𝗧𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄'𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 | an apocalyptic novel ©

Chapter 65

Never Alone

2035

Valencia

I practically pull Henry along with me. No, I am not ready to talk to a stranger who hasn't let himself be seen for nearly nine years. One quick talk, that's all we had. And for now, that's enough for me. Maybe forever.

There is no way I will let him anywhere near my brother again.

Somehow, I managed to go the way back home within fifteen minutes instead of thirty.

I'm so done with this.

How and when did Henry find out how to operate the Morse code machine? It took me years to understand. I always knew Henry was a very observant child. But he is nine - a child.

I have to talk to him.

We are home. The red window shutters with their chipped paint appear in my sight. I march across the patchy lawn and open the front door. Henry looks at me, confused.

"I wanted to talk to him."

These words hit me. Henry hasn't seen another human besides me practically since he was born. I saw other people all eight years before the weather anomalies happened.

Thinking about it, we are stunned by the same thing - we saw another human after the apocalypse.

"You can't," I reply firmly and crouch to be at eye level with him. Henry looks disappointed. But it is the truth. People can make out to be someone entirely different. I could have been talking to a person with seriously bad intentions there.

"How did you know how to send a Morse code signal?" I ask Henry. He shrugs, he seems so small all of a sudden. "I saw how you did it. I tried," he simply says.

So I was right, he is very observant. But I sent the first message when I was twelve. That was five years ago. Henry was four. I highly doubt that he can still remember complex things from five years ago.

"And you have written how to do it in the manual, too."

There it is. That's how he knows. "Why didn't you tell me? You could have gotten us into danger." My voice suddenly sounds bitter. Henry looks taken back at my reaction. I sigh and grab his small hands. "Just... tell me the next time and we can do it together, okay? No more surprises from now on," I suggest, forcing my frustration down.

Henry nods for a brief moment. When I let go of his hands, he walks to his room and I hear the sound of his new yellow toy car driving over the wooden floor.

Great. Now collect your thoughts, Valencia.

The stranger - Aidan, or whatever his name was, I shouldn't fucking care - has left my mind in a completely blank state.

I can't stop thinking about the fact that I have believed in lies. I didn't want to believe it, I couldn't believe that we were alone. And my presumptions were proven right.

With a groan, I straighten from my crippled position on the floor. Right now, I don't know what to do.

Mom, tell me what to do.

I don't know what to do when I meet the stranger again - if I meet him again.

Also, I don't know why I ran away.

I lean against the front door and let out a breath I didn't know I held this long.

We are not alone.