rows of beds, searching for the exact same people as Wynn was.

"W-where are they?" Wynn asked, suddenly feeling all his peace from seconds ago begin to drizzle away.

"I thought they were with you..."

It was then that the reality of their situation seemed to hit them both, and all alarms in their heads were screaming at them that something was dangerously wrong. Before either one could theorize what had happened to the rest of their family, someone else appeared at the foot of Wynn's bed, waiting for the attention to focus on her: Sol.

She observed the reunion between both boys, twisting some sort of radio in her hand, seemingly unmoved by the intense emotion that Wynn and Ares were so consumed in.

When she finally met Wynn's gaze, now standing a few feet away, she let out an impatient sigh, wondering why she needed to prompt him into speaking.

"You asked for me?" She said. 

There was something cold about the way she spoke and Wynn only wished that there was someone else he could ask, but even if there was, he had no clue who that person would be; the only one he knew, other than Aeryn, was Sol. He wasn't exactly spoilt for choice.

"Where's our family?"

She sighed once more, her attitude suggesting that she couldn't be bothered to sympathize with their concerns.

"We took in all the survivors we could find. Alex was there with the others; why don't you ask him?"

Wynn shook his head, squinting a little. "Who's Alex?"

"I think she means me," his brother answered, letting out a slight huff of annoyance. "It's Ares, by the way. Thanks," he corrected her, swiftly moving on to avoid an argument.

Sol rolled her eyes in response, a shake of her head accompanying it.

"MaReya and Bas are waiting in one of the tents. Quill's with them, too, sleeping," Ares turned to Wynn, hoping that the knowledge that their brother was safe would be enough to offer him some comfort, but there were still too many people missing, including their little sister.

"That's it," Ares said. "I don't know where everyone else is, or... Or what happened to them."

"Azha's over there. He's the only one I've seen, " Wynn mentioned, nodding in the direction of the bed where their friend was sleeping, feeling his courage run out on him. "We need to find the others, Ares..."

"We will; we'll figure something out," Ares assured him. "I'm sure they're safe; Elara's probably with Mom and Dad - and everyone else - all as worried about us as we are of them."

"We've been told there's four confirmed dead," Sol spoke up, attempting her best at being gentle with delivering the news, but she was no good at gentleness. "Don't get your hopes up about finding them, either. Even if they weren't killed in the raid, it's not likely that you'll see them again. Probably wouldn't recognize them if you did... Anyway, Riders wouldn't dare let them leave."

Wynn dropped his head, biting harshly on his lip to keep it from trembling. Sol really wasn't good at making people feel better.

"Riders?" Ares questioned, trying to piece together what he could from her statement. Wynn could recall Riverly mentioning them before; once in the bus, before it exploded, and another time when they were in the cave and she was plotting her mission to retrieve the radio.

"Blood Riders," Sol clarified. "They're the other clan around this area. The only other clan... There was another called Third Nation, but Riders killed the last of theirs years ago."

"Another clan?" Ares' voice perked up in hope, his eyes widening as he looked over at Wynn. "That's gotta be where they are. We have to-"

Before Ares could even finish his sentence, Sol jumped in, shutting down the possibilities running wild in his head before either of them could dwell in it for too long.

"As I said," she began, "if Riders did take in any survivors, don't expect a happy family reunion."

"You really suck at this whole comfort thing, don't you?" Wynn snapped, rather miserable at what she chose to tell them. "Hey, sorry that we just destroyed your home and everyone you love is either dead or gone," he mimicked, hoping to give her an insight into what the world felt like for him. "Remind me to thank you, Riverly, in case I ever forget how grateful I should be for everything you've done for me."

He could see that his words had angered her and Wynn relished in that feeling, knowing it was most likely the only joy he would feel for a while.

"Trust me," she rolled her eyes. "If I could go back and stop myself from opening that Bunker, I would." 

One // Part Five
I thought they were with you...

11/08/22.