I bend my legs inward to get past Ava and swing them off the cot onto the floor. “Are you alright?” Ava asks me in worry while she puts a hand on my shoulder. “I just need some fresh air” I whisper, too tired to even care if it was heard.

I stand up and get lightheaded, my vision goes pure white. I take a deep breath and wait till I can see properly again. Mary pushes her way through the doorway full of murmuring people. She stops in front of me but doesn’t touch me, instead she puts her hands on her hips. “And where do you think you’re going? Your body still need rest” she says in a voice of past nostalgia for me.

“Outside. Got a problem with that?” I say it with much irritation in my voice, so many demanding people around me after years of nothing. “You’re in not condition to go outside right now. Plus it’s in the middle of the night right now. Now lie back down and get some rest” she uses her hand to shoo me back to the cot.

I shrunk my face in irritation and anger, but I push it down and speak in a calm manner “I think I’ll just leave earlier than agreed if it’s all the same to you”. “Nonsense. Upon recent events, new proposals are in order. I just had a quick chat with the chief, and seems like your able to stay for as long as you deem wanting” she states as she keeps her place in front of me.

“I don’t care about that right now, I just want to get some fresh air outside… please” I try to stay calm, but I’m at my last thread. “There is no ‘fresh’ air outside. If you must, we do have a green room you could visit. It’s filled with beautiful plants” she tries her best to keep me inside.

I give a past irritated sigh, “Outside may be rough, but it is serene to me. Now. Let. Me. Out” I emphasis my demand. “Like I said” she continues, but I snap “Enough! I Am Going Outside! So leave me alone and stand aside!” I command out.

Just about every head snaps straight, mechanically like a robot. Mary quickly steps aside and most of the people in the doorway move out of its threshold. Those who didn’t act with the mechanical movements looked around in puzzlement before doing the same. “Yes, as you wish. Would you like me to escort you to the entrance?” Mary asks in close to a monotone voice. I sigh “Fine, but only till the stairs”.

We begin our way down the hallways to the entrance. ‘Shit. I forgot to grab my stuff ‘cause the whole ordeal. Whatever, guess that’ll give me time to say goodbye to Ava when I come back for it’.

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I settle myself down next to the water’s edge, setting the flashlight and knife I got from Mary down by my sides. The one thing that’s always been able to soothe me is the sound of lapping water. As soon was I outside, I went up to the tree I hide under today and down the hill to the river.

‘I can see that you’re angry’ the breeze pushes past me, the sound reverberating as if both in my head and ears. I sigh out my complicated feelings, “angry? Maybe… no… a bit, yes. I’m frustrated”.

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‘At them?” it whispers to me. “Yes.. no.. Only partly. Don’t you already know? You seem to always know” I say back to the wind. ‘Of course. But I knowing, and you understanding is different. One must sort and reflect on one’s self to truly understand. I am merely here to help guide you’ It speaks in a gentle voice.

“What am I supposed to do then?” I ask away. ‘I have already directed you in said direction. It is up to you to decide whether to follow’ It states again. “What? How?” I ask in despair.

‘The world is in change again. The girl is a key component in this revolution, she is here to help the earth itself take shape. You, on the other hand, are here to… well, it’s a bit much for you to understand right now. Just stand by her. Take her hand and don’t let go, for both your sakes’ the voice goes just as fast as it came.

I see another beam of light start to play on the ground around me. Soon after, a pair of footsteps calmly make their way from behind. They are neither rushing or trying to be stealthy, so either they’re just plain stupid or they mean no harm. Either way, I don’t take much effort towards trying to ready myself for a fight. Plus flashlights are generally rare these days, not to say they aren’t around anymore.

The thing that surprised me though was when the person draped a blanket over my shoulders. It’s been freezing for years now, with the sun not shining like it used to, that normally you’d want to cover yourself up. But my body’s adapted quite a bit to the temperature, it doesn’t affect me much.

I look over to see Ava sit down a couple feet from me, obvious that she’s trying to keep her distance. I stare out her for a minute, not that I can see that well anyway, and notice that she’s shiver even with the blanket wrapped around her. I shake my head and roll my eyes. “Come here you dummy. And put your blanket under you before you freeze to death” I reach my arm out with the blanket to pull her into my blanket. She does just that and I can feel her hands and arms wrap around my back and front, which sends an electric chill down my entire body.

She keeps her head face down as she whispers, “Wow… you’re really warm”. We sit there in silence for who knows how long. “There’s a small pier not too far away from here that I like to visit when I get a chance to slip outside for a while” Ava speaks up a little. “Is that so? I’d like to see it some time” I respond quietly.

“What’s your ability?” she asks me in a shy manner. I try to look down at her face but fail, “What do you mean, ability?” I ask in wonder. “I mean what you did tonight” she looks up at me.

I just squint my eyes at her, though not like she could see that very well “huh”. “Your nightmare. I’m not sure what it was about, but everyone in the rooms around you could feel what you were feeling. The terror, the anguish… the sadness. Are you okay? DId the outside cause such emotions?” I could feel the worry emanate from her.

Did the wasteland cause this? The terrors that someone could come across in a blink of an eye. In a sense, yes it did. But then again, do we call the wilderness the wasteland because of the empty tundra or the maddening spirit of the people within it?

“Do you know what happened to your parents Ava?” I ask her in sorrow. “My mom stopped coming after about a year of my treatments, but I can only assume that she’s dead now. And my dad… I never knew him” I hear her begin to sniffle.

“As for the dream tonight.. It’s a recurring one for years. It’s the night both my parents died and nearly me too” I whisper out. I feel her begin to tremble against my side. So I pull her closer to me, at least as close as one could get without being on top of each other.

‘We are watching. You are free to release a burden without worry’ the wind flows by.