Chapter 17: Misty

Asher was alone outside atop one of the many crudely constructed shacks that littered the boundary streets. He had washed all of the blood and mud off himself and changed into a black tracksuit, jumper and a large grey jacket .They had a ladder in his old house which he had used to climb up here. He had decided to keep the first watch while most of the others rested. It had only been a few hours since they had allowed the group of stragglers to join their own but it was obvious that they were all beyond tired, so they were resting while he and Elise kept watch. She was off somewhere on another similarly dishevelled roof keeping watch of the opposite direction he was. Surprisingly enough Todd had offered to keep watch instead of one of them to try and prove his usefulness no doubt, but Asher promptly shut that down leaving him and Elise to do the job. Even if he was pretty sure they were all too frightened of them to do anything he still wasn't going to let his guard down around the newcomers, they were strangers after all. The snow was really coming down now as it fell all around him, dampening his messy hair as it fell. Asher had hoped that it would begin to die down but it was showing no signs as of yet. If it continued like this the snow would begin to pile up more and more making it much harder to traverse the Boundary streets, increasing how long it would take to travel from place to place by a large margin but that wasn't what was really concerning him. No, the real issue as far as he was concerned was how easily they could be followed now as they would be leaving a trail behind them everywhere they went. Sighing he pushed the thought away, he already had enough issues swimming around in his head and he didn't fancy adding many more. 

He looked back at his old home which he could see clearly from his lookout spot. From the outside it looked just the same as always even though it had been thoroughly cleaned out inside. Looking at it he felt strange, almost sad as if he was gazing upon the corpse of something he once held dear which was peculiar as all he had ever wanted to do prior to the appearance of the veil was move out of the place. As long as he could remember he wanted to escape the Boundary and move to the city of Elpis and he had been so close, only one more month and he and Sarah could have been staying in the city of light. Oddly enough though he did not care one bit that they hadn't moved, no it all felt rather trivial to him now. While the Boundary wasn't exactly a pleasant place to live he and his mother were safe which he had truly taken for granted. He would give anything for this nightmare to end if it meant he and Sarah could move back into their old home, just like it had once been. Todd and his people were staying in his old home, while Josiah and Misty were staying in a separate house nearby. Sarah had opted to stay wherever Asher was keeping watch which Asher wasn't too surprised by. He knew his mother better than he knew anyone and she wouldn't be able to bear the thought of being far from him after the state they had found him in. She was sleeping below him and had protested to him keeping watch and demanded she do it instead but Asher could tell she was exhausted so had insisted he do it, which only upset her more but he knew she needed to rest. She hadn't slept at all and instead had stayed with him while he was recovering and to help the newcomers feel more relaxed in their new environment. The newcomers had looked puzzled seeing Sarah lecturing him and following him off as he went to keep watch. They had been frightened of him before but maybe they wouldn't be now after seeing him be babied by his mother.

Asher smiled. "You're ruining all my street cred mom!" Still he couldn't help but smile as he thought about it. 

Asher looked away from his house, and resumed his watch. A few hours went by before he saw a figure approaching from a nearby house, it was Misty. She waved at him and he waved back. A few minutes later of her trudging through the snow he heard the clang of the ladder as she made her way up. She was here to relieve him of his watch. She tossed a crappy fold up chair up ahead of her before climbing the last of the ladder steps and hopped up onto the roof where Asher stood. She was wearing a dark red jacket and blue jeans.

"What no chair?" She asked curiously. 

"Wanted to stay alert." 

"Suit yourself." She shrugged, picked up the chair and placed it beside where he stood. She unfolded it and plopped herself down into it. "Can I have the rifle?" 

Asher nodded and picked it up off the ground where he had left it.

"I'd rather you treated it with more care ya know it's got a strap." She sounded a tad agitated as she spoke. "It's my dads and he would be beside himself if it were to break." She continued the agitated tone leaving her voice. 

"My bad, I don't really know a whole lot about guns so I didn't want to be swinging it around." Which was through Asher felt like a novice when it came to firearms, especially after seeing how proficient Elise was with that handcannon of hers. Asher handed the rifle to her which she gently rested on her lap.

"No worries." She replied, They stood in silence for a while, neither one really knowing what to say to the other until eventually Misty spoke up. "I think I had the wrong idea about you." 

Asher turned to look at her. "Oh yeah?" 

"Yeah." She looked up at him. Her eyes studying him. "Well at first I thought you were a complete wimp if I'm being honest, I mean I did see you being consoled by Elise first and then your mother after. If I'm being honest I thought you were a complete pussy." 

Asher went a little red as he thought back on those shameful moments. With his mother was one thing but to hug Elise as well, would he ever be able to live such an embarrassing event down.

Well she certainly doesn't mince her words. 

Before he could sink further into his embarrassment and shame Misty continued. 

"If I'm being honest I thought you were a weak person. I figured Elise and Sarah had carried you along with them even though they had told me that you were smart and brave. When they told me that you had led the majority of the hoard away from them I thought for sure you were dead ,but the two of them were certain you'd survive. Then when we found you I was expecting to see some tough and grizzled man but to my surprise I saw a boy only a few years older than me. Needless to say I was disappointed." 

"Wow thanks for the kind words?" Asher muttered. 

"But I didn't say anything kind?" Misty replied with a puzzled look on her face. 

Asher blinked, surprised by her response. "No I meant… It was a joke.. I was being sarcastic." 

"Oh right." 

The two of them looked at each other for a moment as an awkward silence enveloped them both. Asher was at a loss, he was so used to Sarah and Elise being just as sarcastic as he was that he was stumped when someone didn't understand it. Misty on the other hand just didn't get why what he said was supposed to be funny.

"Ehem, Em yeah so you were saying." Asher blurted out, trying to break the awkward silence. 

"Oh yeah right. Well I thought you were a weakling that would drag us down is basically what I was saying. Misty said bluntly. 

Asher was about to make another sarcastic remark but decided against it, just in case it would result in another one of those uncomfortable silences. 

Misty continued. " However when I saw you talk to the newcomers today I saw another person than the one I'd created in my head. In that moment the one they all feared was you, even though you're not a big guy, or particularly physically imposing they were all afraid of you. They may have been in awe of Elise but it was you they feared. Even though you had no weapon, your presence is what made them back off. Made me think that maybe I shouldn't judge people so quickly in the future, because even though we were on the same side I had underestimated perhaps the most dangerous one of us." 

Asher stood still, thinking about what she said. She was right in some ways, he had no doubt that he had scared Todd and the others in their interaction but was he really the main reason they backed off? He had felt strange as he spoke to them thinking back on it, before his run in with the hoard and that horrific dream he had he had been much more nervous about coming across other survivors, yet this time he felt not even a sliver of fear. Was it because he was so confident they would win, I mean they did have Elise with them so they had an unmistakable advantage, as well as Misty holding a gun and Sarah sneaking up from behind. Still it was a possible life or death situation, he could have died very easily if things went bad, yet in the moment he felt completely numb to the threat they posed. No… Asher knew the reason he wasn't afraid of them. It was simple really, no matter the threat they posed they were nothing in comparison to whatever that thing lurking in the darkness was, no other event could make him feel that dread no matter how dangerous it may be. Comparing Todds group to the Lord or whatever the hell it is was like comparing the heat of a candle to that of the sun. 

"Hello." Misty was leaning forward and looking up at him. "Are you awake in there?" 

Asher looked down at her, her deep brown eyes meeting his. If it wasn't for Asher being accustomed to being around Elise she might have had the prettiest eyes he had ever seen, in fact if not for Elise she might have been the prettiest girl he had ever seen. He had never seen anyone from the Boundary that was as healthy looking as her. Her skin was dark, smooth and supple, in comparison to his own pale and harsh skin. It made him wonder what type of life she had lived up to this point. 

After a few seconds of looking at each other Misty looked and her face turned a little pink. Asher didn't even notice, too lost in thought to pay it any heed.

 "Oh it's nothing, just thinking is all." he replied. 

"Okay. By the way arne't you gonna go to sleep? I mean your shift is over." She replied,her voice a little softer now. She was still averting her gaze from his. 

Asher thought she was being a little odd but he thought she was odd in general after she didn't get his sarcasm. "I don't think I'll sleep tonight, you can go back to sleep and I'll stay up." While he wasn't really tired, he had other reasons for not wanting to sleep. The thought of being in that place with all those eyes watching him and that thing moving through the void made his skin crawl. He wasn't sure if he would ever willingly sleep again. 

Misy nodded but didn't go to get up and leave. The two of them kept watch for the remainder of the night, the awkward silences growing less frequent throughout.