We, who Survived

Towering trees had stripped themselves of their green fuzzy blankets, their golden sweat dripping along ragged grooves in their bark most likely left by territorial animals. The haphazardly placed rocks had now hidden their sharp edges in the dry soil, allowing some to walk confidently with their eyes on the sky. Thanks to the slow change in the spacing of the trees, the natural sauna began to dissipate the closer we came to the forest’s lining, the humidity dropping just like the bird song.

“Are we almost there?” Max huffed, gritting his teeth as he adjusted Carly on his back. She had fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder, face turned in my direction. The angle gave me an adorable view of her sleeping features and twitching nose.

“Spark said we had about half-an-hour to go when we were at the stream,” Maria answered him from in front of us. She and Joon had fallen back to keep us company with the new set pace and to make sure nothing else would go wrong, not like we couldn’t look after ourselves. “I am sure Joon wouldn’t mind helping you by carrying your sister, right Joon?”

“I guess but that means he would have to carry my bag and I’m sure it is heavier than your sister and bag combined.” Joon chuckled, moving his hands so he could hold the straps at his shoulders.

“My sister may weigh a ton but I don’t need help, plus if it’s only that much longer than I can handle it.” Max smiled, eyes slightly closing as he readjusted his sister. Watching him made me subconsciously hike up the bag on my back and sift through the pockets of the one on my front.

“Nate, you keeping up okay?” Maria broke the silence that was slowly growing, glancing over her shoulder. Sure, my shoulders throbbed from the extra weight and my injury was making my back scream in pain but would I tell her all that? Nope.

“Yeah, no problems at all.” She snorted before beginning a conversation with Max, Joon adding his fifty cents now and then. I listened with amusement as they spoke of nonsense topics and silly situations. Joon brought up his accident in the science labs that had resulted in his hair colour being permanently bleached white. Maria spoke of her first time helping an elderly woman find her cat plant only to see that it was next to the old woman’s bed the entire time. Some of the stories they spoke of I had heard either through the grapevine or when my dad came home with a smile on his face. Those were the good days when he took out his knives and told me all about the adventures he had gone on with my mother when they first met.

As they continued their talk, I zoned out, taking more notice to the changes in our environment. No longer were we surrounded by tall oaks but dwindling, spindly birch trees the height of brick walls. The ground seemed to morph into black rock with long grass growing through cracks in its surface. Berry bushes began showing themselves in clusters and after an all clear, hands eagerly picked at the fruit, either eating or storing them in emptied containers and canteens. I picked some too, placing the berries in a small container that had hidden my protein bars hidden. Carly was awake by then, picking berries and eating them just as fast as Max was storing them. By then, her mouth was ringed with a light pink stain.

“Last stretch, we’re almost there!” Spark shouted, waving his hand. Cheers and sighs followed, rising up to the peeking sun behind the barely standing buildings.

Slowly, decrepit buildings began to flank us, nature completely taking back its territory. The roots of trees grew thickly, twisting around any object in its way. Vines and moss decorated broken windows and bashed in walls while grass and flowers pushed through the remainder of the asphalt roads that I had mistaken as natural stone. But most importantly, there were no signs of life anywhere. It just made no sense. The area was open, wide open and yet there was no presence of animal life.

“W-what’s happening?” Max asked as the group halted before taking Carly’s hand into his.

“I’ll go check, probably nothing though.”

Making my way to the front, kids either moved out of my way or had to be gently shoved. When I managed to get there, Spark, Jae and Charlie were holding out the map for the city.

“The facility should be a street up,” Charlie stated, tracing his index finger over the map’s surface.

“Yes, but these buildings make no sense. It’s like a residential area, not a business district,” Jae countered, running a hand through his hair. Spark was silent, concentration clear on his features.

“We cannot stay here in the open, not safe.” I tilted my head when they stared at me in surprise. “Don’t look at me like that! Tomorrow we can send out search parties to find the safe house or whatever you want to call it. For now, we can take shelter in that building over there for the night.” Nodding to the sturdy remains of an apartment building complex, its exterior was just like the others, taken over by nature but would hopefully keep us warm.

“Right. Plus we all know Trident’s symbol off by heart now. Let’s get going,” Spark said, letting his gaze drop when I looked at him. Instead of falling back to Max and Carly, I decided to stay by Spark. Hesitantly, I took his hand. He looked up as soon as we made contact and I smiled even with the uncomfortable feeling pressing on my chest. With a small gesture, he seemed to understand and squeezed my hand. Cautiously, we ventured in.

Vines clung to the walls of the interior like spiders, their spindly arms leaving little of the brittle plaster to be viewed. The creaky wooden door hung on rusty hinges for dear life, clearly having had better days. Its wood was passed its rotting stage and easily broke to pieces when pressure was added to its surface. At least safety-wise, we had a door but the door did not guarantee safety.

After climbing half crumbling stairs, we decided to stay on the first level. Dead leaves crunched under our boots as we allocated rooms. None of which were near the entrance hall but at the end where one shattered window allowed in a cool yet warm breeze to enter. Groups were placed in each room with a somewhat sturdy door. Max and Carly would stay with me in the room Spark had chosen for the leaders.

I sat in front of one of two floor-to-ceiling windows, which were luckily not shattered but cracked in places, watching the sunset. The siblings were already conked out in each other’s arms in a corner. Jae, Joon and Maria were checking on the groups while Charlie and Dean were exploring the second floor. Spark was by his bag, doing his own thing.

“Hey Nate, you got warm clothes?” Glancing over my shoulder, I saw him pulling a fleece over his head. Two nights out in the open and only now he wears something moderately warm?

“No, I didn’t have time to grab anything besides my therma-jacket.” Silence followed my words, making me turn back to face the sunset again. I heard boot falls before my vision blacked out for a second. When it came back, I was wearing a baggy long-sleeved shirt and had Spark’s boots standing in front of me.

“Hopefully it won’t get too cold tonight with no fires,” He commented, sighing as he stared out the window, hands hidden in the pockets of his rumpled fleece.

“Mmm, it might rain, see those clouds over there?” I pointed to the west where three skyscrapers still managed to stand high amongst dense trees. Black clouds were creeping their way over the city towards us. “Might even hail with the warmish breeze and greenish colouring.” Spark sat next to me, crossing his legs at the ankle and leaned back on his palms.

“You learn that in the library?”

“Yes and no... I read about atmosphere change but my father was the one to make sense out of it all. He learnt how to tell when a huge storm would hit Earth thanks to my grandfather and the library with Mrs Horton.”

“I only know how to tinker with pieces of metal and fix shit while you know all these big things and tiny ones just like the idea of hail. If I saw those clouds, I’d think there’s rain coming but other than that, the green makes them look pretty.” Spark chuckled, allowing a comfortable silence to come between us. The sun finally had vanished, streaks of oranges and reds becoming greys and blacks. It was an artist on the station’s wet dream.

“Mmm, think I’m going to sleep. Tomorrow will need well-rested teams and one or two of us helping.” He yawned, lying onto his back. He stared at the ceiling until he turned onto his side and using his arm as a pillow. “You should sleep soon, Bookworm, big brains need rest too.”

I didn’t know when I fell asleep but when I woke up it was in a panic. A raging thunderstorm with hail and streaking blue lightning drowned out anything that tried to make a sound. My body was trembling as the storm attacked my senses. I didn’t know what I did next but I had Spark’s hand on mine, olive-green eyes staring up at me.

“What’s wrong?” His words were gone, making him look like he was mouthing out his question. Only his eyes could convey his own terror and concern.

Shaking my head, I pulled my hand out from under his and swapped to laying on my other side. His arms came around me the same time a clap of lightning showered the room in blue and I yelped. He pulled me backwards, forcing me onto the side I would be facing him. He touched my cheek, pressing his lips to my forehead and without another action, pulled me against him. He was trembling just like me but hid his fear easily. Slowly, my shaking stopped with his. Spark’s scent drifted around me, his warmth making me cuddle closer and curl up. Right there, I felt safe in his embrace yet a sense of unknowing dread was starting to weigh on my heart.