Separated
Page 20
She screamed, running and roughing patting Joshua's back, giving both men the signal to run. Eugene, with his eyes still widened and struck with terror, ran ahead of everyone. They ran until they reached a clear exit off one of the carts and jumped off.
Managing to break into an old horse stable, the party settled into one of houses on the premises. Sitting around a campfire, Eugene was still in shock. Erlina sat across from Eugene and watched him through her glasses with worried eyes.
"What will I do?" Eugene said about the tenth time for the night. His hands were still trembling whenever he moved them, "What will I tell them when I get back?"
"Please, Eugene," Josh said left his head from being buried in his knees, "Please don't let this stop you from...from taking us to the dam."
Eugene looked up at Josh, still stammering.
"N-no, I won't stop." He paused, wiping his face with his trembling hands, "We have to leave tomorrow, early. We find the car and leave."
Overtime
* * *
Eugene was brave enough to continue the journey. Joshua and I were really scared for him. We were scared that he wouldn't want to continue, but he had a reason to keep going, a reason that would make him walk to the moon and back - his son. I know I may not show it sometimes, but I'm always scared. Scared that I would die alone or live alone. I never saw a Runner that looked liked me; a little girl. And I never wanted to be the first.
Joshua is my only cousin, and I'm happy we protected each other all of these months. If he would've died or gotten infected I probably would've given up. I was terrified this whole trip. I thought we'd never survive. But we did. I was brave, and i'm proud of myself. I didn't have much to remind me of my dad except for myself and my family, but I know he'd be proud. Simply because I'm proud. Every dad wants that from their daughter. Right?
The run through the forest was exhausting and we finally reached the car. I was the last to catch up, but I wasn't the first to give up. We made it to the car and I sat in the back seat. Joshua sat in the passengers seat, and ss we sped off, I looked behind us, seeing the infected become smaller as they tried to chase after. I faced back forward, and had enough time to think to myself. I dreamed of what it would be like to live in a dam with other kids. What would it be like...to be normal and to live a normal life? I wanted to be a family again.
After a couple of hours, I was finally woken up from the back seat. I could see the dam coming into view. It all felt so surreal. So surreal I had to make sure I was really awake. I wanted to be the first to get out the car, but I didn't want to seem so eager, so I waited until everyone else got out the car first. We made our way past some fences, climbed some rocks, and overlooked the entrance to the dam. I know it seemed sort of weird, but the air felt so fresh and secure. Feeling the warm air blow through my braids and touch my skin made me feel victorious. I felt like a trophy.
We carefully made our way down the steep cliffside, and the moment we had all been waiting for came closer. Once we entered the dam, my eyes brightened. The walls were tall, and I never seen this many people in a long time. I saw other kids, some my age, some very young. They waved at me, and I waved back with a smile. Eventually, we were introduced to an older man named Tommy. He was Joel's brother.
He couldn't speak after a while, and it was like he had fallen speechless. After we asked for my aunt, we were both given a moment to change our smelly clothes and clean our faces and hands. We were placed in the middle of a small room and told to wait there. I stood in front of Joshua, his arms placed firmly on my shoulders. We heard the door knob rattle and my heart began racing. "They're in there?" I heard a voice, similar to my aunt. Tommy opened the door, and inside came my aunt. Immediately, she covered her mouth and started laughing tears of joy. I ran to heard and hugged her side. Joshua came from behind and hugged her next. We were all clamped together, crying. She kissed both of us repeatedly and the hugs grew tighter. She was so happy to see our faces and we were happy to see hers.
We caught up. It took all night, but we caught up. We told her about Joel, Ellie, and Juan. Aunty Pamela truly believed it was God's work after learning that Joel was Tommy's brother. I did too. I met Eugene's son, Toby.
I'm still trying to get settled here, and I'm always jumpy. I'm always ready to fight and I'm having a hard time getting along with the other kids. I punched some boy in the face because he called me ugly the other day, but I don't care. Thankfully Toby's a good friend, and he checked to see if I was okay.
Joshua, on the other hand, started talking to this girl name Michelle. She's very pretty and I'm beginning to think they have a crush on each other. Aunty Pamela keeps telling him to not flirt so much because having babies in this world wasn't smart, and he get mad every time she says that, but he understands.
* * *
Finally, Joel and Ellie finally came to back to the dam days later. I was so happy to see Ellie. Even though they were both very happy to see me and Joshua, there was something different about them. Ellie was never really "happy" to begin with, but she was different this time. When I ask her what's wrong, she doesn't want to tell me. It gets me a little sad because I thought she was my friend, but maybe she just needs some time.
Within a couple of weeks, we've all practically become one big family. Just the other day, Ellie and I were playing connect four, and that's when the alarms went off. The dam was attacked by bandits. Ellie and I were the only two kids that helped fight them off. In the middle of it all, Eugene got shot, and nearly died. People went out of the dam and some of them never came back...and that's when I realized something:
In a world like this, bad things happen all the time. No matter how hard you try to look, there's never a happy place. It might have been years ago; but this world isn't black and white. It's just...grey.