End of Death (manxman)

The New World: Part 5 - Rescue Party

The wilderness had started to feel like home and the further the two young men walked into it the further it walked into them. Silas wiped some sweat from his brow looking at a road sign indicating that Albuquerque was nearby. It wasn't hard to track the caravan that had destroyed their home, but they were definitely a few days behind them.

Milo let out a deep breath, this used to be his home, now he didn't have any home. He remembered this road and he thought of his family and a fight he and his brother had while they were driving to Santa Fe.

"I used to live here. I know a place we can stop and spend the night." Milo instructed as the two continued down the road into the town. The sun beat down on them.

Milo led the two to the cul-de-sac where he used to live. "You know, I thought this would be burnt down." He looked at his childhood home and walked inside, the door still left open from when they fled out of here in the early days of the pandemic. Milo saw a skeleton on the carpet in the living room – his brother Elliott, decomposed into the floor and dust and mold had grown inside reclaiming the inside for the outside.

"That's my brother." Milo told Silas who looked at the skeleton before them. "Can you help me bury him?" The two took the afternoon to dig a small hole in the backyard and bury the bones. Returning to the living room, Milo walked back to his bedroom, which was relatively intact and collapsed on his bed. The ceiling still looked the same.

Silas took a seat next to him. "How does it feel? Being back here."

"Different but the same. You know the world before feel so far off. I thought I would be sadder but I think I've already grieved it. I think I've already dealt with these feelings."

"I don't know if I would cry, if I went home. I guess I don't know what home is anymore." Silas looked around the bedroom. "You were a bit of a geek before." Silas stood up and picked up some of the comic books and looked at the video game consol.

"I think that part of me is still in here somewhere." Milo sat up.

It was getting dark but he knew where the candles were so he moved through the house to find some and set them up through his bedroom. Milo looked at Silas in the candle light and Silas pulled out some Slim Jim's from his bag to share. Milo chuckled.

"What?" Silas asked tossing Milo a Slim Jim.

"This just. There was one night during a rainstorm where all the power went out and my first boyfriend, Dan. We had Slim Jim's and read comics by candle light. This just reminds me of that." Milo chuckled.

"Do you miss him?" Silas asked taking a bite of the processed meat and grabbing a comic from the shelf, something about an astronaut.

"Sometimes, when I think about him. But there are just too many people to miss." Milo let out a shrug. "But I think, it's hard to think about the past and the present at the same time." He looked over at Silas. "Thank you for coming with me to find Graham. The longer we've been on the road I don't know if Graham is alive or not. I don't know what tomorrow brings. But I'm glad you're here."

Silas wasn't sure how to receive the comment. But he was grateful for it. Silas felt a tear roll down his cheek and he swallowed hard feeling a wave of emotion overtake him as he started crying.

Milo wrapped his arms around Silas and the two fell back onto the bedsheets together.

"Sorry, I don't know what came over me. I just." Silas began but Milo kept hugging the young man and they felt each other. They felt the pain of loss but also the hope that they both had as the candles flickered out and they lay in darkness drifting off to sleep.