“We can’t all be Mad Hatters.”
-Howl’s Moving Castle
Blake
“Come,” I say once I’ve finished my lunch, or at least what’s supposed to pass for lunch, “I spoke about it with Nate and it’s time you two make yourself useful.”
I pull Emma to her feet and nod at her alien friend. She struggles free from my grip and I grin. “Don’t fret, squirky. I mean no harm.”
“Where are we going?” she questions.
“You’ll see.”
“Blake!” she growl
I roll my yes. “Just come.” I walk out of the room, knowing that she’ll follow me. “Try to remember the turns and curves,” I tell her, “you’ll have to find your way around and it’s easy to get lost here. We use the flashlights sparingly. We can’t just change the battery whenever we want.”
She nods seriously.
Burns keeps quiet. I find it hard to read him. But Emma trusts him, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
We turn a corner and arrive at the bathing area. “This is my task today,” I say and I point at the water stream we use for drinking. “Will and Philip built the filter to purify the water. We have to check it every day to see if it needs repairing.”
“That’s very interesting,” Burns says and I eye him carefully.
“You know something about engineering?”
“No,” he shakes his head, “but David was a mechanic. He fixed up cars.”
“David?” I question and I look at Emma confused.
“My host,” Burns explains quietly.
“You speak as if he is still here,” I narrow my eyes at him. The way he speaks of the human whose life he took so casually makes me angry.
Burns’ eyes sadden and beside him, Emma looks away.
There is an awkward silence.
“So,” Emma clears her throat, “what do you want us to do?”
I nod. “You can help haul water. We’ll need it for dinner and for drinking. After that, we’ll see if they need help at the greenhouse.”
“Greenhouse?” Emma blinks surprised and I smirk.
“We have to get our food from somewhere, squirky. There’s a lot of us and we can’t just go to the store.”
YOU ARE READING
Silver Lining - The Host fanfiction
FanfictionSomewhere in the future, Earth has been taken over by so called 'Souls'. Creatures that take over a human body, wiping out that human's mind. Their purpose? Creating a peaceful world where everyone is equal and where crime does not exist. But Earth...
