Chapter 131 The Wanderers

Friendship is born at the moment when one person says to another: "What?! You too?! I thought I was the only one!"

-C.S. Lewis

Burns

We hide ourselves within the rock shelter that holds the two vehicles. If there's really another group of humans then we don't want to scare them with our presence.

If for some reason, this happens to be a place that Seekers use, then of course we don't want to be discovered by them.

We settle behind the vehicles and try to get comfortable. I look at Nate. "How did you find the other groups?" It's something I've always wondered.

Nate chuckles. "Also by accident. We came across Max while raiding the same place. Theo and Will almost ended up fighting, but in the end we decided it would benefit us if we started working together. With Gail, we stumbled on Ellen first. She was running from Seekers, tried to find a place to hide and found us. They already knew about Russell's place."

I nod at his story, glad to finally have the answer.

Nate seems to hesitate for a moment before speaking again. "You be careful when we meet this lot, yeah? We don't know what kind of people they are. They might not be willing to listen when we explain things."

"Nate..." I start.

"No Burns," Nate cuts me off, "it's our turn to protect you. We'll test the water first, you hear me?"

"Yeah," Blake agrees, "I don't want to have to explain to squirky if you're not with us when we go home. I've seen her mad before, thank you."

I sigh. "You shouldn't be risking yourselves for me."

"We've gone over this," Evan now cuts in, "you're one of us, Burns, and we protect each other."

"Might as well give in, Burns," Rachel sighs, "you're not going to win this."

I offer them all a smile. "Thanks guys."

It grows quiet as we settle in for the night. Evan takes up first watch. I wonder what this group of humans will be like and how many of them here will be. Will they accept me?

Slowly I doze off.

...

We wake up by Tom's soft warning. "There's people coming."

It's still dark outside. Only more than a few hours could have passed.

"Alright," Nate mutters, "stay out of sight. Let's see what we're dealing with first."

We hide when they enter the small space. Six of them. Two girls, four men. They seem to be in a good mood as they load up the van. The smallest girl, hardly bigger than a child, is laughing along with a broad build man that's holding her hand. He mutters something about having to hold her or she might float away.

Nate signals the others and within seconds they have their flashlights aimed at the newcomers' faces.

Human faces.

They freeze as they take note of our appearance and the weapons my friends have aimed at them. A second later they all start fumbling around in their pockets and that's when Nate steps out of hiding. "Steady now," he says, "everybody just keep calm. Wait, wait, don't be swallowing anything! Jeez, get a grip. No look!" He shines the flashlight at his own face. "See?" he says, "okay now. You don't shoot us, and we won't shoot you. See?" He places his gun on the ground and tells the others to follow his example. "We found your cache here, clever that, we were lucky to find it, and we decided we'd hang out and make your acquaintance. It's not every day you find another rebel cell." He laughs. "Look at your faces! What? Did you think you all were the only ones still kicking?"

The newcomers still haven't moved or spoken.

"Think they're in shock, Nate," Blake smirks.

"We scared them half to death," Rachel comments, "what do you expect?"

It remains silent a while longer. Then one of the men speaks up. "Who are you?" his voice is barely above a whisper.

Nate laughs again and introduces us one by one, though he skips over me. Does he think they won't notice?

But I don't dwell on it. My eyes have found something else. Or rather someone else. A timid little figure, hiding behind one of the men. It's the childlike girl. She's staring at me too.

"I'm Jared," I hear the man say and I focus back on the conversation as he introduces his friends. "Melanie, Aaron, Brandt, Ian and Wanda. There are thirty-seven of us altogether."

I notice how the man called Ian slightly moves to obscure the smaller girl from view and I have a good idea as to why. A small smile makes its way to my face.

"... and of course everyone need Burns now and then," Nate's voice cuts off abruptly.

Rob sighs. "Might as well get that out of the way."

"Okay, Rob's right," Nate says reluctantly, "let's get this out there. Now, all of you, take it easy and hear us out. Calmly please. This upsets people sometimes."

"Every time," Rob mutters.

"What?" Jared asks.

I step forward when Nate gestures at me. "This here is Burns. Now, he's with us, so don't go crazy. He's my best friend. Saved my life a hundred times. He's one of our family and we don't take kindly to it when people try to kill him."

"No," I say before things can get out of hand, "it's okay Nate. See? They've got one of their own." I point at the small girl and the man that hides her tenses. I smile. "Looks like I'm not the only one who's gone native."

I grin at the girl and walk over to her with my hand outstretched. The girl steps away from her protector to meet me. She's considerably smaller than I had first expected.

We shake hands. "Burns Living Flowers," I introduce myself.

Her eyes widen slightly. "Wanderer," she says.

"It's... extraordinary to meet you, Wanderer," I say, "and here I thought I was one of a kind."

"Not even close," she says to my surprise.

"Is that so?" I ask, "well, maybe there's some hope for this planet after all." I wonder at her story and if it's anything like mine.

"It's a strange world," she mutters.

I smile. How often have I said those same words? "The strangest," I agree.

A throat is being cleared and the other girl walks up to us. "Sorry to break this up, but we still have supplies to get."

"Well, we may be able to help you there," Nate says, "we just came back from a raid. We have a van full of goods a little ahead. You wouldn't happen to have a spare tire, would you?"

"You left a van out in the open?!" the man, Brandt, yells in disbelieve.

"Hey, take it easy," Blake says, "we parked it out of sight and we didn't know you lot were here, okay?"

"Calm down," Jared says. He looks over at the others. "We need to let Jeb know. They're right. We can help each other."

"You're gonna give away our things, Nate?" Rachel asks.

Nate gives her a stern look. "We need to help each other out, Rachel. We can raid more on our way home. They need supplies. We need to get our car fixed."

Wanderer smiles as the man that was hiding her earlier now appears at her side and wraps his arm around her rather possessively. His eyes are on me and they make me slightly uncomfortable.

"Ian?" Wanderer asks concerned, "are you angry?"

His eyes move to her. "No, of course not, Wanda."

She rolls her eyes. "Then will you stop glaring at Burns Living Flowers? I don't want you to scare my new friend."

"I'm still getting used to you using sarcasm," Ian shakes his head.

Wanderer smiles. "Mel rubbed off on me," she says and I hear the other girl laugh.

There's a story there.

Blake makes his way towards me and slaps my back. He grins at Ian. "Don't worry, big guy, Burns has a girlfriend at home."

A smile spreads across my face involuntarily. I wish Emma had been here for this. She would have been ecstatic.

Ian seems to relax a little at the mention of me having a girlfriend. Now that I think about it, he and Wanderer seem to be attached to one another. Am I like that with Emma?

Wanderer smiles at me brightly. "You have a girlfriend, Burns Living Flowers? Is she human or Soul?"

"Burns," I tell her, "and she is human. Her name is Emma."

Ian's arm wraps tighter around Wanderer, but the gesture is not possessive this time. It's loving.

"I would love to meet her one day," Wanderer says.

"I'm sure she would love to meet you too," I say.

"Ian," Jared interrupts while glancing at our group still a little wary, "why don't you and Aaron take Wanda back. Take half of them with you. Mel, Brandt and I will help the other half with their car. Then we'll join you."

The two men share a look and Ian nods.

"You're just gonna bring them to our place, Jared?" Brandt wonders, "we don't really know them."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tom says, "we're offering to share our goods with you and you treat us like criminals?"

"Enough," Jared says. He turns to us. "It's nothing personal."

"It's quite alright," Nate says seriously, "I would have done the same." He looks around our group as if deciding on who to send with them. His eyes land on me and he hesitates.

"I'll go with them, Nate," I smile reassuring.

Nate doesn't seem convinced, but Blake smirks. "Don't worry, Nate, I'll keep him out of trouble."

Nate nods. "Alright. Take Evan with you. And Rachel. The rest comes with me." He looks at Jared. "That good for you?"

Jared nods. "Fine by me." He motions everyone out of the hiding place and we split up.

"So," Blake grins, "Wanderer was it? That's a cool name. What planet is that from?"

Ian casts him an annoyed look, but Blake doesn't seem to notice.

Wanderer seems equally oblivious, though Blake's question seems to throw her off. "Oh," she stutters, "it's not from another planet." Her face turns red. "My Healer named me."

Blake blinks confused, but I smile at her kindly. "It is a very special name," I say, "it must mean you have seen a lot of worlds."

She nods.

"I've only been to two before Earth," I say, "the Mist Planet and Fire World. Never thought this one would become my home."

A sad smile passes over Wanderer's face. "I've been to almost all," she says.

I nod, though I am a little astonished. Almost all? I've never heard of that before. "Then you really did wander a lot before finding your home huh."

She blushes and hides her face in Ian's side. "Yeah."

"I can't wait to hear your story," Blake grins, "I wonder if it's anything like Burns'. Tell us, Wanderer, did you run half way across the country to find your lover?"

I know Blake. I'm used to his teasing nature. I know he means well, but Wanderer visibly stiffens and there is hurt in her eyes. And guilt. She bites her lip and looks down.

Ian notices it and quickly but gently moves her to his other side protectively while glaring at Blake. "Leave her alone."

Blake's smirk drops. "I didn't mean anything by it."

Rachel rolls her eyes. "When will you ever learn, Blake?" She turns to Ian. "Just ignore him. He doesn't know when to shut up."

I peer around Ian and smile. "You don't have to tell us, Wanderer. We wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable."

She bites her lip and takes a deep breath. "I know, Burns. It's just... it's not just my story... I'll ask the others."

"Of course," I say.

"So how far is it?" Evan asks after we've been walking for a while.

"Not far," Ian says, "just up ahead." He nods his head towards a large mountain range that we've been walking towards.

Blake whistles. "Nice."

Wanderer smiles. "Wait until you see inside."

"Where do you lot have your place?" Aaron asks us.

"Grandview Mine," Blake answers, "also known as Last Chance Mine."

"Mines huh," Aaron nods, "doesn't the entrance get noticed?"

"We know how to hide it and how to keep intruders out," Evan says, "has no one ever found this place"

"They have," Ian says grimly, "but like you, we have our defenses."

I study the mountains that are home to these people and again I wonder what they will be like. I am curious about those other Souls that Wanderer spoke about, the ones that also live with humans.

I'm not the only one anymore.

I hope we will become friends.