Journey Into The Aftermath |✔

Chapter two: A Broken Reunion

++Above is Dr. Greyson++

THREE YEARS LATER

~ Skylar ~

Twigs, leaves, and branches all blew past me as I kept running, swatting whatever I could as rushed through the thick leaves and tall grass. After a little more running and pushing myself, I fell out into a clearing and nearly tumbled over in the sudden change of environment as the crunching of gravel and dead wood no longer filled my ears.

I let out right beside a clear stream that I deemed healthy enough to drink from. As I crouched over to take a large gulp of the questionable water, I splashed my face and ran my wet hands through my hair that was up in a ponytail. It hung down to my shoulders.

Even though it was in a ponytail, they were still some renegade bangs that decorated my forehead. I looked at my wavy reflection in the pond, staring back at me with equal amusement.

My metallic grey eyes that I got from my mom instead of my dad's diamond blue swished and swirled in the water as traces of dark silver bubbled back and forth. Even though his eyes weren't a trait I inherited, I had to appreciate the eloquence of the way my eyes resembled that of a iron blizzard; a solid steel that seems to fade into a snowstorm of white ash fall.

I swished my hands through the water and finger-raked my hair behind my head. Though it was dark in nature, it wasn't anywhere near the jet black you would normally see. Instead, it was an interwoven quilt of dark shades of grey that fired its way into vibrant strokes of solid tangerine highlights. Unlike my solid-colored but yet transparent and faded eyes, it's waves of very light-shaded hues of glamorous silver blended well against my softly tanned skin and plushy dark scarlet lips.

I motioned away from the pond, I looked up to the palmed treetops brimming with sunlight while flashing my black thermal long-sleeve top for a little breathing room after stripping out of my white leather jacket. It was comfy as it was also pretty tight and was layered in glossy black zippers and edges.

Hugging my legs was a thick, but skintight black jeans that were very elastic which was tucked into my furry white boots bottomed with black soles. Recently deposited into my pockets were matching leather gloves to combat the late Autumn frosticious breeze that had icy plumes of smoke masking my every breath.

My father's satchel had a permanent positioning my white cloth belt so there would be no chance of it falling off. The only other thing I had on my person was my phone that will never leave my side even when the service, WiFi, and almost every other usage thing on it was vanquished. 

It was just a small screen on my bracelet that I could disconnect at any time and snap into a normal sized phone. It's more efficient if I don't have to hold it in my hand or worry about it falling out of my pocket if it was shrunk neatly into a plastic wrist-band.

Since it was around six, I continued my journey into the radioactively over-grown forest. After the melt-down, the radioactivity affected places around the world in unpredictable ways. Most of America was dense forest, some cold places became desserts and vice versa, but then some cold places are literally colder than outer space and the Sierra dessert is in direct competition with the heat of the sun.

There are also some places that are a contaminated zone that will affect the human body in unpredictable ways. In many cases, people straight up die on the spot or slowly and painfully. No one has any idea what's making the diagnosis of being exposed to such properties so insane and completely random. They have been long since quarantined, so no one has to worry about those.

"There should be some sort of village up here." I spoke aloud to myself as I jogged the waterside through over-growth.

Soon, I found myself darting through trees and jumping over rocks trying to find my way anywhere for a little while longer. I could not come up with a reason why deadly radiation would cause such healthy trees and plant life to skyrocket the way it did here and most of the North American continent, but for now, this should provide a good enough shelter.