"Milana."
Hearing my name somewhere in a memory, I opened my eyes to see no one. Morning had come and I continued to glance around as I stretched. A dream, but one that I failed to remember.
Remembering seeing a stream nearby in my gathering of sticks, I knew I just needed a wash to the face to snap me back to the present. The sun was just barely coming over the horizon with a stunning gold peeking through a rare sight of sky. The short walk allowed me to stretch out my limbs for another day of traveling. Reaching the stream, I felt an odd sense of being watched.
Kneeling, I cupped the water in my hands and splashed it over my forehead and cheeks. Droplets fell to my loose faded blue t-shirt and some onto my torn jeans. I kept the front of my shirt tucked into my pants to help with moving easily as the back usually just kept undoing itself anyway. My shoes had seen better days, but they were old hiking shoes to help me tread the varying ground in the forest. Even they were starting to get wet in the stream as I enjoyed the moment of the cool water. The refreshing hit of ice-cold water made me gasp, feigning to be none the wiser as I heard a slight brush against the foliage. Someone was trying to remain undetected, and they had the advantage of the thick cover of the woods. Standing up, I stretched. However, I could feel them there. Turning quickly, they were right behind me.
One very tall adult man, dark brown hair, and tan skin with eyes a crystal-clear blue. His forearms had veins that showed his fitness as he held out a dagger to my throat. Already not my day.
"You're alone?" I asked, being very sick of being snuck up on. Obviously, I was losing my touch.
"You first," he demanded as he eyed me for weapons.
"I don't kiss and tell, sorry." Tilting my head to the side, I met his eyes, and they were very challenging. Despite his less than welcoming greeting, I didn't hate him.
"I heard there was a lone traveler around these parts. A few men back at the city had a few choice words to say about her. I would have to say, you don't disappoint," he said not putting down his dagger, but smirking as he tilted his head as well. He liked games, so I supposed I would play.
"You know them? Your friends are rather rude," I stated not sensing they were actually friends.
"My friends are being dragged back to Eagle Point Order. Not exactly the best of company and they stole from us." Narrowing his eyes, I could tell the thought of being associated with them made his skin crawl too. So, we did agree on something.
"An Order boy? Not my type then, looks like you go on your way, and I'll gladly get away from any Order and those associated with them," I said moving away with a quick movement as he kept his blade up and eyes on me with a piercing look.
"I'm not too keen on Wild ones myself, but you did help slow them down. For that I'll call a truce if you'd like to keep your life." He was approaching me again but this time lowering his weapon and stretching out his other hand as he sheathed it at his waist.
"I've had enough male attention to last me a lifetime in the last day, I will just agree to get you out of my way." This guy was persistent to be noble, and it made me uncomfortable. What was so wrong with just calling it a day and leaving me to my own devices? I didn't think there was an Order right here, but then my information was not exactly new.
"Considering you're on the border of the Eagle Point Order, I'd say that's agreeable if you leave." Putting his hands on his hips, he seemed intense and protective. Great, he was probably in charge of the Order.
"Fine," I called to him as I left flipping him a particular finger as I did, leaving him shaking his head as I went back into the woods. "Have it your way," I mumbled before hearing twigs snapping across the stream.
A yell and steel upon steel alerted me that these weren't his friends either. Looking back, I could see the struggle as five men were fighting him at once. They were barbaric in their movements, looking to be uncalculated as he was the opposite. Movements flowed from him to fight each one even though they were relentless. I should have turned back. I should have left him to his own devices. However, when I saw what looked like a dagger blade strike his upper arm leaving a thick slice against his flesh allowing blood to flow freely, I just couldn't. My kind heart would kill me one day, I was warned that more than once.
"Oh, lookie here, a pretty one." They were trying to surround him until they saw me. Their attention drawn, I looked at him and he seemed confused. Why a Wild would protect an Orderly was beyond even me. Against everything I stood for, here I came back to make sure he didn't die. At least here, anyway.
"You think I'm pretty." Stepping forward, I put a hand to my heart and smiled coyly. "Too bad you have no idea."
When the first one lunged at me, I took his arm with his makeshift short sword and twisted it as I flipped sideways. Mine. Backing up cautiously, I looked at the blue-eyed man and nodded. "Truce, you say?"
"I'll take it," he agreed as we went back-to-back and attacked who was in front of us.
The larger man who called me pretty went down without too much of a struggle and the others soon followed, although one did get me in the lip. I spit out the blood and turned around to see him still bleeding profusely from his arm. Rolling my eyes, I approached him as he tensed. Eyeing his wound, I looked back to his eyes and arched an eyebrow.
"You need your arm cleaned. Who knows what kind of infection will fester from that weapon before he tried to cut off your arm." Ripping my t-shirt at the hem, I used the stream water to saturate it with water. Ringing it out, I saw him staring at me with caution as I wiped up the blood down his arm, dunking the cloth as I needed to as I made my way up to the cut.
"Why did you help me?" My temporary truce helper's voice alluded that he was beyond confused. Well, to be fair, so was I.
"Didn't seem right, and they were rather rude. I'd rather not see you die to Scavengers. At least die honorably, if that's even a thing anymore.," I answered not knowing what the real answer was.
He flinched as I pressed into his wound a bit.
"Oops, sorry." I felt bad, but then I remembered when my brother would be a baby when mom took care of his wounds. "I hate to ask, but how far is it for you to reach somewhere to treat this properly?"
He looked at me with a torn expression. "Not far."
"Day, minutes, hours?" I rolled my hands to signal some extra clarity was needed.
"Less than a couple of hours," he finally answered, aggravated as he knit his brows together and turned away.
"There you go, so I can leave you now. You spared me and I saved you, so we can just be done now, right?" I saw him sway taking a step forward as I talked. "Or not." I stepped forward to catch him, but he caught his own body on a large rock before steadying himself.
"I don't need your help." Pushing himself off of the rock with a grimace. His ears showed a tinge of red.
"The heck you don't. You aren't even able to stand here, and you have lost a lot of blood." Signaling to the ground below him that displayed more than enough evidence. "I'll take you back to your Order but then we are more than even."
"It's not my Order. I'm the Second," he admitted although he seemed flattered that I thought of him as the leader.
"Does Second have a name?" I asked as I raised my eyebrow because he thought so highly of his station. Glorified judge and executioner as far as I was concerned and familiar with.
"Does wild girl have a name?" He asked, countering my question, I couldn't help but admire his stubbornness.
"Milana." I shrugged my shoulders. He seemed surprised by my answer.
Shaking his head, he looked at me and smirked. "Thor." His tone matched mine, as if we finally came to common ground.
His eyes were piercing, but there was a softness. His blue eyes gazed into mine as if trying to read my intentions.
"Good, now we can get going." I motioned my hands forward so he would lead the way. His gaze was searing into mine, and yet it took all I had to pull away from it. The first steps were awkward as he had his suspicions. So, I continued, "I'm not going to eat you. I just want to get you out of my business so I can move on with mine."
The corner of his mouth pulled up in a smirk as he turned and walked forward. Silence fell between us as we cautiously moved through the thick brush of the forest. I wondered about his Order for a moment as he didn't seem to be like most Seconds of an Order. Seconds were brutal and did what the Leaders couldn't. Thirds were more of the peacekeepers to cover for the Seconds and support the Leaders as more of a spy through the Order and community. This Second seemed to be an odd match to the role. However, his calmness in the fight showed more so that he was more than capable of killing if needed.
"I hear you sighing back there." The amusement from his voice caused me to pause my movement for a moment before continuing forward. A small tick I tended to have when trying to understand a situation. "Don't tell me you're admiring my backside when you have obviously robbed me of the mutual privilege."
My body immediately flushed a bright red. I could feel the heat in my cheeks, chest and even my stomach did a betraying flip. Men, and people in general, were not exactly on the top of my 'good' list, and even though I was not admiring him as he was thinking the accusation was enough to send my mind into an overloaded situation. "I was not. I just was confused on how you are a Second. You seem more like a Third." Clearing my throat, I looked away from him. Not that he wasn't clearly attractive, even with the scars lining his biceps and collarbone.
"I was one once. Second was more of an offering than a taking of mine. I didn't have much of a choice when the Second became our Leader. I owed him." Shrugging, he arched an eyebrow and sat on a fallen log. We had been walking for a solid hour by now, so I sat down on the ground with my back against a wide trunk. "Why are you interested?"
"I'm not. Seems you have a habit of owing people." Reading him was complicated which made him perfect for a Third, but a Second is more like a brutal hunter. The Thirds find intel and act more secretly before an issue gets out of hand. Seeing how he could hold his own in a fight, it was interesting to see where he fell on the hierarchy. However, he seemed to ignore my quiet insult and carried on.
"Luckily, our Order is rather peaceful. Our Leader keeps it that way. The people like him and so not many people revolt against him. My job is more so scouting. I heard there was trouble nearby from another Order, came to Chicago to seek it out, found the men who took you, and returned them to where they belonged, then I ran into you, and got into this mess from the leftovers." Pointing to his wound then he clapped his hands together once. "I'm surprised you've made it this long without an Order."
"Trust me, I would have a shorter lifespan with one. My grandmother was one from before the Calamity, she taught me what I needed to know." She was young then, just a teenager. The knowledge she had kept me alive. My parents were killed in the Desert Order they joined, so my grandmother kept me hidden and safe as a Wild. The Order betrayed them, and I was not about to join up with one now if I could avoid it.
"Before the Calamity?" His eyes lit up in wonder with that knowledge.
"She taught me about the war between nations and other things." The nuclear aftermath of the clouds, the death of nations and governments, the asteroid from the sky that sealed our fate into what it is now. I looked up at the sky, but when I saw his movement of leaning towards me, I couldn't help but curve my lips into a smile.
"That knowledge is almost lost already. Death is inevitable here, but with this knowledge we can pass it down for others. Is she still alive?" His voice was fast and excited, but I couldn't help but frown.
"I don't know." She took me in, and we were always traveling. About a year and a half ago I woke up and she wasn't there. All she left was a note. Basically, it told me that she shared all there was to know and to keep living life how I wanted to. Shrugging trying to not sound bothered, either way I was an adult to make my own choices and she to hers.
"That knowledge though, if you have it then it would mean the world to us if you could document it. Our Leader is into that kind of stuff of what really happened, and it could give you a place to stay for a time until you decide what to do next." His offer was tempting, but only because of the flattery. I would be useful to someone other than myself. While living on my own I couldn't think of much else, so the thought was new to me.
"I'm just tagging along to make sure you get home to your Order, that's all. I am a Wild, I am more comfortable out here than in an Order. While it is odd that your Leader is interested in what really happened rather than going on about a false god or deity, me staying at your Order is just not going to happen." I crossed my legs and folded my arms as I saw his body slump. We don't always get what we want, and this was just a time I didn't want to deal with an Order.
"Not even just to document and then go on your way?" His voice sounded innocent enough, but it felt like a mind game. His offer made sense, and my grandmother always told me to give the knowledge to those who seek it if I trusted them with it. Key words being if I trusted them. He didn't give me a reason to distrust him, just not much of a reason to trust him. Not killing me was nice, offering me a place was nicer, but I knew nothing of his Order and their true intentions.
"That depends. I know nothing of your Order's lifestyle." He said their Leader is well-liked but that doesn't guarantee my safety. Orders can be evil as much as people cling to them in their mindsets. "They can be good, but I don't see very many of those." My voice rose in frustration. Usually, it's people who don't want to think for themselves and so they follow a person who tells them how to live for a year or two before the Leader is killed off then the rules change completely for that Order.
"Still, people cling to hope." His voice was calm, and he let out a deep breath before continuing. "A lot of us were members of those Orders you talk about. Our Leader was tortured by one, his family murdered, but that's why he's so determined to be a fair ruler. I was born into a strict Order, my sister married off to the Leader, but I could never see her again. Our Third is a mystery, but his lack of opening up about it spells out a lot on his own hardships. We started by keeping refugees of Orders safe until we just made our own. Look, we want to know what happened in the Calamity, but we also need someone who has that knowledge first or second hand in this case. A teacher to help others understand would be ideal, but we won't hold you hostage."
"I'll see for myself. Only then will I consider your offer." I sighed as he started making sense to me. Maybe this wasn't the worst situation. The brutal summer would be approaching in a couple of months, and it was hard to find safe shelter in this region.
"Excellent. I think we should keep going since it smells like rain is coming." Sniffing the air he continued on with a smirk. Cocky little Second.
The acidic earthy smell of rain was never too far off here. Early spring was always brutal for weather here. Tornadoes were also another outcome if the storm was bad enough. Some called them devil's breath now which felt more accurate, but the swirling vortex of doom that once was called a tornado was never a good sign.
Thor's strides were longer than before as we wanted to beat the rain. His stature was tall and his shoulders were wide. The toned muscle of his arms went into a toned upper back and their movements were not missed by my eyes that I kept having to tear away. His dark brown hair was pulled up into a short low ponytail with some front tendrils that escaped and flew free. I wouldn't be surprised if many women approached him for his looks.
Before I could think about it any further, I could see where the Order was as we crested over a hill. My eyes widened in wonder. It was an old safety bunker I was told about so many times by my grandmother. Imbedded in the side of the hill, there were windows about ten rows high and several more columns wide. Underneath the ground would be a safety tunnel for food storage, more housing, and emergency services from doctors to fire fighters back before the Calamity.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Thor said looking very proud. "The Leader and I found this place when our old home was destroyed by some devil's breath a couple days hike to the west. No one claimed it yet, so we did. A fortress of our own to keep us all safe, at least from the elements."
In front of the Order's keep, I could see a market of sorts, people wandering around and small makeshift booths. Usually Orders didn't have markets, it was all to keep control that people had rations. Outside of the fenced area there were small farms. Fields of food, and much more I presumed, and as we approached, people were laughing with each other and waving at Thor. People only eyed me for a moment before turning back to their work. Were they so accepting? Such a world was new to me, but I didn't want to hope. Hope was a foreign concept that I needed to keep away from me in terms of finding an Order to belong to.