Remains

Chapter 2

They traveled through the broken and quiet streets for hours, pausing only once when Nemo cut his hand on some twisted metal. Sock wrapped his hand in gauze to keep it from bleeding too much and they continued out of the city without incident. Sock glanced back at the city one last time before walking with the others on the road that led out of the city.

By the time they stopped at night the city was out of sight. There was nothing but tall golden grass around them, covered with gray snow. The road itself was overrun with weeds and broken down. Felix carefully started a fire on the concrete and the five sat around it, sharing energy bars.

"This will be all we eat for a couple of days," Felix warned them. "So don't do anything stupid or waste energy. At this pace, we'll get there in a couple of days." The others nodded solemnly except for Yumi. "We're going to walk for days?" she asked, surprised. "We can make it, we'll be fine," Felix assured her. "It's simple, not much in the path, and we have time."

Nemo pulled a sleeping bag out of his backpack. "Well, I'll go to sleep, then," he grumbled. "If we're going to be traveling so much, we need rest." He set up his sleeping bag on the ground and laid down in it. "I'll keep an eye out," Felix informed the other three. "You three can sleep, too." This came as a relief to them, for their bodies were aching from walking so long.

Avah and Yumi set up their sleeping bags right next to each other. Yumi yawned and snuggled down into her bag, trying to keep warm and get to sleep. Avah watched her for a moment, quiet. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again. Then she took a deep breath and whispered to Yumi.

"Psst, Yumi."

"Hm?" Yumi opened her blue eyes and looked at Avah.

"Can you tell me about your home?"

Yumi smiled at Avah. "Well, there are lots of mountains, but that's way down south," she whispered. "The buildings are really tall. And unlike the buildings in the city, they're made of glass and steel, and they're shiny in the day. But at night they're all lit up." Avah struggled to imagine it, frowning. "Lit up?" she asked. "Are they burning or something?"

Her friend giggled at her. "You'll understand when you see it," she promised. "Go to sleep, silly." Yumi closed her eyes and shifted so she faced away from Avah. Avah watched her back for a second before sighing and shrugging, closing her own eyes. "Goodnight, Yumi," Avah mumbled. "Night," Yumi whispered before drifting off to sleep. Avah dreamt of tall burning buildings made of melting steel and broken glass that night.

Avah was shaken awake by Nemo. The sky was still dark, and she woke as soon as he touched her shoulder. "Avah, it's time to get up," he mumbled quietly. He rubbed his eyes and stood, grabbing his cot and putting it in his bag. His friends were getting up and packed up again, kicking dirt on the fire. Felix looked pale and sleepy.

"Are you going to be able to keep up with us, Felix?" Sock asked. "Yeah, I'll be fine," Felix groaned as he rubbed his face. Sock nodded reluctantly, shouldering his bag onto his back. "Let's go, then." They followed Felix and kept walking, quiet. Yumi jumped over the potholes in the road and Avah watched her with amusement. "Don't trip," she murmured. Yumi just giggled at her.

They walked until they reached a bridge over a small river. Felix was panting and his back was slouched, which all four kids were aware of. "Hey, uh, we should take a break here," Sock suggested. "Just for a little bit, to catch our breath." Felix nodded immediately and sat beneath the shade of a nearby tree, removing his vest and relaxing.

Avah sat down next to the creek and watched the water. Yumi settled next to her and pulled a small book out of her bag, starting to read. Sock and Nemo just sat on the bridge, watching the other three. "I don't like water," Nemo muttered. "Why not?" Sock questioned, glancing at him. Nemo shrugged and frowned. "When I was younger I nearly drowned in the stuff," he replied softly.

The two boys were quiet. Nemo glanced over at the snoozing Felix under the tree. "Hey, I bet that he's asleep," he said, nudging Sock with his elbow. "Well, he was awake all night," Sock reasoned as his gaze also went to Felix. He looked back at Nemo, who had a small rock in his hand and was aiming at Felix with a grin.

"Twenty dollars says that I can hit his crotch from here," Nemo bet. Sock laughed and shook his head. "Don't do that, he's asleep, let him rest!" Nemo threw the rock anyways, and it landed on Felix' chest. Felix jumped and sat up, looking around before relaxing again. The two boys laughed at this.

They got up and began walking again, this time not stopping until the moon was high in the sky above them. They settled down on the road like they had done the previous night. "I'll keep watch tonight," Sock told them, before Felix could talk. Felix looked at him and started to protest, and Sock cut him off again. "I slept well last night. I can stay up."

"I'll stay up with you," Nemo offered. "You stay up half the night, and I'll stay up the rest of the night." Sock frowned and Felix nodded at this idea. "Good plan," he muttered as he laid down on his cot. "Goodnight." Sock frowned more at Nemo, who just smiled and laid down as well. "Wake me up, dude," he told Sock.

They rested in their cots, and Sock watched the sky. He didn't wake Nemo when Nemo should have been woken, deciding that he needed rest. Sock could go days at a time without sleep, he was used to it. Unlike Nemo, Sock had lived on his own for most of his life. His parents abandoned him when he was just a kid, and while he would imagine scenarios of them meeting up again, he knew that they were most likely dead.

As is what always happens in the morning, the sun rose again.