There's No Me Without Us

(Abbey’s POV)

I woke up early the next morning next to Cherry, still sleeping peacefully, in our small bed we were forced to share. We had, had to sell our parents bed, when they were sent off, for money. We had decided to sell their bed because it was bigger and we’d get more money for it.

I sat for a moment watching my sister. I’d have to go to the market with her today. I wasn’t sure if I should leave while she was sleeping, and leave her a note, or wait until she woke up.

I slipped out from under the covers, and pulled on some of the few clothes we owned. Brown pants and a black singlet, over which I put on one of the heavy jackets our parents had left behind for us. I slipped my feet into a pair of boots, which we’d managed to get cheap from Silvia and Lillian, a pair of shoe makers, at the market.

I walked into our small kitchen and quickly, made some scrambled eggs. All our eggs were gone now. I would make sure to buy more when I was in the market. I covered half of it for Cherry, to eat when she woke up, the rest I ate quickly.

I wrote her a note, saying I would be back before noon. I left it on top of the covered scrambled eggs and headed out of the door. I was careful when closing the door, because our house was so fragile. The paint had chipped and there were cracks in the windows; we just couldn’t afford to fix it up.

I jogged down side roads, passing other beaten down houses and over uneven paving. I didn’t slow down when I spotted my first troop, either; the only thing I did was keep my head down, and made no eye contact with anyone in total black.

“Wyatt!” I looked up at my last name, stopping in my tracks. “Over here!”

“Blake!” I said, hugging him. “Christopher,” I added with a harsher tone.

“Hey, Abbey, lighten up, will you?” Chris said.

Chris had been taken, to say the least, by Cherry when we were still at school. I had told him to back off, being the brave little girl that I was, and he had hated us ever since. I hadn’t really gotten over how he had acted the day our parents had left, when he had been particularly harsh.

“It’s going to be OK, Cherry,” I had said, my arm around her. “They’ll be fine, and we’ll be with them again in no time.”

We hadn’t been allowed to see them off, and had, had to go to school. It was cruel, really. Cherry was heartbroken, but I had forced myself to be strong, not for me, or Cherry, but for my Mum and Dad; I hadn’t cried when they had said their last goodbyes to us, simply because I wanted them to know that everything was going to be alright for Cherry and I.

The eight-year-old Cherry had broken down into sobs right there at school, in the hallways. Everyone else was in class, dealing with it in their own ways. I tried my best to comfort her, but nothing would help.

“Grow up, will you,” ten-year-old Chris had said, leaning against the shabby wall by us. “They're gone; dead.”

This sent Cherry into a new wave of sobs.
“Back off, OK?” I had said, unwrapping my arms from around Cherry, and standing in front of her.

“And why should I do that, Wyatt? You can’t hurt me; you’re just a little girl.”

“Really? Because, you of all people, should know not to judge what a little girl can do,” I had hissed.

“You should also know that you won’t be seeing your parents again,” he had shot back.

“You’re just sour because your parents are all ready dead,” It was cruel of me to have said so; but it was true. His parents had been killed, by Mr Novoselic, when they had been about five. They hadn’t obeyed the rules that were firmly in place in our town. He and Blake had lived with an aunty of theirs. “Long gone, aren’t they?”

“Plus,” added the now eighteen-year-old Chris, “You were more horrible to me, than I was to you.”

“You deserved it though,” I said, but my tone was lighter; I hadn’t talked to Chris for a long time, for all I knew, he could’ve changed.

Chris shrugged.

“What did you require my services for, anyway?” I asked Blake.

“I was wondering if you had some apples we could borrow,” Blake said, a hint in his voice.
“Yeah, come over later,” I said. “I have to be going; see you guys.”

I hurried away before any of the troops could realise what was going on.

Five more days of this. Five more days and everything would be OK, no matter what happened.