The Survivors

Chapter 5-Checkup

To JWCMaher who wrote a quirky and strange space story that I fell in love with! You were one of my first favorite reads on Wattpad so thank you!

After a lot of hitting, yelling, and arguing I managed to force Ayden to go back to the plane and leave us alone. He walked away with a pouting face and then said, "Whatever you're hiding, it won't stay hidden for long." Then he ran off towards the plane on the beach where everyone else was. I can't believe he was so stupid, he was purposely trying to annoy me to see if I had a spine.

We walked down the beach in silence before stopping under the shade of the jungle treeline. We sit down on the ground behind a large palm leaf bush that shields us from view. I don't want anyone to see me like this. Teren already knows, his family was in touch with mine and heard the terrible news. That the beloved Leigh Burke died in a tragic car accident.

And everyone knew the story of Levi Burke and how he somehow survived the crash. Some people blamed me for the accident, saying I did it on purpose. I wanted to murder them. I would never do anything to hurt my mother. I loved her with all my heart. I tried to save her, I put my arm in front of her. But it wasn't enough to stop the semi that smashed into the front of the car.

I slowly unzip my jacket and brush sand off. Then I look down at my black glove over my hand. I hesitate, glancing up at Teren, "We could just skip this...just say that you did."

He shakes his head. He sits criss-cross on the sand with arms in his lap. Still wearing his dark navy blue dress shirt with dark jeans. Blood stains the front of the shirt and I can see the tan AC wrapped around his stomach. I sigh loudly and take off the jacket slowly. I wince as I move my left arm knowing that my shoulder will be very red and sore.

Sand explodes from the jacket and feels very damp. My back is still burning painfully but I'm sure it's not too bad. My grey t-shirt is damp as well and coated with sand. I look down at my bare left arm and reminded of the painful events that took place to earn me this. This curse. The curse of losing my arm.

Instead of skin, there is metal. The metal has been shaped to mimic the form of an arm. The metal is rough with millions of threads woven together to make muscles. It's black and dark grey making it gleam in the low light. I can see all the little silver bolts that screw it all together. I can no longer feel anything. There's nothing left. My arm was completely torn off from the accident. I tried to save Mom, but she died anyways and I lost my arm. I find a ton of sand lodged in the metal threads.

I blow on it and start brushing it away, still shaken at the sight of the metal arm. All of this shoves the accident back into my face. The terror I felt before passing out from the pain. Even more terror when I woke up on a lab table with doctor faces hovering above my head. Then the grief, the sorrow I felt when I found out Mom died. I failed to save her.

I close my eyes feeling the hurt fill my heart again. I can see her face in my head, smiling at me. But her voice is fading, as if I can't remember the sound of her voice anymore. I open my eyes again and look up at Teren. He is staring at me, stunned. His eyes glued to the arm.

I swallow pushing back the tears knowing this isn't the time. I blink a couple times knowing my eyes are damp, "What?" I ask starting to get self-conscious. I touch the arm and pull it close to me to hide it. "Was this what you were expecting?" I ask rudely.

He shakes his head lowering his head. Then he looks up at me and scoots closer to me. He points to his shirt and tugs at it a couple times. I sigh and reluctantly pull off my shirt. I ball it up in my hand and sit very still. My skin is a bit light because I haven't gotten a lot of sun this summer. I was busy inside hating the sun and then grieving. I didn't see the light of day until I was forced to get on the plane.