In Saving the Imperfect

29. The fate of our friends

"So, Malia and Zander are playing missionaries." Layne attempted to lighten the mood, but Iker's face didn't change. He just opened the door and motioned for Layne to follow him. Before leaving, Layne grabbed his old jacket. Not only because it was going to be cold outside – he just wasn't willing to part with it again.

They were outside. Layne was stunned to see... how normal everything was. The world wasn't going to hell just because his brain was telling him that. The sky wasn't red, the bombs weren't dropping and there wasn't even a thunderstorm in the distance. Only another autumn day with brown and golden leaves covering the grass and some people minding their own business.

They walked through the village. Normal. Just two friends doing whatever they were supposed to be doing, just like everyone else. Which was weird to think of, as Layne never considered Iker to be his 'friend'. Iker was the weird silent guy in the corner of the cabin who only ever talked to his brother. Layne doubted this adventure was going to change anything.

He controlled his breathing but his heartbeat didn't listen to commands. It was going wild. Drops of sweat covered his forehead and his armpits started feeling moist. He was even more so glad he was wearing appropriate clothes then – it shouldn't show through that way and no one would think it was weird, considering the chilly weather.

Victor's voice reached him just in time for them to jolt behind a nearby cabin. He was talking to Alana and Layne just couldn't concentrate enough to listen to it. All he could think of was how wrong could the situation get. Victor could hear them, or maybe someone else could see them hiding.

Iker poked his head around the corner and retreated quickly. Then, he looked over again and stuck out his hand, holding his thumb up. Soon enough, both Alana and Victor started moving away. When their voices faded away, Layne breathed out loudly and his heartbeat calmed down. Iker waved at him to keep going and so they went.

Once they reached the end of the village, relief flooded through Layne's body in the form of warmth. There was no way someone would have stumbled upon them in the forest, at least someone who could have been a threat. Iker didn't stop and kept leading him deeper.

Finally, he stopped. Layne looked around, but their location didn't show any signs of being different or special in any way. They were surrounded by a bunch of old trees and some bushes. That's it.

"This is where we're supposed to meet up with the rest?" he asked.

Iker nodded at a medium sized rock that Layne hadn't thought of being significant. "Next to this. I'm pretty sure."

Layne sat on the ground and fixed his eyes into the distance. Iker joined him there but they didn't talk. They had nothing to talk about, they didn't know each other. As more time passed, Iker started glancing at his wrist. Layne raised his eyebrows and attempted to make out what was he looking at – there was no way he had a watch. And he didn't. There was nothing there.

Layne couldn't take it. "What do you keep looking at?"

"Habit from Eumain." Iker chuckled. "I used to wear a cheap watch that Zander had gotten me for my birthday one year. That kinda stayed."

"Huh... So, how long till they're supposed to show up?"

Iker squeezed his lips together. "Well, we didn't set a time frame or anything. They'll probably be here soon."

Layne looked at him for a little bit more and fixed his attention to the direction of the village once again. He did notice the guy starting to get pale. Something was wrong. They were late.

He stood up and stretched his body as tall as possible as if that would have helped him see better. It didn't. More important, he didn't hear anything out of the ordinary, neither. He looked back at Iker. "We should get closer to the village. They might be in trouble."

"We- we couldn't help them, either way." Iker shook his head. "They're fine, they just... Don't have clocks. Neither do we. Maybe less time passed than we think."

Layne sighed and sat back down. In a way, he was relieved. He felt the urge to act 'heroic' just because he gave in to Victor that time and thought he needed to make up for it. Especially since Iker's brother was still there in the village. He didn't really want to go there. He just wanted to be safe, which he knew wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Or ever.

He heard footsteps when the source was still far away. Would have been hard not to – whoever that was, they were not trying to be silent. They were running. Fast.

Both of them jumped up and waited to see who would appear. Layne wasn't sure what to prepare for: fighting or running. It didn't take long before two women emerged in his field of view.

"Run!" Malia ordered but seeing Iker stand in place, Layne didn't rush to do as told.

"Where's Zander?" Iker yelled out in a high-pitched voice. At that point, Malia was close enough to snatch him by the arm and push him forward.

"Come on, go!"

Layne waited for Alana to catch up and started jogging in her pace. The woman was already panting but refused to stop. He decided that it wouldn't have been good to try to talk to her. Instead, he took her hand and gently pulled her forward, only hoping that it wouldn't make it worse.

Malia made a sudden stop and looked back. "Layne, you have to show us the way."

He didn't like the thought of that. If they were being chased, they'd lead them right to those innocent people. On the other hand, they already knew where the village was – at the very least, Victor did. Of course, he would have known where they were the second he'd notice Layne gone. There wasn't any way to prevent it in the first place.

He nodded and paced forward while Malia took his place with Alana. Iker, pale and visibly distressed, still didn't want to run, so Layne had to pull him by the arm, slowing them down significantly. He didn't even feel bad doing so. If Malia and Alana told them they had to run, it meant they had to run. They were the ones who knew the situation.

The village was relatively far away and they couldn't run for long. Layne kept glancing back at Alana until he realised that she wouldn't make it any longer. She was drenched in sweat and had severe difficulty breathing. Malia wasn't doing the best herself and Layne was starting to feel it as well.

It got to him that he never even saw any signs of them being chased. It was easy to dismiss not hearing the persecutors as it was hard to hear anything in the situation. Still, even going the fastest they could as a group, they were slow. They should have been caught already.

He stopped and so did everyone else. Malia clutched her stomach and Alana leaned forward, pressing on her knees. While everyone took their time catching their breath, Layne tried his best to listen to any possible danger, yet his ears felt heavy and he couldn't hear much besides his own panting and heartbeat.

"What's going on?" he stammered.

"Wrong people heard." Malia struggled to talk and Layne had to listen carefully to make out the words. "They got Zander and we-we had to retreat. I don't think they actually followed us."

"Why did we have to run?" He wanted to yell but instead, he whispered.

"We thought they would."

He started laughing but coughing took over.

"Let's walk," Alana suggested. "Just... Slowly."

They nodded. Except for Iker. He stood there with an expression of stone and refused to move. Layne wished he would have known what to do about it. But he didn't. So, he just pulled Iker behind him. He didn't resist.