Fathoms Below

Chapter 2: The Rules

Back at their shelter – a derelict plastic shack abandoned somewhere in the 2200s – Seymour spent his rage.

"What are the rules? What are they, Adelaide?"

She didn't meet his eye, scrunching lower in her lawn chair at the lopsided card table.

"One: we only go out at night." Seymour paced the length of the shack, one hand behind his back while he counted off with the other. "Two: we stay away from the water." He spun around, and she felt his gaze boring into her. "And what's four, Adelaide?"

"Mind your own business," she muttered, staring down at her hands.

"Exactly. Mind your own damn business. Don't interfere with the UnKept. Don't interact with one unless you have no choice. Did you have a choice tonight, Adelaide?"

She twisted, guilt swelling. "Yes."

"YES. Yes you did. You could have stayed hidden. That boy would have looked around the room, seen nothing, and gone back out calling for a false alarm. But no. You had to take out some unreasonable aggression out on a –"

"Unreasonable?" Adelaide's head snapped up, her lips pursing into a thin line. "They destroyed the last pure water source! They desecrated a sanctuary for both plants and humans alike with their selfish, disgusting..." she tapered off, unable to think of a wicked enough word to use against the UnKepts. "Monsters," she finally hissed, folding her arms.

Seymour pinched the bridge of his nose and sucked in a steadying breath. "Six years. Six years I've gone over this with you, and it just won't stick. How many times do I have to warn you of the dangers we face before you actually listen?"

Adelaide glared at the thin plastic of the shack wall, the chill of the night seeping into her bones, resting in her aching muscles. "If you would just let me go see if there were plants by the ocean –"

"Enough with the ocean! We don't go to the ocean. That water is polluted and unsafe."

"But plants could still grow there."

"Plants growing in oil-infested waters? I doubt there'd be much edible there. Let it go, Adelaide. If I've told you once I've told you one thousand times – there's nothing for us down by the ocean. We don't go there. It's dangerous."

"I'm eighteen. I can make my own choices. You're barely twenty-four. You can't tell me what to do."

"If I didn't, you'd be dead tonight."

"I had the situation handled. You don't always need to protect me. I could have stopped him." She felt her face flush at the lie.

The withering glare from Seymour cowed her defiance. "I took you in as a useless twelve year old, gave you food and shelter, and kept you alive. If you want to repay me for all my hard work by running to your death, by all means – the door is right there." He swept his arms toward the sheet they'd hung over the entrance.

Adelaide didn't move, tears filling her eyes. In her periphery, she saw Seymour's broad shoulders relax, his head tilting back as he stared at the ceiling only a few inches above his head.

"I know you don't understand, but I'm trying to keep you safe. I've lost enough people to know the risks, okay?" He moved to kneel before her. "I don't want to lose you, too."

There had been others, she knew—others he'd lost before he met her. Adelaide knew what'd become of them. The UnKepts had a very specific menu selection for people who stole from them.

"You won't," she said, meeting his soft brown eyes, wanting to see something there – something more than just frustration and friendship, but was once again disappointed.. "Thank you for saving my life."