Broken

Chapter Fourteen

"D- Dad?"

My breathing turned shallow.

"Aaron?"

Desperately, I brushed the coat of powdered cement off them.

"No.. No-"

I uncovered their faces and tried to shake them awake.

Just unconscious, please just unconscious-

I pressed my head against my father's chest.

Where's the beat? I can't find the beat! Where is it? WHERE IS IT!!

Is my whole family here?

I gingerly set my Dad down and brushed around the area, my eyes stinging.

I hit another body.

Hurriedly, I uncovered the face and-

I stared at the face. A woman's face.

Mom.

I didn't know how to react.

I didn't scream.

I sat there.

Mom.

Mom.

The smartest person I knew, dead on the ground.

The person who pushed me.

The reason I stressed.

The reason I struggled through this twisted game called life.

The person I could never live up to.

My Mom.

Respectfully, I laid her beside my father.

I didn't know how to feel.

No matter how much area I uncovered, I couldn't find Elizabeth or Naho.

Or Brandon.

Good or bad. I may never know.

I hoped they survived, but the odds were against me. Especially with that giant crevasse in the ground.

I peered over the edge.

Spotting blood on the side, I decided I would climb down there.

What? I wanted to.

I left my guitar and food at the top. I didn't know how deep this crevasse was, but I was bound to die anyway.

I focused on the wall of the crevasse. Handholds. Footholds. I didn't care if I made it back up or not.

Finally, my feet hit the ground.

Turning to look at my surroundings, I took in the view of a crevasse.

Oh, and the corpse of Ethan on the ground.

Wait... Corpse of Ethan?

I looked at his broken body.

"Stinks to be you. Um... Sorry you died... Bye."

I hurried up the side with renewed enthusiasm.

If I die, I'll have to see Ethan. Now I suddenly don't want to die.

Shouldering my guitar, I quietly buried my family members in an undisturbed patch of soil, placing small chunks of rubble where their heads would be.

I circled the site with stones, hoping to prevent people from walking over their graves.

"Goodbye, Dad. Bye, Aaron."

"Bye Mom."

I left them to rest and walked away, turning my back on half of my family.

Some people believe, if you cut your hair, you leave your past behind.

Is it true?

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Miles away from where I was, the sun went down over their graves.