Storyteller

Stella woke up on the bottom bunk of a bed. She sat up, almost hitting her head on the top. She realized Jonas was laying right beside her.

She didn't put him in any of the cribs. She didn't trust leaving him in them. When everyone flooded the tent and starting going to bed, she felt comfortable enough to actually sleep. Her bunkmate happened to also be the woman who had put a gun to her head slept right above her. It was strange.

Stella looked around the tent. There were women talking all around. She didn't feel like she was in any immediate danger. Her thoughts were on Lucas though. She needed to find him and get out of here.

She suddenly heard a voice coming from the outside. It was loud and mechanical. Like it was coming through and intercom. No. She was sure it was coming from an intercom.

"Good morning everyone," the the voice said, "it's a beautiful day for survival. No casualties have been reported in the last twenty-four hours."

The woman who slept above her wasn't in the bed. Stella picked up Jonas and rocked him in her arms. The tent was warm. There were heaters all over the place. It seemed like a slight fire hazard, but she didn't think anything of it. It was warm, and that was all that mattered. However, Jonas was shivering. Stella was puzzled by this. Jonas was usually shivering, but it was warm now. He shouldn't be cold, but when she put her hand to his forehead, it felt cold. Definitely not a regular body temperature. Perhaps he had a cold. It would go away soon, she was sure.

She adjusted the blanket around Jonas, wrapping it slightly tighter around him. Babies in the nursery were crying. There were men and women there tending to their babies in their individual cribs. Stella found this to be quite sweet.

She exited the tent and examined the area. It was large. Huge. The perimeter of the camp was surrounded by tall wooden logs, reinforced by sheets of metal. There were concrete barriers around the camp as well, usually accompanied by guards carrying large guns.

The camp seemed heavily armed. She felt at ease. She felt safe. A feeling she hadn't felt for a long time. Not even in Unit Twenty-one.

There were benches on gravel paths going around the entire camp. The first bench she saw had a woman sat on it. It was the woman who slept above her. The woman who held her at gunpoint. She was writing in a journal. They both made eye contact. The woman didn't avert her gaze. Stella almost walked right by her, but the woman spoke up.

(Woman: "Hey you!")

Stella stopped and turned around.

(Woman: "What's your name?")

(Stella: "It's Stella.")

(Woman: "Huh, that's a pretty name.")

(Stella: "You're being very passive, considering you held me hostage last night.")

(Woman: "Look, lady, I'm just doing what I have to. If Keane tells me to raise my gun, I do it.")

(Stella: "Keane is the name of the person you were with?")

(Woman: "That's right.")

(Stella: "What's your name then?")

(Woman: "I'm Iris. The youngest member of any company.")

Iris raised her hand. Stella reluctantly shook it.

(Iris: "No hard feelings.")

(Stella: "You're the youngest member of a company? How old are you?")

(Iris: "I'll be turning nineteen in a month!")

(Stella: "Oh, you're younger than me.")

(Iris: "You're twenty?")

(Stella: "More or less.")

(Iris: "Damn. That's tough. Born the year of the rapture.")

Iris patted the open spot on the bench beside her.

(Iris: "Sit.")

Stella sat down beside Iris. Iris' hair was a dark shade of brown. It was short and thin. It would be hard to grip, which would be a tactical advantage in certain situations.

Sometimes Jonas would get his arm loose from the blanket and pull her hair, which would result in her jolting forward in an instinctual response to the pain. Her eyes were a beautiful smooth amber.

(Iris: "So, what was it like traveling with an immortal?")

(Stella: "No different than traveling with a regular person, I think. I've never gone anywhere with anyone else.")

(Iris: "Not even your parents?")

Stella fell silent, looking away from Iris.

(Iris: "Oh, sorry. I didn't know.")

(Stella: "It's fine.")

(Iris: "Can I ask when they died?")

(Stella: "I never knew them.")

Iris raised an eyebrow. She hit her pen against her thigh three times before looking down at her journal.

(Stella: "How about yours? When did yours die?")

(Iris: "Mine aren't dead. Well, actually, my mom is, but I never knew her. My dad is alive though. He used to go out on these cool missions with his team, but then he lost his legs and right arm. He can't do much anymore, but I love him.")

(Stella: "How did he lose them? Did they get cut off?")

(Iris: "Yeah. He got attacked by an apostle and got bit on both legs and on the arm. It does this thing, I think they call it necrosis. Your body begins to decay while you're still alive. The necrosis was spreading very fast and they thought it was best to just amputate the limbs before it spread any further.")

Stella didn't know what to say. There wasn't anything she could say other than "sorry," but apologies wouldn't help anyone, so she just stayed silent.

Iris recognized this and moved the conversation along herself.

(Iris: "Yeah, anyway, he can be … how can I put this… quiet? They have him in a special tent where he gets constant care. Like, with doctors and stuff. But he's usually just staring off into the distance. Not at anything in particular. It's a miracle if he even scratches his nose—with the one arm he has left.")

Stella still didn't know what to say.

(Iris: "You can ask questions, you know. I like to talk to people about stuff like this. There's such a lack of curiosity around here. People are too sensitive.")

(Stella: "No, no, that's not it. You're just doing a great job of explaining it yourself. I don't have any questions to ask.")

(Iris: "Huh. Is that right? My dad always did say I was quite the storyteller. And a liar. He kind of used both of them interchangeably. He always said the best stories are based off of a lie. Even in true stories. My dad was a bookworm. He told me most conflicts, real and fake, are based mostly on a lie, either told to you, or you telling it to yourself.")

She paused for a moment in thought.

(Iris: "I always found it funny how someone could lie to themself. How does that even happen?")

Stella shrugged.

(Stella: "Do you think immortals are human?")

(Iris: "Of course not!")

(Stella: "There you go.")

(Iris: "Huh?")

(Stella: "You just lied to yourself.")

(Iris: "Girl, you're the one lying to yourself. I know you probably spent a lot of time with the immortal, but some things like this just can't be debated. If they were human, then why don't we all have immortality?")

Stella shrugged once again.

(Stella: "Have you ever considered that maybe something else gives them that power?")

(Iris: "Is there something you know that we don't?")

Stella looked around like what she was about to tell Iris was some forbidden secret.

(Stella: "Its not them that's immortal. Lucas, he is connected, somehow, to an apostle. I saw it.")

(Iris: "Connected to an apostle? And it doesn't attack him? If he was human, the apostle would've killed him.")

(Stella: "I don't know, this one is different. It's nothing I've ever seen before.")

Jonas started mimicking Stella's speech, repeating random vowels. He was trying to speak by copying what she said.

They both looked down at Jonas. Stella began to smile while Iris remained neutral.

(Iris "You know, that's one of the more even tempered babies I've seen. I haven't seen him cry the whole time he's been here. I don't know if that's because he hasn't left your side or what, but not bawling every time something slightly surprises him is a good trait. Has he been good to travel with?")

(Stella: "There's been a couple times when he's cried near an apostle, but most of the time, he doesn't cry. Which makes it hard to know when a diaper needs to be changed or when he's hungry or thirsty. But we've set up a routine by this point. It's a strict schedule.")

(Iris: "Does the immortal help you with any of this?")

(Stella: "Not really.")

(Iris: "And you think he's human?")

(Stella: "What does that have to do with being human?")

(Iris: "Caring for your loved ones is a very human trait.")

(Stella: "We aren't lovers. He's just trying to get us somewhere safe. Isn't that caring enough?")

(Iris: "Well he's got to love you to a certain extent to want to do that at all. An immortal like him probably had better things to do than to transport you. And yet there he was, putting aside everything else for you. In a world like this, only someone who loved you would do that.")

(Stella: "He's just a kind guy. He did have something better to do. He told it to me the first time I met him. But he allowed me to follow him anyway. He has a wife he's looking for. He had a heart-shaped locket, which I assume has a picture of her in it.")

(Iris: "He has a wife?")

(Stella: "Yeah. A wife in Missouri.")

(Iris: "Missouri? What the hell is he doing over here in Nevada then?")

(Stella: "He doesn't remember how he got here. He told me he was teleported to California or something.")

(Iris: "Now, see, that's a lie. He was just randomly teleported? No explanation. No reason. It just happened?")

(Stella: "I don't know how it happened. It's just what he said.")

(Iris: "Well he is quite the storyteller.")

Stella didn't respond.