Brave New World Chapter 22: New Path 👽

[Some time in the past]

"Are you sure, Ann?" Caroline asked for the tenth time that day.

"Are you seriously doubting your best friend's leadership skills?" I replied, getting annoyed.

"Of course not! I'm just worried how will you balance the duties of class representative while being Mister William's student assistant, and working on your research thesis." She passed me my Oreo-smoothie order and then received her coffee from the girl on the counter.

"Don't worry. I have a plan. I already made the schedule and I'll just have to stick to it. Everything will go smooth as butter." I was so confident.

"Smooth as frozen butter on un-toasted bread, you mean?" She snickered making me glare at her.

"A little support would be nice." I remarked as I sipped from my cup.

"I do support you, Ana." She sighed, " It's just, I've never seen to actually stick to any time table or schedule, ever! And we practically grew up together."

"One: We did grow up together. And two: There is always a time for first step. And this is going to be it, because I really want to do this. All of it. You'll see." I assured her as we walked out of the café.

#

[Present Time]

Mark had thought well about the situation. Clearly, there was no right way to go about it but what he had said made sense. I kind of understood why people respected him, he kept his cool even in such strange circumstances.

He had asked us to gather supplies, only as much as we could carry. He wanted us all well-rested and fed before leaving the mansion forever. We had a long way and by the way announcement had happened, we were sure that our path held hardships.

Like always, Mathew was hell-bent on staying. His friends were taking turns, making sure no one took anything from the kitchen. Not even Mark could make him see sense. At that point, nothing made sense anyway.

One by one we had showered and tried to sleep. We were supposed to leave at dawn break. By that time, nearly seventy of us had packed our stuff in backpacks and were gathering in the living area to leave. Mark was giving a motivational speech to the hopeless juniors.

"Yall are gonna die, listen to the old man if you want to die!" Mathew came from behind.

"Matty, please stop," Nora begged from beside Mark. Her plea went ignored by her ex-boy-toy who kept scaring the juniors.

"Mathew, you don't want to come, it's okay. But you don't have the right to force anybody else to stay when you have no idea about the consequences of defying," Mark didn't have to explain but we knew he meant the consequences of not following the rules given by our alien hosts.

"It's not forcing if they don't want to go. By the looks of it, you are the one who's forcing these to follow you, when they are clearly too scared to even stand!" To prove Mathew's point a girl of fourteen burst into sobs.

"If any of you wants to stay with Mathew here, nobody will force you to leave. But following through this guide is highly recommended." Mark told the kids as he raised the device with the digital map to show everyone.

"Recommended by who? You?" Mathew taunted, didn't wait for a response, turned around, and left with his lackeys.

"If anyone wants to follow him, this is the time. Just remember, staying won't lead you back to your homes, leaving doesn't promise that either. But at least there will be a chance. The choice is yours." Mark told the kids, who began whispering to each other, each trying to convince their friends, or relatives, to either leave with them or stay with them.

After about ten minutes, lots of hugs, tears, and a fight later, five juniors quietly headed to the gym where Matt had gone earlier.

Mark sighed but didn't say anything. Nora stood beside him, which was surprising since everyone had expected her to stay with her 'Matty' but looked like self-preservation came first.

And just like that, fifteen minutes later, after double-checking everything (and raiding the kitchen supplies, since Mathew had dropped the curfew) sixty-five of us stepped onto the dewy morning grass, into the crisp morning air with the promise of a fine day ahead. What it meant to leave the mansion I didn't know, but to those who had called it home for nearly two months, it was sentimental.

Our first steps were heavy like our hearts as the descent began down the hill towards the tall pine trees to the path that was shown on the map to lead us to the finish line. Every second was full of dread, we all walked silently. Our mental baggage was heavier than that on our backs. Since we were going down the slope carrying the bags full of supplies, it did not weigh on us as much as where we were headed and what awaited us.

Nora had been dutifully beside Mark all this time. Which was annoying for a lot of us, but none of us dared to say it yet. We all had our own problems to focus on. Who had given Nora the authority to lead us? We did not know. But we were not following Nora. We were following Mark. I made a mental mode of bringing up this point whenever we next stopped during the day. The most annoying part was that Mark had not tried to take the map from Nora once, or even tried to put her in her place. Despite the way, she had treated most of us all this time in the mansion. It is not like he was unaware of her tactics.

Maybe due to the fun of leading all of these people, she seemed to have forgotten her Matty. After a while, she had even begun giving orders and asking questions to the juniors. The poor kids followed her around like they had been following her back in the mansion. So far, all I wanted to do was ignore her and that is what all the rest of us were doing.

The terrain was different than what I was used to, but it wasn't something I could not do anymore. Walking had become a habit. It was a habit that I was thankful for because now it was coming in very handy. I could finally understand what the announcement had meant when they said that we had accumulated skills and they were going to come in handy. What else was going to be expected of us? I had no idea. And that feeling of the unknown was what everyone was terrified of.

I knew for a fact that all of us had gone through some really awful things in our own ecosystems. The aliens had not been easy on us from the start. So if all that was just training, I did not want to know what the real test was going to be like.

Finally, it was time to stop. We had finally reached the pine trees and their shade. The sun was at its zenith and it was about time that we all rested our feet and backs. Mark had made teams based on our skill set, as we all took a little lunch break and munched on our packed edibles.

Nora and Mark were once again huddled together, working on the map, discussing things. One thing I did not understand was why everyone was letting it happen. Why wasn't anyone else in the discussion party? And why was Nora, of all the people, the one that Mark trusted to discuss everything with?

I finally decided to gather some courage and walk up to Mark to make things clear. Everyone felt the same but no one had been brave enough to actually confront Mark or Nora with the way she had been acting around the mansion and now also on the field.

"Mark, can I talk to you for a moment?" I asked once I was close enough. "Alone." I added. I didn't even glance at Nora, but I knew that she was glaring daggers at me.

"Yeah, sure." Mark stood up.

"We're gonna need your map." I politely spoke. Pretty sure by this time she wanted to kill me because the map was in her hands.

Mark sighed but quietly took the map from Nora's unwilling hands. Who then visibly upset huffed arrogantly and left, probably to find someone to torment. He was no child and knew exactly what was going on before I even began. He sighed as we walked a little farther from the group, "I had a daughter before Grant was born." he didn't look at me but resumed, "She would've been Nora's age if she was alive." I stayed silent allowing him to say what he wanted at his own pace.

"You were told I was the first one in the Ark, Do you know who was second?"

He didn't need an answer.

"Mark." I was at a loss for words. I kind of understood how she would've been an angel in disguise for an old man stuck in the middle of nowhere after the adventures he had to unwillingly go through. Of course, after the hopeless days and nights, she was a vision of his daughter.

We were silent for a moment before I glanced back at the group and Nora was still glaring daggers at me. That strengthened my resolve. "I understand your bond with her-"

"No, you don't. None of you do." He looked agitated.

"Mark, I get-"

"Nothing. You get nothing. Nora isn't just like the daughter I lost. I am a father she never had as well. She was so broken when she got to the Ark. We helped each other." He looked at me, "You think, I don’t see her behavior. You think I don’t know. But I do. Trust me, this is the only way I can make sure she doesn't do something we all might end up regretting."

"You are making it sound like she has some disorder," I said confused.

"She says she's never been diagnosed with anything serious before. But I think that might just be the case." I looked at him to check if he was joking, but he wasn't.

I rubbed my temple and concluded, "Sick or not, we can't allow her to treat everyone like she does. You can't, and shouldn't ignore that. Would you have let her continue being a bully if she was your own daughter? Or if it were your own daughter she was bullying like that?" I asked in a pleading tone. I didn't want to talk about that, as it seemed like a sensitive topic for him, but this issue needed to be resolved if we were to all continue on the path that had been chosen for us.

He was silent. I could sense his inner turmoil by the frown on his aging forehead. He sighed but neither agreed nor disagreed. I didn't know this conversation would be this hard. I understood why nobody had tried before, or maybe they did and failed, just as I was about to. But I wasn't a quitter, so I tried one last time.

"Mark, I actually came for another thing." I took his attention again. He looked at me confused, nodding for me to continue.

"Wouldn't it be better if you involved someone else while discussing too?" I hesitated, "Maybe Grant, or Xavier? Y'know just for a third opinion between you and Nora? I mean, you admit about her attitude towards others, so everyone is finding her a bit, hard to trust, regarding their future and path and-"

"I know." He nodded, "Honestly, I was thinking of finding the right moment to ask someone else too but I was conflicted. Xavier is more mature and stable-minded, but if I ask him, won't my own son feel betrayed. But I know my son and," He sighed. Being a leader was hard, and he wasn't a young man.

I smiled encouragingly at him," How about we get back and you can give this topic a little more thought for all our sakes?" I asked turning to go back when he suddenly asked, "Would you do it?"

"Do what? I asked confused, turning back to face him.

"Be an advisor for me?" He looked hopeful, "Choosing you won't make anyone feel betrayed as you own a unique set of adventures that no person here has faced. And, you can also help me keep Nora in check, where she might feel like she is in charge but she really isn't? So everyone feels comfortable about leadership in the coming days?"

I was once again at a loss for words.

**Author's note:

What do you guys think about Nora? Is Mark's explaination enough to exempt Nora's behaviour? Does Anara deserve the leadership proposal offered to her?