The Survivors

Chapter 14-Lullabies and Marco Polo

The rain poured on, relentlessly. I hear it pattering loudly on the leaves outside the dark hole. The hole is still filled up with the warm salty water that soaks me to the bone. It's dark in here, shadowed and almost pitch black. The thunder booms through the sky but isn't as loud anymore. Occasionally I'll see the white flash of lightning from outside, sometimes it turns red.

The strange dark green clouds are still there, I have no idea why though. The clouds shouldn't be green and lightning shouldn't be red. A tsunami though is more common. I should have saw it coming. There wasn't a cloud in the sky while we were working on that pitiful shelter. I should have noticed the heat growing. I should have noticed how the waves were pulling back a little. I should have noticed the storm. Then I could have saved Shane.

And I don't even know who else may have been swept away from the massive wave. Tears have run dry leaving me to stare blankly at the dirt wall in front of me. I am standing up and using the water to kinda float. I feel my burn on my back burning painfully but I do my best to ignore it. My heart is still pounding from the mad dash to get here. Painful memories of the run replay in my mind over and over like a broken record.

I force myself to push them away but they just keep replaying. We should have started running earlier. We would have more time to escape. And Shane... Flashes of his panicked face appear in my mind. It's all my fault. I killed them all. Now it's just me and Elliot. Oh God I killed them. Elliot is clinging onto me, his tiny arms wrapped around my neck tightly. His legs are locked around my waist and his head rests on my shoulder.

He got heavy a long time ago but I can't put him down. He's terrified and has been crying non-stop. It's also too deep for him and I don't want to risk it. I locked my hands under him to keep him up so he doesn't slip. But my arms ache. Well, arm. My left shoulder is the thing that's hurting from being strained. I just remembered something that doctors told me about my stupid metal arm. It's waterproof and won't rust because it's some kind of metal.

It's super high tech and fancy with gadgets and stuff. It's literally indestructible because it's the metal they use for tanks. Somehow it's lightweight for me, I can move it around easily like a real arm. But it's heavy when it's limp, letting me use it as a hammer. They said it's the best technology for prosthetics they have available. The one thing my father did right in his life.

I did a ton of physical therapy after the surgery helping me be able to use it. At least, I couldn't move it at all because I didn't know how. It's not like using a real arm, there's something different about it. Different muscles you have to use and you have to retrain your brain and muscles. I had a bit of trouble and still sometimes forget. Other times I'll forget it's gone. It's a weird feeling.

It's not electric either which helps. I'm not a cyborg or anything, it's just a fake arm. Though at the airport, one little girl burst into tears at the sight of my arm (since the metal detector went off) and pointed at me and yelled, "Mommy! It's a alien cyborg!" That brought on a lot of attention that I really didn't need. Security was annoying but I managed to explain everything. After they check my arm for bombs they let me go through.

Elliot's messy blonde hair sticks to my face because it's so wet. I blow a piece from my mouth and look over my shoulder staring at the hole. Where is everyone else? Did they survive? Another rush of panic comes over them followed by a crushing feeling that it's my fault if they got hurt or died. Elliot's tiny chest rises and falls shakily and he sniffles loudly.

Then he shakes his head a couple times and I feel something wet wiped onto my shoulder. I cringe and look up realizing what he's doing. But I can't blame him, the poor kid is traumatized beyond belief. I sigh loudly and hoist him up again making little splashes in the water. I feel extremely bad for him and finally realize that I can't be focusing on everyone else right now. Our own survival is first.