The Unthinkable

Josh's POV

We all start duties the next morning, helping Bess with her jobs. I am happy to see Lilie, don't get me wrong, but now that I'm here I question why I bothered in the first place. Yes, I told Xand and Charly that I'm over it and loving someone is pointless, but I'm not over it. If I am to love someone in this life, it has to be her. It has to be. So until her last breath, I will be there.

I woke to see her lying on his chest, his chin resting on her head. They looked perfect for each other. Both sharing their suffering and pain as their relationship is put on the line. Yeah, I'm jealous. But I don't say anything, I walk on past. Because Lilie is my first and only love. Because I made two brothers in a couple of months called Xander and Charly. I would never put them through more stress.

To make matters even more awkward, I have been assigned to go out on patrol with Lilie around the area. She seemed keen to get away from Charly in the morning and I understand why. That girl's heart is always going out to others and I know that Charly had told her forwardly that she will get hurt because of it, and I respect him for that.

It also turns out we aren't the only love triangle in the group. Anna was saved by a girl named Elena who is very close friends with her brother Leon. However, after just one morning with the new couple, I can tell there is a third wheel aswell. Maddyson. She would sit and watch Leon as he ate with Elena, laughing and chatting. It was weird how fast we had all matured. Seeing the two kids react you would think they were 10 years older than their age. Maddyson acted maturely and focused on her feet, eating alone in silent awkwardness.

That's why I asked Bess if Maddyson could join me instead of being with Leon and Elena. Bess nodded with a cold frown. She hasn't smiled much since Zenon went. They weren't romantically together, I don't think, but they were close. We both have an understanding of one another though since we both lost a friend, so she is a sister to me and always will be.

So after breakfast was eaten everyone went off to the chores except Cole and Charly who would stay at the cave. Lilie stayed in front whilst Maddyson trotted by my side, swinging her arms and looking around the area with doe eyes.

'Maddyson right?'

She peers over at me and I expected her to blush or turn pale in fear. Her face was an exotic kind which wasn't common now but made her heart-shaped face more innocently beautiful. She looked fragile with her huge bright eyes and perfect features, so normal that I almost forgot we were being tortured in this place. She simply nods at me and looks back to her feet.

'I'm Josh' I extend my hand to her and she places her smaller one in mine, shaking firmer than I expected.

Lilie is far ahead now, climbing or swinging on branches at some points. Her hair still looks so soft even though we are all walking cavemen and I still love to admire her strength.

'You like her, don't you?' A small baby voice whispers to me and I look down at Maddyson. She gazes at me, reading me like a book. It's like her eyes are magnifying my emotions and I am weirdly enjoying it. It's like she understands me.

'You like Leon too. We are fairly alike' I answer her in rather a cold way. I sort of regret it, I mean she's only a child. She doesn't flinch but reaches out her hand to me.

'Freinds?' She asks and I couldn't possibly say no.

I smile widely at her and instead of a handshake, I hug her. She hugs me back and I chuckle at the sweet girl.

'When did you realise that it would never work?' She whispers to me and I break away looking at her. Tears are falling down her cheeks and it breaks my heart to see. To save me from falling apart I wipe her tears away and whisper another time, swinging her up in my shoulders. She breaks out into giggles as I run to catch up with Lilie. This is probably the first time I could tell this was a child. She wasn't on edge or frowning in a land of depression, she was exploring her childish mind as any child should.

It reminds me of my father when he would do this for me around the fields. I would learn about our past in mother's books and as he threw me in the air I would imagine. Imagine me in an actual working aeroplane, or on an elastic bouncing mat called a trampoline. When we walked to the stream for water I would imagine that I was a bear coming for a hydrating drink. But aeroplanes hardly exist, trampolines aren't made anymore and bears are gone forever. From that day I lost imagination because what's the point in getting your hopes up on something that isn't possible anymore because your own race ruined it.

I don't want anyone to feel like that. I want there to be someone who holds onto the imagination and creativity of life. I want someone to stay a child and have fun. So seeing Maddyson smile and giggle brightens my face, helps me see that not everyone has lost hope.

I'm dropped out of my thoughts when I find Lilie shaking, standing over something. I grab Maddyson and drop her to the floor, then I rush over to her. She holds an arm up keeping me at a distance and I don't even bother asking questions as I look down where her eyes linger.

Who knows how it got here, but it's here. A hole around the size of a bathtub sits in the ground, covered in leaves and vines, but we can see the bottom. It leads straight down. Straight, straight down. I can see the brown waters from here and the smell revisits my nose as I remember the outside world. The hole leads to the real world, the ruined world.

'Lilie...what do we do?' I ask her. She doesn't look at me but instead walks over to a tree blanketed in thick vines. She tugs on each vine till one fits her liking and when she drags it over I push her back lightly.

'No Lilie, you can't go down there. I won't let you' She finally looks at me, her green eyes glaring into me like balls of fire. She is determined on this.

'Lilie, what if it snaps? Then you're gone. You might not even have time to drown, you could die of infection' I chuck excuses at her but she just pushes past me and ties the vine up around a tree.

'Lilie! Listen to me! I won't let you go! I'll go if it's that big of a deal!'

'No you're too heavy!' She counters and I glare back at her as we just stand in silence.

'I don't care.' I say.

She stares into me waiting for me to change my mind but I don't do anything. We would probably be staring for a good few hours if it wasn't for the sound of stretching branches. We both snap our gazes to the hole and there lays a small hand disappearing down.

'Maddyson!' I scream out sprinting over. I look down to see the young girl swinging from side to side and she lowers herself. She doesn't seem scared but instead smiles at me.

'What do you want me to do Josh?' She asks and I look over to Lilie who looks down in amazement. Yeah, I like this little one as well.

Maddyson just looks around, taking in her surroundings and I insist on holding the vine just in case. She comes to the north side and that's when she looks up at me...scared. I pull her up instantly and when she's at the top I sit her on my lap, Lilie sits opposite.

'What was it Maddyson? Did you see the land or floaters huts?' Lilie asks. She wanted to see her floating town or some land, just to see what's happening, but Maddyson couldn't see it from the east, south or west.

'No I-I saw nothing.' She whispers laying her head in my chest.

'What is it?' I ask slowly.

She sobs lightly in my top as I feel the tears stain my chest. I stroke her hair reassuringly but when she does spit it out I wish I hadn't asked. She looks at Lilie and I see her shift uncomfortably under the young child's gaze. The small hand grips mine as she explains.

'There's nothing left. The land is gone. So is the floaters. It's all gone.'

My jaw drops, my head goes heavy and I feel like fainting. I try to pull myself together but I find my throat dry and my bones weak. So as Maddyson engulfs me in another hug, I fall on my back with a groan as I realise what this means.

Around 90% of humans are gone. What or who could have possibly committed this genocide?