4.17 Can She Be Trusted?

Randy spent the majority of his time in Charlie's apartment. He couldn't take the awkward silences or the glares he received from Indira ever since their shared kiss. There had been something in that kiss. Something more than the loneliness or the nightmare they shared. He could acknowledge it to himself even if he would deny it if anyone asked him. He was attracted to her. All her ups and downs. Her passions and tantrums. He liked the girl even though he was sure she'd never admit having the same feelings for him.

Restlessly he paced the small apartment. It had been days since he had been able to call his parents. It was unusual to say the least but that wasn't the most troublesome worry he had. If it were simply his parents being busy he could accept that. Life gets hectic sometimes. But the lines between Sunlit Tides and Moonlight Falls were down. Had been down for weeks. He thought at first it was just his remote location. He took a ferry to the mainland only to find the lines were down there too. The last time something like this happened Moonlight Falls had gone dark to the world for hundreds of years. He couldn't help but worry he'd be separated from his family forever.

Inwardly he groaned when saw Indira march up the stairs as if she owned the place. "What do you want?" he growled not in the mood to bolster her fragile ego or feelings.

"What put a burr up your butt?" she demanded.

"You haven't spoken to me in days," Randy pointed out "what else am I supposed to think?"

"Whatever" she mumbled running a finger lightly across the ancient stereo. Glancing at her finger as if to find fault with the cleanliness of the room. Shrugging "I need your help."

"Hah" he guffawed loudly "I knew it. You never seek me out without wanting something. You couldn't actually be nice or concerned about me."

Her eyes narrowed for a moment "what would you have to worry about?"

That was it. The last straw. "Get out," he shouted.

She looked at him in mild shock "this is my house. You get out."

"You're right ice princess," he eyed her with disgust "I don't know why I ever though you'd change. You're nothing but a cold hearted bitch." He stormed past her throwing his things into his bag.

Indira followed him unsure why he was so upset. This is just what they do. He always came back. She was sure this time would be no different. Leaning against the door she asked "where will you go? Back to school?"

His hand froze as he thought about his options. "No" he said coming to a decision "I'm going home."

"What about the apartment?" she asked in concern.

"It's paid up till the end of the quarter," he told her "I'll get my things before than."

"Aren't you coming back to school?" she asked in surprise marring her carefully uncaring attitude.

"I...doubt it," he said "you should probably find someone to room with to help you with the expenses."

"What's so important at home worth giving up your education?" she asked her tone showing how ridiculous she thought he was being.

"Family," he snapped "if  you haven't noticed by now family is important to me." He grabbed his bags and marched past her and down the stairs.

***

Andrew carried Charlie grunting in pain as the wounds on his back stretched and pulled. He was positive several of them were open and bleeding. His head swam from the exertion to keep going. He moaned as Andrew adjusted his hold on him.

"I'm sorry," Andrew said seeing how much pain Charlie was in "I should have agreed to their terms and stayed."

"No," Charlie mumbled once he unstuck his tongue from the cotton balls his mouth had become "we should have left once they let you out of that cage."

"Keep your voices down," Emmaline hissed coming up alongside them "do you want the mutants to hear you?"

"Are we in their territory?" Andrew asked eyes darting up and down the deserted seeming street.

"As soon as we left the compound" she told him.

"Oh," he took several deep breaths as panic rose inside him. They had been here for several weeks and all he knew about this world was the inside of the compound walls. As a progenitor he wasn't allowed out past the wall. Emmaline and Charlie had both been on hunting parties, trained on how to survive here. He wished Charlie was in condition to take the lead. He felt wholly unqualified to do so.

Emmaline squeezed his hand "I found a place we should be able to defend against attack." Turning she said "follow me."

The place she led them to was a small house, a shack really. Andrew didn't care as long as no hostiles were in it. It was situated on a cliff overlooking a lake.  A small wall surrounded the house. "Looks good" Charlie said nodding in approval.

With relief Andrew helped Charlie inside and into the only bed in the house. Coming out of the room he tapped Emmaline on the shoulder "I'll take first watch."

"No I can do it," she protested smothering a yawn.

"Get some rest," he ordered turning his attention to the window peering into the growing shadows. His eyes and ears alert to the nocturnal noises and movements of the creatures beyond the wall. Someone had lived in this place and had done so for quite sometime by the fortifications they had made to the structure. He tried not to think about what had happened to them. He could only pray that they didn't meet the same fate. He felt how inadequate he was for this type of life. He didn't know how to fight or defend himself. His back hurt. His feet were swollen. He couldn't keep his eyes open as his body demanded sleep.

With a jerk he came to full attention, a low growl permeated the room. What was that? Andrew peered into the darkness. He couldn't see anything moving around. The growl came again low, persistent followed by a scratching sound at the door. If he were at home he would think it was a dog wanting inside. Here it could be just about anything.

"What is that?" Emmaline's low voice beside him assured him he wasn't alone. It bothered him that she caught him half asleep when he was supposed to be on guard. What else had he missed while he dozed? He needed to learn some survival skills if he were going to survive out here on his own.

Shaking his head he whispered back "dog?" his voice more a question than one of confidence.

Shrugging Emmaline pantomimed going to sleep then pointed at him. Andrew got the hint. Be quiet. Go to sleep. Overall he sucked at this survival business.

***

The following morning Andrew woke up blurry eyed and stiff from sleeping on the floor. Groaning he pried himself from the floor, stretching before padding across the room to join Emmaline at the window. 

Turning she nodded at him before turning back to the window. "I should go out to find food," she told him as came to a stop beside her.

"How do you do that?" he demanded "I thought U was pretty silent approaching you."

Shrugging "you walk heavy," taking it for granted that her senses had been honed by her experiences in this world. "You'll get better," she encouraged.

Crossing his arms over his stomach he stared glumly out the window. "I hope so," he muttered feeling his life was one unwelcome experience after another.

Glancing up Emmaline gave him one of her trademark smiles "I'll teach  you."

"Thanks short stuff," he grinned at her "I'm not sure if it's a good idea you going out there alone."

"Who else? You?" she asked moving away from the window. She gathered her things in preparation "look I've been trained for this, you haven't. You're sole purpose in the compound was to incubate babies. Probably mine too once I came of age," she patted his hand observing his disappointment "besides someone has to stay here to protect Charlie." She reached into her pocket extracting a gun "take this."

Andrew stared at the foreign object hesitant to touch the weapon she held out to him. It was scary how normal it had become to handle a gun. "What about you?" he disliked the idea she was out there on her own without some way to protect herself.

Giving him a sideways look she sighed "I don't need a gun for protection. I can fight."

Nodding Andrew sighed. It was just one more thing he wasn't a part of. His sole purpose was to have babies. "Just be careful," he told her.

Squeezing him tight as she moved towards the door "don't worry. Keep the door locked. Stay away from the windows. Be quiet."

"You don't need to tell me what to do inside. That's one thing I'm good at," he said. He swallowed over a lump in his throat feeling as if he was about to walk across an abyss. He hated this place and how it was changing them.

Emmaline opened the door just wide enough to slip through when a large back dog ran inside, teeth bared, growling. Backing up she bumped into Andrew. "Shoot it," she whispered urgently as the dog crept closer.

Raising the gun, Andrew steadied it with both hands as it shook in his unsteady aim. "I can't," he said heart pounding in his chest as the snarling creature inched closer.

"Just do it Andy" Emmaline cried bumping into him. Gone was the self-assured would be warrior.

The dog growled deeply just as the door to the porch crashed open and a mutant broke in. Running the dog leaped at the mutants throat ripping it out. It quickly bled out on the kitchen floor. Once the mutant quit jerking the dog retreated whining by the door.

Stunned by the carnage it took a moment for them to recover from their shock. "Where did it come from?" Andrew asked "you can't access the porch from the yard."

"It had to have been here all along," Emmaline said "maybe even the previous occupant." She pointed towards a picture of a man hugging a large black dog, "I guess we know what happens when you get bit by mutant."

"We better get rid of the body and sterilize the house," Andrew said moving towards the inert body on the floor.

Moving to help Emmaline asked "what are we going to do with the body?"

Nodding towards the open door, "up and over the porch rail" he told her "and down the cliff."

Once they got rid of the body Emmaline said "Andy we need supplies."

"I know" he handed her the gun "that dog will be better protection then something I can't fire."

"Alright," she grudgingly gave in and took the weapon. Wrinkling her nose she said "while  you're cleaning up this place maybe you can give the dog a bath."

The dog growled softly as she edged around it otherwise it preferred to stay by Andrew's side.

Andrew would check on Charlie periodically while he was busy cleaning the house. He was concerned with how listless Charlie had been since they arrived here the night before. He hadn't properly woken up for the past twenty-four hours. To Andrew's untrained eyes the welts on his back appeared to be red and puffy. Infection. The dog whined at the bed making Andrew feel that much more apprehensive. Could the dog sense something was wrong? 

Shaking his head Andrew continued to clean searching the house for antiseptics and fresh bandages. He finished giving the kitchen a thorough cleaning. Fixing the porch door was the most difficult. He found evidence that the mutant had been hiding on the roof which explained why Emmaline had missed it when she did her cursory search of the premises. 

He moved on to the bathroom where he spent several minutes scrubbing every surface from the grime on the porcelain surfaces. He moved on to searching the cupboards. "Jackpot," he cried smiling pulling out a first aid kid fully stocked with bandages. There was even dog shampoo stuffed back in a far corner. 

Three hours later Andrew was satisfied with the results of his hard work. A clean house. A clean dog. There was even a meager supply of food that would last for a couple of weeks. "Charlie" he said sitting on the edge of the bed "honey wake up." He was rewarded with a slight flutter of his eyelids and a low moan.

To Andrew's touch Charlie's forehead felt hot, feverish. Sighing Andrew cleaned and bandaged the stripes on his back. He knew Charlie needed all the rest he could get. The only thing he could do now was hope for the best.

A couple hours later Andrew paced the floor worry creasing his forehead. Where was Emmaline? What was taking her so long? He crept towards the window noting the long shadows as the day turned to evening. Nothing moved on the deserted street. Should he go and look for her? Had she been attacked? Was she hurt? Dead? He missed not being able to send an easy text and find out immediately what's wrong. He put a hand on the door knob intent on finding his sister.

"She's safe" a woman's voice spoke behind him.

Whirling around he found himself looking into the impassive face of a light green woman with hair to match. "Who are you?" he asked wondering how another mutant had gotten passed him.

"I'm not a mutant," she said indignantly "trust me, your sister is safe."

"How do you know that?" he asked taking a step back pressing  his back into the door "what have you done with her?"

Shrugging she announced "I sent her home."

"Home?" he said disbelief in his voice "that compound isn't home."

"Oh" she laughed causing his confusion, fear and anger to deepen "not that place. Home as in back to the loving arms of your dad. Let's say I needed a good faith token and she was it. I didn't think you'd want to be separated from your lover."

"How do I know you can be trusted?" he asked edging around her. The dog followed growling at the woman.

"Good question" she smiled "here's one for you, how do you know you can't?"

She had him there. He had no idea who he could trust. He could feel his control of things slipping through his fingers. "How did you get in here?" he asked focusing on things he could understand.

"Magic" she told him her eyes twinkling finding amusement in his confusion.

A skeptical snort escaped his lips "just because I don't know how you did it doesn't mean it was magic."

"Good" she nodded in approval "you're not as naive as you appear." Her smiled slipped becoming serious "I need you to do something for me."

"What?" he asked peering into the darkening room where Charlie slept.

"I can't tell you yet" she told him "your father hasn't agreed to my terms yet."

"Does my dad know what you want me to do?" Andrew asked knowing he would do anything his father wanted him to.

"Not yet," she pursed her lips in thought "all I can tell you is what I need you to do is important to saving the future."

"Have you had a good look at this place?" he asked "there's mutants running around eating people. 

There are humans that act like animals with no concept of how to love and be loved. Why would you want to save this future?"

"What I'll ask of you will change this future. It's the first of many things that will need to be adjusted." She walked closer to him ignoring the growling dog. She put a gentle hand on his shoulder "if you help me your children and grandchildren will never need to fear a future like this. You can 

make the future better."

Andrew sighed. He liked the idea of being instrumental in changing the future "I still don't know if you can be trusted."

She could see she had gotten to him. Could see the excitement in his eyes at the idea of being of use. She knew she had him hooked. All this would be pointless if Caleb Gray refused her terms though "what I'll ask will be difficult. If you agree, you and Charlie will be allowed to go home, raise a family. One day one of your children will be asked to do something for me."

Putting a hand to his stomach Andrew wondered if he could agree to something that might endanger his children. What if they were asked to do something they morally couldn't do? It would be unfair to them. "I don't know," he mumbled.

"All you need to do now is think about what I've said," she told him. Glancing at Charlie her face softened "I'll give you a good faith token to prove I can send you home."

Andrew blinked waving his hand in the place where the strange woman had stood. Maybe it was magic after all. Before he could put too much thought into what had just happened his attention was drawn to the bedroom.

"Andrew" Charlie called his voice weak and tired.

"What are you doing out of bed?" he demanded upon entering the room.

"I feel better," he said with a grin pulling Andrew into a passionate kiss.

"I can see that," stroking Charlie's face "you were so sick. You barely moved for the past twenty-six hours." Andrew coaxed him to sit down so he could inspect his injuries "I don't believe it."

"What?" Charlie demanded a little anxious at what Andrew was seeing.

"It's completely healed" he ran a hand across Charlie's back.

"Don't that tickles," he said squirming a little under his touch.

"She said she would give me a good faith token," Andrew murmured.

"She who?" Charlie asked "where's Emmie?"

"Shh I'll tell you everything I know. Some of it you'll just need to trust me because you won't believe it."

Author's note: If you want to know more about Quinn, Andrew's visitor please read 4.17 Going From Bad to Worse of my Van Winkle blog.