𝗧𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄'𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 | an apocalyptic novel ©

Chapter 46

Missing without Return
2031
Sina

"Sina?"
I whirl around to Aidan standing in my doorway. I expected it to be Jason, telling from the footsteps I heard earlier. A part of me almost hoped it'd be him, to plead for an apology after whatever show he pulled off.
But Aidan looks at me - slightly shocked, slightly disheveled.
I walk over to him. "Did you find Jason?"
To my surprise, he nods and then rubs his face in despair. "They found him. At the outer perimeters of the base."
I narrow my eyes on him. "Who's they?"
"Special forces, like you said. I mean- there's- fuck..." His words sound like a punch to the gut.
What happened to him?
"What happened to him?" I ask, my voice sounds almost too frantic.
"Do you want the truth that could make you crumble or the lies that will make you sleep at night?" Aidan asks somberly and grabs my wrist. I only now realize that I dug my fingers into his sleeve, holding tight. Yet I don't let go. He doesn't let me, either.
"Just say it, no secrets," I plead.
"He's- fuck there's nothing left of what he... was. Found at the outer perimeters, no one knows how he even made it this far."
It sounds sickening, this description. Jason was gone for just two days, and for two days it's been raining non-stop. Acid rain.
No.
I don't know if I said that out loud. Maybe I shouted it. By the look on Aidan's face, it could have been everything but me staying silent. "Is he dead?!" I ask, frantically grabbing his shirt.
This can't be true!
I want to shake his shoulders, I want to punch him, I want to drum my fists against his chest.
Aidan purses his lips to a thin line. "Yes."
His gaze doesn't reveal what he's thinking, but his eyes tell me everything. And oh boy, what I can read in them is-
"I'm sorry," he mumbles and tears me out of the stare I had fixated on him.
He's dead. Jason Perth, my friend is dead.
He died, because of his stupidity. And Aidan-
The walls of the barrack feel like they are caving in, the air is too thick to breathe. My ears fill with static and I can feel my heart pound unevenly when my heart breaks apart and my tears begin to fall freely.

"I won't die on you."
"I won't die on you."
"I won't die on you."
"I won't die on you."
"I won't die on you."
"I won't die on you."
"I won't die on you."

Yet he did.