Jack looked at the old woman tentatively, with a complex expression on his face. The woman, Dora, remained silent for a few moments and titled her head to the side, visibly confused.
"What do you mean sir? What exactly are these Mercenaries? Are they the same as our Protectors? I can assure you sir our Protectors mean no harm really, their job is to keep the camps out of harm's way. I do not understand what you mean."
Jack titled his head a little as well, and arched his eyebrow.
"Oh? So we are playing dumb now, I see. Unfortunately Dora, I do not have time for this. I have a very specific set of skills, skills that make me a nightmare for little liars like you. If I wanted, I can rip out the hearts of every single civilian of these camps, starting with your Protectors you favor so much. Then finish off all the little children. It will be a fun culling."
Her eyes were suddenly wide open, so was her mouth. Before Jack could continue, she shot back at him.
"You would not dare! My Lord would never allow that! You–"
She suddenly pressed her mouth, her expression crumbling quickly. A new, complex emotion ignited in her eyes. She shivered slightly and looked at Jack, who just remained quiet. She opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it again.
So Jack was the one who broke the silence. His expression indifferent and tone even. Somehow that added a certain contrast to his already menacing demeanor, making Dora shudder involuntarily.
"Ah, have I not warned you about what I do to little liars old woman? It seems like you do not value your life or the lives of your one big family I see. Well it could not be helped. Now tell me, who is your lord exactly? And why were we not referred to him upon arrival?"
Dora remained quiet, prompting Jack to continue, his tone rising and falling with each word.
"Is that some kind of twisted joke? Am I a joke to you? You know what, I will entertain your nonsense if it means getting the information i want from you. So tell me old hag, who is your punk lord and where can I find them?"
She sighed helplessly.
"Please sir do not badmouth our lord so. He had done so much for us and will continue doing to until salvation came. He actually is the salvation, we are just not ready to face the calamities that lie beyond. So we are still safe, held together by the tendrils of his will."
She quickly remained silent and tried to compose herself. She must have realized that she had said too much. Way too much nonsense in one sentence, or at least that is what Jack thought.
He looked at the shadows still looming above the tent restlessly. They must have heard what he said earlier and called his bluff.
'Good.'
He turned to the elder woman and pouted.
"So are you planning on telling me who your lord is and why you call them that, or should I go and fetch my guns? They are on the plane I can assure you. And it will be so much easier and painless on your part. It is okay though, I will make sure you get to see and experience everything, okay?"
She shifted. Her mouth open wide.
"Please sir! You cannot do that! Please do not do that. Those people are innocent and have done nothing wrong. Please spare us."
Jack rolled his eyes.
"Oh please, I think you should spare me the chit chat. Tell me who your lord is, and why you refer to them as such. Since you do not wish to tell me what I want to know, then maybe your lord will be reasonable. Maybe they actually care about the civilians."
She looked at him somberly and sighed.
"Fine, I will tell but first, please promise me you will not do anything to the innocent people."
Jack just remained silent, so she continued.
"Our lord is the embodiment of the impossible. The curse has reaped many lives and wrecked havoc in its wake. Anyone who succumbs to the Dream dies, or so we thought. Until one day, a young man survived and awakened from the Dream, conquering the curse. We live under his protection now, and so he governs us with his miraculous powers granted to him by the curse."
"Whoa whoa whoa, back up lady. What do you mean curse? What curse, and what dream? You mean the disease? Your leader is immune to the disease?"
She shook her head.
"No it is not like that. Anyone who contracts it succumbs to sleep and dies, but not Lord Tristan. He is the first and only survivor of the Dream Curse."
***
"So what do you think of the situation? We are probably in trouble are we?"
James remained quiet, not knowing what to say. Benji sat down on his mattress and let out a sigh.
"I wonder what Jack is thinking? He is well aware of the consequences if we spent the night here. There are carriers of the disease here after all."
James looked at him somberly.
"He probably knows what he is doing. Do not forget Benji, he is the one who discovered the loophole in this whole disease thing. I mean it makes sense, in hindsight. There are dozens of carriers here and none of them are dying in their sleep, they must know something we do not. He must be trying to figure that out by using us as an experiment."
He paced around the tent and looked back at Benji.
"It is a very risky plan though. I am completely fine with being a test subject, but what about the others? They are still in the dark and have no idea what is happening. They are still under the impression that this place is safe, and so they are unprepared.
There is also something wierd happening in this place."
Benji raised his eyebrows.
"What do you mean?"
"You saw it too, didn't you? The look on that woman's eyes. It is the same look on those Mercenaries that raid camps in search of food and supplies. That glassy and lifeless look. The Protectors have it too. I wonder if it is an early stage of the disease or something like that, but seeing the way Jack is reacting, it is probably something deeper."
"Yeah it is true, i did notice it. But what threw me off is the fact that the elderly woman does not have the same lifeless look, and a few other civilians as well. So we can safely assume that they do not have the disease, at least not yet that is."
Benji remained silent for a few seconds and then continued.
"But that would not make any sense at all. The old lady told us that they have been together since the very beginning, and no one from the inside is allowed to join the camps – which is when the role of the Protectors came in. It is honestly a rather effective method to keep the disease at bay, but it also raises another question."
He looked away from James and said in a dark tone:
"Considering how long they have been here, they must have contracted the disease from each other and died a long time ago. How is it that they are still alive and disease-free? Do they know a certain method to evade or suppress the disease? Arghh this is all so frustrating. I suggest we look for Jack and ask for answers. He must have a tent around here somewhere."
"If he even does have a tent."
Benji turned to James and frowned.
"What does that even mean?"
"Please do not tell me you actually believed that woman Benji. I mean she was definitely lying. I know before I said maybe Jack had his reasons for advocating for this bullshit, but the more I think about it the more it made little to no sense. You see Benji, I do not even think that Jack is aware of these new sleeping arrangements. If they were a part of his plan, you and I would have known."
Benji remained silent, unsure what to say. The words died in his throat. What James had said made way too much sense, to him that is. He had asked himself that question before, and since he failed to come up with a satisfactory answer, he took the high road.
He was well aware that something weird was happening around them, but he needed a foundation for his assumptions. He knew that the woman was not telling the truth, but then decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. Not because he believed her but because risking their lives sounded like something Jack would do.
He also knew that Jack was up to something mischievous, but had zero idea what. His mind short circuited every time he tried to think about Jack's course of action. The man was simply too unpredictable, so Benji settled with what he would have done.
He could not have been so wrong.
He failed to account for the fact that there were still dozens of unconsidered facts, most of which they did not even know. He failed to consider the possibility that the woman was lying. He failed to consider the possibility that maybe they were being lured towards an alligator's maw and they were falling right into the trap.
His mind raced across countless possibilities, like it should have from the very beginning. He had failed to analyze the situation thoroughly, but not this time. He was going to go over ever sentence, every subtle expression and every tone he remembered from the few encounters with the civilians.
James had told him that if Jack was planning of doing something drastic, he would have told them. But that is not necessarily the case. Jack is incredibly smart and is well aware that their thoughts were still not safe, so would refrain from telling them anything that might result in them losing their memories.
Another daunting thought flashed through his mind. He went over all the possibilities, including the possibility that maybe he did tell me his plan, they just do not remember. If that is the case, then how many memories have they lost? How much information have they lost? How many times have they had the conversation.
There was something else that worried Benji above all else.
He looked at James with contempt.
"Do you remember any past conversations pertaining this situation? Have we begun forgetting stuff again?"
James looked back at him and shook his head somberly.
"I do not know. I do not remember having a conversation like this though. I do not think we have talked about this before. Wait, you do not think..."
Turns out they were thinking the same thing. Benji was afraid of that happening, but it seems like it was already inevitable, considering how close he was now to the suspect.
James had begun losing his memories as well.