The Aftermath

Everyone’s bodies ached, every angle of every bone, and of our mission to save the kids, only one of them survived. It was the girl whose mother had killed her dad. She wouldn’t stop crying and the sound was driving me insane.

“Who decided to give those freaking kids guns?”

Alex’s words were a slow hiss through the silent air. He was angry, just as angry as I was confused right now. We were driving again. The terrain outside soon became a cityscape. The ashes of cars and other burnt items filled the streets. Rare human figures walked boldly carrying weapons and the zombies walked.

The one girl we’d managed to save sat at my side, pressed against my left abdomen. She was small and thin with heavy strands of light brown hair. Her eyes were a vacant green now.

“Do you want some food little girl?” Lion asked.

She shook her head, heavy sobs moving down to heavy sniffling. “No.”

“Are you feeling okay?”

“No.”

So, the driving went on and on, stopping for nothing. I leaned my head into Alex’s shoulder and tried to go to sleep, but every time the car bumped, it knocked me out of any chance of drowsiness.

“You should really be more careful?” He muttered.

I sighed lowly. “You should be more careful about trying to save me, almost killing me with that car.”

He chuckled, a light spring of a sound and it radiated warmth through my bones. “I try. But, you have to be more careful. That house almost collapsed with you inside. They had to hold me back from going in to get you.”

I yawned, snuggling into the safeness of his skin more. “Well, next time I’ll save you, okay?”

This time he didn’t even laugh and the road became smooth. I was finally able to sleep.

* * * * *

Time wasn’t really a fair thing in this world.

You give everything to your life; pour your soul and emotions into it like a blank canvas with all of your insides like paints. You raise your voice to the deadly forces that threaten to take you down, then the real curtain falls and an even more unimaginable horror collapses everywhere. You pray against all odds for things to get better, but they never do.

Time isn’t a fair thing in this world. It traps you like quicksand when the goal is just yards away and sucks you down to an unimaginable halt.

Could I say it too many times?

“Jasmine, wake up.” Kyle shook my shoulder. The cool air swept over me through the van’s open windows and my head felt clear like it always did after a well needed sleep.

“How long was I sleeping?” I moaned.

The car around me was empty.

“About four or five hours. Alex couldn’t bear to wake you up, but I couldn’t let you sleep any longer.”

I groaned once more, wishing I didn’t have to lift my body up, but I tried to anyway. “Oh God, what’s that smell?”

Kyle grabbed hold of my shoulder and forced to sit up a little more steadily. “I don’t know, gas or something? Come on.”

I climbed my way out the van, nervous of the weakness in my legs. The car rested on an overly large bridge. Constructions cones and other markers were stuck all around. Choppy waters could be heard miles and miles below.

“H-how much time do we have left?” I rubbed my temple and sighed as Kyle let me with his hand ahead.

“About five minutes. We drove for a while.”

Everyone was in a small group ahead. Lion and Uncle Trevor talked in a secluded manner with Max latching onto Lion’s leg. Ashley, Ryant, and Alex were all splitting a granola bar.

Alex smiled as I came over. “Hey Sleepy Head. Glad that you’re awake?”

“Is it okay that I feel like absolute shit?” I sat down gently beside him on the textured gray highway. The bridge held metal railings to the sides. “Where’s this bridge got cracks in it anyway?”

Ryant scarfed down his own bar. “In different places, but one of the cracks moved the bridge like the slightest inch and it nearly killed a whole bunch of people.”

I noticed the little girl was just sitting by, staring off into the distance drearily. Her hair moved with the wind and now she was just silent.

“Do you think she’ll be okay?” I asked.

“Everyone she’s ever been related to and known is dead now.” Alex answered. “It’s a lot to get used to.”

Ashley looked to him, brushing her blonde hair behind her ear. “Maybe you should go and talk to her? Tell her you understand and everything.”

Alex took a small bite of his granola bar, looking to the girl softly. “Doesn’t change the fact she won’t see them again. We just got to give her time to adjust, digest everything that’s happened.”

The slow banter went on for a few more minutes until large SUV’s came along a few yards from the highway’s end. Everyone stood, watching as the matching white vehicles stopped and people stepped out.

Out stepped a small group of people, some large burly men carrying guns, a man in a white trench coat jacket, and two more people.

“Cece!” Kyle went dashing forward and Cece burst through as well, smiles plastered on both of their faces. They collided and locked into each other’s arms for the longest moment with the rest of us just walking towards them.

“You guys!” Cece ran forward to each of us, smothering us in the necessary hugs. When she got to me, her hug was both crunching and jumpy as well. “You wouldn’t believe the crap we saw on the way here! Those zombies tried to get into the weapons expo and we took them all down, like no mercy! It was ape shit!”

“How did Rodney find you though?” Ryant remarked, sending a sly glance towards Rodney who still stood near his guards.

“Don’t even ask me. I have no idea. He has like Spidey Powers or something. He got there right after we kicked some Rogue Virus ass and flew a few of us out there-“

“But, I thought the government shot down anyone who flew?” Alex cut in.

Cece looked to him blankly. “Well, we didn’t get shot down. So, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“How are we going to get out of here?” Ashley pleaded.

Cece shrugged once again.

“I think we should talk to Rodney.” Lion suggested. “He’s got the plans.”

Everyone seemed to nod and we began our walk to Rodney. Alex stayed back, urging the little girl to come along with us as he held out his hand. The girl raised herself up and began her quickened gait next to Alex.

Walking ahead like this, I got the chance to notice a few things: the way the three guards clung their way around Rodney and the scientist looking man, the way the man jerked his gaze around and slightly looked to us in fear, and most of all, the clogged and slightly emotionless look on Rodney’s face. Nothing at all like the last time I’d seen him.

“Well, well, well, look who’s saved our asses once again.” My uncle laughed before slapping a hard hand on Rodney’s flinching shoulder. “You’re a smart kid, helped our asses out big time.”
Rodney smiled sheepishly. “Well, it’s no problem really. Just doing my job.”

Ryant and I both shared a cautious look. His job?

Kyle’s hand latched onto Cece’s readily, smile beaming, and skin nearly jumping. “So, what’s the plan, Big Guy?”

Rodney itched for the back of his neck then, looked to the lanky scientist standing near him. “Um, well actually there was something I had to tell you guys and there’s not much time left.”
Ryant smiled this time, for some reason showing some friendliness. “What do you mean not enough time? A time limit or something?”

The scientist turned to Rodney. “You need to tell them now. There’s no use in waiting.”

“Waiting for what?” Alex butted in.

Cece rolled her eyes, smiling. “His uncle got put in charge of that new group trying to get rid of the virus.”

“You mean World Humanity Renewal?” Ashley questioned.

“Yeah!” Cece snapped her fingers. “His uncle is helping with all these big projects and weird ideas and Rodney was-“

“I was named the vice president of their company. That’s why they gave me these body guards.” Rodney added in.

“So,… what does this mean?” I asked.

Rodney’s eyes sort of pinned to me for a short moment before looking away. What the heck was that about?

“We’re going to have to go to D.C. It’s the head of the company. They’re doing all sorts of tests and trials there, trying to do whatever it takes to get a mass spread cure within the next few weeks.” He said urgently.

“But, the government is giving them a time limit.” The scientist said.

An alarm seemed to go off in Lion’s head. “What do you mean a time limit? What exactly are you saying?”

Rodney crossed his arms and swallowed. “It means that after three weeks, the United Nations is planning on bombing as many infected areas as possible.”

“Wait…” Cece murmured. “They said thirty percent is infected.”

. “And it’s not getting any better.” Rodney nodded, tears filling his eyes. “So, we have to do this for everyone. The virus is spreading faster than before and in three weeks’ time they think it could fifty percent of the world population.”

Alex’s arm pulled my shoulder in hard and strong. “So, we’ll do whatever it takes to get there. No matter what.”

“But, how exactly is the virus going to be found? If Lexicon couldn’t truly find out how to attain, how is your uncle?” Lion raised.

“Well, my uncle took some company secrets with him when he left Lexicon. He has methods, ways of getting the auto immune gene extracted from the blood.”

“But, who is he gonna use?” Ryant pressed on. “I mean, does he have a line of people waiting to be tested? Why does he need us there?”

Rodney’s eyes froze on Ryant, brows pressing together and throat closing over. He couldn’t move his lips to the words.

That’s when Lion stared forward hard and unmoving. “You’re planning on using my sons, aren’t you?”

Rodney didn’t answer, just simply stood there and stared downwards before the words croaked from his lips. “I’m only sixteen. I don’t know all the right choices.”

“The right choice?” Ryant spat. “Yeah, that’s classic. Someone like you would make that excuse.”

“Some very difficult choices had to be made. It’s why we had guards accompany us, to protect all of you.”

Lion laughed. “You mean to protect my kids? Because I know if it came down to it, you’d let all of us die if that was the final choice, right?”

“Hard choices had to be made.”

Tears filled my eyes, just filling them as the sound of jet engines raced above. Aircrafts shot over our heads, drowning the sky with their noise and fumes. The planes swung through the sky in a V formation, so loud that even our own voices were useless.

Their tips went zooming toward downtown Washington, pouring the air above with its range.
Then, the first dark dot dropped from one of the planes and it hit the Earth, sending Earth sized balls of red into the sky.

Oh my God…

“No...” Ryant croaked. “O-our house…”

Then, another bomb, another bomb, and another, one dropped so hard that the ground seemed to radiate under our feet.

Ryant whirled around, voices shouting against the loud fumes and lurid tears in his eyes. “Why the hell are you doing this?! They don’t all have to die!”

On the last word his hands shoved forward and caved into Rodney’s chest. He seemed ready for blood as Rodney toppled backwards and Uncle Trevor closed a cold grip over him from behind.

“You’re killer! You’re fucking murderer just like your father! You and him both deserve to die!”

Then another cylinder dropped just to the other end of the bridge. Scolding fire took the pavement, sweltering it to a soupy liquid then breaking its structures underneath. Everyone froze at the pure intensity of the moment.

The fire stretched into the sky, like a dragon’s teeth trying to consume the sky.

BOOM!

Another bomb touched the bridge’s middle, sending chunks flying in all directions. Ryant tore from Uncle Trevor’s grip, running forward until his sneakers touched the bridge’s pavement.

The heat and fire bounced off all of our skins, glinting until my throat began to close over.

“He’s never going to forgive you for this.” I said, sweat collecting on my skin. I didn’t even have to face Rodney to know my word’s effects on him: devastation.

The final touched near our end of the bridge, sending the most brilliant shrapnel of colors into the air. The shreds of heat were a white wash of heat, blinding us and knocking Ryant over by the full blast.

Then, I walked the stretch between myself and the best friend I’d ever managed to have in this world. I pulled his half laying body towards, the cold depression he voided soaking into my shirt.

The falling bridge was all we could see before the ruined state of our past home. The flames sent smoke into the air and hid it all like smog, but we all knew the truth behind the veil.

Our old lives and millions of people within it were burning while we watched.