A Breath of Fresh Air - e.w.

8

Lia could feel the eyes on her from the newcomers. Each of them switching places, but both watching curiously. Leo stayed closed to his sister, constantly checking over her as he looked around camp. The adults could already see the dynamic between the two. The trust and protective nature between them. While Leo clearly took the leadership role, based on the blood, Lia could definitely keep her own.

"Do you have a training ground?" Leo asked the adults who looked at the boy confused.

"Training ground?" Joel questioned.

"To train your soldiers," Leo clarified.

"We don't have soldiers," Maria tells the teenagers. Lia kept her head down, but her ears were open, "We have volunteers who trained to go out. We don't make anyone here do what they don't want."

The twins nodded, but they were focused on the town. It was amazing, really. Everything about it felt different than the Haros'. It felt comfortable, warm and like a real community.

Both the twins received looks from others. Although, it was mainly Lia since she had more blood on her and the black paint drew attention. She wasn't surprised - she would be staring at herself if the positions were reversed.

"Don't worry about them," Lia heard a voice next to her. From the corner of her eyes, she saw that it was Ellie, "They stared at me too when I first arrived."

Lia nodded her head ever so slightly, keeping her eyes away from the girl as she gulped. Lia knew that she could speak now, she knew she was gone, but her whole life she was trained to stay quiet and keep your head down. There was very few people she broke that rule for.

Besides, Lia wasn't sure if she could even trust her own voice right now.

"You said that the patrollmen were volunteers," Leo said, "We would like to train for that," Leo volunteered the two twins. Lia's eyes glanced at Leo's for only a second. She didn't want to go back out there. Lia didn't know if she wanted to be a patrollers.

"We can talk about that more later," Maria said carefully, glanicng to the girl, "For now, we can show you to your place and get you settled and cleaned up."

Leo frowned. He was already eager to do something more helpful, but he nodded anyways and followed the Jackson leader as she lead them to the place the were staying.

Lia felt the familiar are you okay? Tap on her hand and she sent a small yes back to Leo as they walked behind the leader. Once again, Joel and Ellie saw it. This time, Tommy saw it too, so they figured it was something between the twins.

The two stopped in front of a small bungalow house. They looked over at Maria who crossed her arms, "I just got one last question before you two go. That man Lia killed, the one in the bush, was he from your old town."

"Yeah, he was one of the soldiers," Leo said.

"Pretty young for a soldier."

"I was one too," Leo shrugged, "There was a lot of young people there. Lot of old ones too. I wouldn't be too sad about him being dead, he used to hurt his breeder-"

"Don't call them that," Maria sighed, glancing at Lia who stood stiffly, "You're not there anymore."

"I don't know what else to refer to them as," Leo said hesitantly, "I didn't know their names."

"You didn't know their names? How big was your group?"

"Hundred, maybe. Don't know what's left of them. If there are any others left, they'll use the methods they're taught to survive. They attack smaller groups, tricks them into helping and then takes them out."