"I may have saved her from the monsters that crawl through the dark, but she saved me from the worst monster of all. She rescued me from who I would have become without her, the monster that would have easily conquered my body."
* * *
Reese Chambler...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
˜˜˜
THE MOST IMPORTANT thing about living in a world like this, I've learned, is having a skill that makes you valuable. Now a days, if you can't do something to aid in the survival of humankind, you are just a waste of space. Ever since the world ended, I started to find that idea comical, because there is nothing left except empty space.
I have been searching for that something that will make me valuable, and therefore protected. Spending so much time with Tara and Denise has lead to an inevitable interest in medicine. I already knew some basic things from my mom, such as how to place an IV, or how to perform CPR, or how to stitch up skin. Denise realizes the truth in the world around us, and she knows it is important to share her knowledge with someone else, just in case. I was the obvious candidate, for I am young and ready to learn. I want to be of use to someone.
An open book rests upon my crossed legs, the weight of the bound reams of paper nearly pushing my knees to the floor. This textbook is the kind I probably would have used in a high school health class, if I had ever reached high school. My finger lightly brushes over the page as I quickly read the words that trail behind it. My eyes glaze over in slight boredom as I push on, trying to take in as much information as possible, but they suddenly freeze as a new section of the book starts. My eyebrows crinkle as my eyes scan all over the page, drawn to the words highlighted in a fluorescent yellow.
Burns. Scarred tissue. Second degree.
I simply close the book slowly before my heart starts pounding too roughly. My eyes threaten to fill up with tears, but I push them down. Instead, I widen my eyes and focus them on things around me, wanting to distract my whirring mind.
Some trees haven't changed yet, but many of them have. I gaze at one strikingly beautiful tree. The thick trunk seems to be ablaze, topped with shimmering red and gold leaves that dance in the sunlight. A few tongues of fire break away from the tree and float in the air for a few moments before crashing to the ground. I watch a leaf as it falls from the tree. It plunges fast and tumbles over the head of a man. He frowns as the tree spews more leaves onto the lawn he just raked. He just narrows his eyes in frustration and goes back inside his house with a heavy grunt.
My eyes focus on things closer to me, to the bird that dive bombs a worm, to the roof of the gazebo that I am sitting under, to the girl sitting up on the bench.
The pencil scratches across the page as she quickly writes something in her notebook. Her eyebrows are tensed and her tongue is being lightly bitten between her teeth in concentration. I wait until her thought is completely recorded on the paper before bothering her.
"How long have you been here?" I ask. She doesn't answer at first, but she does put her pencil down. I can fully see her profile as she looks around at Alexandria.
"Ten months and seventeen days," She says. I nod and resume watching the vigor of the community with her.
"Do you know how long its been? Since everything was normal?" I ask. She shakes her head sadly.
