Last Alive?-Grethan

Chapter 18

Ethan's POV

Bryant and I have been traveling town to town, gathering supplies, being careful, quick, meticulous, and aware. We hadn't had any other encounters with those people since the incident at the grocery store.

We stayed in places for very little time just in case anyone was following us or on our trail. We made sure to leave the places we stayed in look abandoned and as if no one is or has stayed there so no one suspects anything and we won't have a trail to us.

We had hopes now that people were still alive, but besides that girl there was no sign of any other person out here. They could be hiding and scared like that little girl was.

Bryant and I theorized our beliefs on who those people could be. We thought back to the day we saw them and their uniforms did have some writing of another language, and Bryant slightly remembers the stitching of another country's flag on the uniform of one of the people there.

We assumed that they were people from the war that survived and were out killing any survivors in America of the war to try and eradicate the rest of America and finally "win" the war.

I guess the fight still hasn't ended, even after the mess we've created you'd think they would see what they've done and try to fix their mistake instead of furthering the process.

~•~

It was September and Bryant and I had been in a new town. It wasn't too big but looked pretty stable, Bryant and I headed over to the houses first as always. "I'm gonna go check this one" Bryant said pointing over to a green house with a white roof. "Ok, just be careful" I told him, heading into a house of my own. I entered, looking longingly at the family portraits that were displayed everywhere, pictures hung up on the wall.

They made me think of my family and what probably happened to them. I shook my head, trying to forget the saddening thought of them and headed over to the kitchen in search of food and water.

I opened a cabinet and on the top shelf was a bottle of honey and crackers beneath it, I couldn't reach so I grabbed a chair, dragging it in front of the cabinets and climbing on top. As I was reaching up for the food I hear the sound of wheels coming to a stop. I close the cabinet and bend down slightly with furrowed eyebrows of confusion to see a car outside the window and people getting out with uniforms and guns heading into the house Bryant went in to.

I run out of the kitchen and out to the back door to try and get to Bryant without being seen when I hear gun shots. I freeze in place, turning back and racing to the living room to see Bryant burst through the front doors running onto the streets to my house. Halfway there he screams in pain and doubles over, falling to the ground, a blood puddle forming around his midsection as he releases little sounds of discomfort and pain.

The people come forward and aim the gun to his head and shoot right through his skull. I fall back with a cry of agony at the death of my best friend, reaching out behind me I stumble back, knocking some stuff over and racing to the back door.

I run out the back steps, falling over a couple times at my blurry vision, running up behind a big tree, slamming my back against it as I silently wept into the palms of my hands, sliding down the tree as my body shakes with cries for Bryant.

I stayed there on the floor, the night soon taking over leaving me in the dark. I sat there, looking out to the forest, the people having left a couple hours after killing him, leaving me without Bryant, my best friend, everything.

Alone.