𝗧𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄'𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 | an apocalyptic novel ©

Chapter 78

Subtle Realization

2035

Valencia

All of the Bronx looks weird. I feel misshapen, like I don't belong here. We are looking straight ahead toward a neighborhood of detached houses - the neighborhood Aidan says we need to pass, too, to proceed.

Although I don't feel it, we are making progress to get to Manhattan. Except we aren't even close. Sometimes I can feel myself glancing at Aidan's watch to see the time that Henry has spent alone yet.

7:15 am.

I know Aidan has a plan. And right now I don't have another chance other than to stay with him and trust him. It's hard to believe but it feels weird to put all trust into a stranger I haven't even known for a whole week.

Aidan sees me staring into thin air as we walk toward the houses. "Are you okay?" he asks and pulls me back to reality.

I nod. "Just... lost in thoughts."

Aidan knows that I think about Henry. That I worry. I know that he doesn't want me to worry.

"It feels weird to be with another human. I can finally use my voice again. Sometimes I didn't even know if I had a voice. Kinda weird, right?" Aidan suddenly blurts out, perhaps to take my mind off of the blunt objective.

I always spoke with Henry, but being all alone the whole time must have felt so lonely. So hopeless. Now, Aidan isn't alone anymore - which surely must be new to him, too.

"Well, you are glad that ... it isn't like that anymore, huh?" I reply. He looks to the ground, not knowing what to say to that.

We walk past some of the destruction on the street. Everything seems normal - as normal as it can get in the apocalypse. I wonder if our house still stands, if the weather anomaly has reached it yet. And internally, I can't stop thanking Aidan about how glad I am that Henry is in a safer environment now than staying in our house which slowly crumbles away.

The patchy grass growing in the cracks of the asphalt of the street is a pale yellow color because of the acidic rain. Yellow grass. Explain that to a child who has never seen green grass.

Why can't I take my mind off of Henry? I need to focus on the thing that is in front of us. The neighborhood. Then the subway station. Aidan leads me through a shortcut that he tells me he uses often to get around the blockages.

How often has he been here?

I rarely go outside anywhere near the ends of our neighborhood because I am paranoid. Although I like being outside, not at every cost.

I try to keep sight of the red bricks on the roof of one of the houses in the neighborhood we need to get to. Sometimes I lose it while being pulled along with Aidan as he navigates through the shortcut, then I find it again, but in a whole other direction. It's confusing to walk through the absolute maze of all of Aidan's shortcuts.

When I am with Henry, we are considerably slow. But it's amazing now how fast we are making progress without him.

The time is 7:25 am. Step by step, we're getting closer to the neighborhood.

Eventually, the red roof of the house I've been looking out for finally faces us directly. We're close to the subway station because I can already see the sign, but Aidan suddenly takes a sharp left turn.

"Why are we going this way?" I ask, confused.

Aidan motions me to keep my voice down. I do as told, not asking further. "Because the ground above the station, basically the street we would walk on, is very unstable. See the trash truck?"