6A/N: I have reworked the grammar, punctuation, and paragraphs throughout the story. I have also made some small changes and additions to the wording and dialog. The major change is to add a short second chapter to reflex Wanderer and Melanie's thoughts on Lily's appearance.
One Women's Compassion:
Lily watched from the shadows of the Hall as Jared came stomping in her direction. The bug was following behind him. It stumbled once or twice as it looked back and forth, then back to the ground, terror in its nervous movements. Lily leaned into the shadows hoping to escape their notice. She stared at the thing and saw a tall thin young woman. The short dark mahogany hair was sticking up in all directions caked in dirt and sweat. A huge bruise covering one side of its face with more dirt and sweat and even what looked like dried blood. She guessed the bruises on its neck must be from Ian's attempt to end this problem the first night. She couldn't tell for sure what color the t-shirt and shorts it wore were, just more dirt and sweat stains. The legs, especially the knees, were a mass of cuts, scrapes and bruises. It was a mess. In just that moment their eyes meet. Lily saw the fear in the silver rimmed eyes. Quickly, they turned back to the ground as it struggled to keep up with Jared's purposeful strides.
In a few more seconds, they were gone. Lily was sure this must be a restroom break. Her next thought was that it really needed a bath … but, why did she even care? It wasn't human; it was a bug, a worm, an alien. It had stolen her world. It had taken away all her loved ones. She stepped out of the shadows and headed to her room, it was late and she needed to be up early to help with breakfast. As she lay on her mattress, her mind kept returning to the girl, no, the bug, the alien. Images of old news stores from before the invasion crossed her memory, women in war torn regions with the same dirty, sweaty, beat up appearance. The same look in their eyes. The look of fear; of terror. Her small moments of compassion were soon overwhelmed by her fear of the seekers, the army of destruction the bug could bring down upon them. She finally fell off to sleep.
A couple days later, she was up a little early and was heading to the bathing room, when she saw Jared and the creature a second time. "Morning." she said to him as she glanced between him and it. He looked startled by her greeting, but responded with a quick "Morning" as he glanced back to ensure the "girl" was right behind him. Lily looked at "her" also and was surprised it looked no better, if not worse than when she saw it the prior day. When the "girl" glanced at her, Lily responded with a slight smile. The creature's eyes widened, shocked and surprised, but then it quickly looked down and continued to follow Jared to the exit tunnel. Lily followed their progress until they entered the darkness of the tunnel. Again, compassion for the poor creature filled her thoughts. She knew that the average bug was mild mannered. They seemed to continue to live their human host lives, the normal everyday things, but in a "leave it to beaver", 1950's, kind of world. Except for the seekers, the fear of them sent a chill down Lily's back. They were the enforcers of this new world. But this one didn't appear to act like a seeker. There was only terror and fear in the girl's hazel green and brown eyes and it showed though the alien silver ring.
When she got to the kitchen from her morning bath, she was still troubled by the alien's appearance. Her thoughts jumped all around … Why was it here? It had been almost week. If it was going to bring the seekers, why hadn't they attacked? What were they waiting for? She knew the guys were keeping watch over the seeker search for the creature in the valley. Jeb continued to tell everyone who would listen that the bug was not a seeker, but one of the mild mannered aliens who was more afraid of us then we were of it. It was weak and defenseless. Jeb argued having it here presented an opportunity to learn more about them. Most people didn't want to listen; they wanted it dead and gone. At first that was Lily's position, but now that she had seen the alien, even for the short time, she really could see Jeb's point. It looked like a poor defenseless young women beaten into submission. She shook her head and thought to herself, what can I do? I'm just one person. Besides, I have work to do, and breakfast doesn't prepare itself.
Later that day Ian, Brandt, and the rest of the guys came in with news that the seeker search was over. They had packed up and left. Jeb's reaction was a smug, I told you so. Most people still thought there must be some devious plan it was about to spring on us. Lily couldn't for the life of her think of what one alien, in a beaten down young woman's body, could do against a man the size of Jared, plus Ian, Kyle and all the other guys, without even considering the gun. The more she listened to the debate the more she thought Jeb was right. Lily was surprised that Ian seemed to side with Jeb, but he didn't hang around long. The debate just continued on and on, going over the same points over and over, with very few mindsets changed.
Finally, Lily had had enough and got up and headed out to the main plaza. There she saw Ian coming out of the exit tunnel shaking his head.
"Hey, Ian what's up?" she asked.
"I just came from talking to Jared. I wanted to let him know what's going on, the seekers ending the search and all." Ian said.
"So what did he think?" She questioned.
"Well that wasn't the interesting part; it was how the girl reacted and what Jared got out of her." Ian proceeded to describe the entire conversation between the two of them and then the interrogation of the girl by Jared.
Lily was surprised and totally agreed with Ian's interpretation and was more than a little concerned about the girl's welfare given Jared's pigheaded reaction. "So, how is she looking physically? She looked in tough shape to me when I saw her for a few minutes early this morning. Is Jared planning on letting her clean up? What about all her cuts and bruises?" Lily said with concern.
Ian shook his head. "I don't think Jared can see beyond the fact that it's a bug in his girlfriend's head. He may be protecting the body, but he isn't thinking beyond that." Ian paused for a minute, glancing at the ground, then back to Lily. "When Jared was shouting at her, I don't think I have ever seen so much terror, fear, depression, in one set of eyes." Ian shook his head slightly. "I don't know, I feel … feel guilty for my part in all of this. At this point, it's just cruel the way he and the rest of us are treating her." He glanced at the ground again, sniffed, and then quickly rubbed his face with both hands before letting out a big sigh. "Well, I'm going to go back to the kitchen," he finally said.
Lily stood frozen to the spot and watched Ian walk off. His words played over in her head. He was right, it was cruel. She had been sentenced to this treatment not by a trial or tribunal, but by what amounted to mob rule. If Jeb wasn't in charge and had the only gun, she would be dead or worse. Lily shuddered at the thoughts of Doc's experiments. What could she do? She pondered different actions as she headed to her room. She couldn't think of anything she could do to change the situation for the alien. She was only one woman, what could she do against the majority of the people living here. Then a thought occurred to her. Yes, she was but one person; history has been changed by people who acted alone to defy the majority and stand up for what was right and just. She made her decision. It might be a small act, but it was right and humane. She got up and rummaged through her limited supply of clothing. She picked a T-shirt, shorts, and underwear. Then she grabbed her extra bath towel and added it to the clothes on her arm. She turned and went to the hospital to see Doc.
Fortunately, Doc was alone when Lily arrived. "Well Lily, nice to see you, need my help for something?" Doc asked, smiling at Lily's approach and standing to greet her.
"Yes, just a couple of things, umm, a surface antibiotic and some band aids for cuts and scrapes and maybe some aspirins…" Lily ticked off.
"Oh, did someone get hurt, why didn't they come themselves? Do I need to go? " Doc asked, the concern rising in his voice. Then he noticed the clothes and towel on Lily's arm. He looked carefully at Lily, "Who's hurt?"
Lily looked him straight in the eye and said in a level tone. "The alien."
Doc's eyes widen a little. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Absolutely!" Lily replied without hesitation." Her treatment is cruel and inhumane. All I want to do is help her cleanup."
Doc was about to reply, but was stopped by the look on Lily's face. "OK." Doc turned, walked over to a shelf, picked the things Lily wanted, plus a couple of oversized bandages, returned and was about to hand them to her. "Wait, I have a canvass bag you can put all the stuff in" He loaded the bag and handed it to Lily. "I wish I could help, but…" his voice trailed off.
Lily responded, "I understand, but it's something I have to do, I couldn't live with myself if I didn't try to help, even if it's just this small thing." She shrugged, turned and walked out.
Lily approached the light in the exit tunnel.
Jared suddenly yelled. "Who's there?"
"It's me, Lily." She replied and continued around the corner into the lighted area where Jared was standing.
"Whoa, stop, that's close enough. What do you want?" Jared questioned.
"When was the last time she had a bath?" Lily demand.
"What! How would I know? And don't call it 'she', it's just another bug." Jared replied angrily.
Lily glared at him. "I'm sure all the women in this cave have had baths over the last few of days. I'm sure you have too."
Jared glared back and responded in a hard low tone. "It's only a bug, one of them."
Lily continued her glare. "I don't care, she's a woman and she needs a bath and her injuries addressed! I'm here to make that happen."
Jared raised the gun and replied. "No way, Jeb made me responsible for it, so leave!" They continued glaring at each other.
In a low even tone, Lily responded. "I think there comes a time in everyone life that a person needs to make a stand for what is right, what is fair, what is just, and what is truly HUMANE!" Lily continued to glare into Jared's now confused face. "This maybe a small thing, a bath for a woman, a 'prisoner' maybe, but this is MY stand!" She pointed to her chest. "And I'm not going to back down from you or that gun!"
Jared couldn't believe what he heard. He hesitated, "Please Lily, don't push me, I really don't need this now, just go, please."
She looked at him with all her determination. "I am going to take her to the bathing room with or without your help." She hesitated and softened her tone. "I'm sure it would be safer for us if you came along with the gun."
Jared stared at the determined woman in front of him, wrestling with his emotions. "OK, OK, OK! I'll take you." He said with a defeated sigh.
"Thank you." Lily replied in relief, letting out the breath she was holding. "Oh, so, what's her name?"
"Who, the bug? I don't know." Jared replied.