Our Broken World

Chapter 25

Over the course of the next few days, we walk and rest and walk again. Despite the continuous walking, my wounds are healing nicely, and so is the gash on Dylan's neck. In these few days, he teaches me several fighting positions and a few fight moves. He shows me how to deflect a blow, how to throw a punch, how to attack and counter-attack. Then we try to spar, so I see how it is when it actually happens. I always end up on the floor, with him on top of me, holding me down with the weight and the strength of his body. But I don't mind. Not if it's Dylan.

He also shows me how to use a gun and teaches me how to handle it. We've got three guns in total now. Benson dropped his gun while running and fighting the guards, but he still has the one he stole from that one guard. Jonah managed to get two guns, but unfortunately Dylan lost his when he was attacked by the Mixed and there was just no time to go around looking for it. And TJ was not carrying a gun, because he apparently lost it before they met me. But three is a lot better than nothing.

Jonah was reluctant to give up at least one of his guns, but at the end he gave it to TJ. They agreed one shouldn't carry two guns, when there are others without them. Dylan was totally okay without one, but then TJ gave his (originally Jonah's) to him. He said he trusts him and thinks the leader should be the one with a gun. Jonah was annoyed and he acted like he couldn't believe it. He didn't agree in the slightest (following Dylan doesn't mean he's just back to being his friend, let alone brother), but he couldn't object either. It was TJ's choice.

These few days are spent travelling and resting and learning how to fight and in the last matter, I actually progress quite fast. I pick up the moves quickly, despite having only a few days' time. Which, too, passes quickly. We don't really talk much, because there's still some tension between the guys. Well, between Dylan and Jonah. Tension that Jonah is making worse with his doubtful, icy, secretive and suspicious looks. I notice he isn't only giving them to Dylan. He's also giving them to me. Cold, hateful stares that he steals when Dylan isn't looking. I try my best to ignore them, but I see them. They're annoying and disturbing. But I don't want to mention anything to Dylan, because I don't want to make matters worse, a sentiment Jonah obviously does not share with me.

Dylan stays close to me the whole time, always ready and vigilant, like he knows something isn't right. I feel it's more than just wanting to be close to me. It's like he's afraid of something. We sleep together – most of the time just sleep and nothing else, because we're short on time and it isn't really the time for those kind of actives – and we do that in houses or other buildings that we can find. We've decided to leave the fun for later, for after we've reached New York and found Mikey, because then we won't be in such a hurry, in such danger, with such doubts on our minds, shadows in our hearts and tension all around us. For now, we just walk, talk, kiss every now and then, train, sleep, eat, and pray to reach New York in time. And soon, we finally do.

I feel both joyous and afraid when we arrive at the outskirts of the famous, now notorious gigantic city, previously known as The Big Apple. As we're closing in on it, I observe the tall buildings in the low afternoon sun. They are broken, just ruins, shadows of our old world. The streets are strewn with broken down cars, garbage, rocks and even things you normally wouldn't expect on the streets. Like I said, this world is no normal world.

We slowly make our way through the chaos on the ground, looking up at the mess in the air. Some buildings look like they're gonna fall off right now, but they've been like this for quite some time. They look like they have just been destroyed and not like they've been standing here, broken, for years, since the apocalypse happened years ago.

We can see from afar that the Statue of Liberty is broken too, its head and the torch missing, probably because they were destroyed in a bomb attack. Although, it looks more like someone targeted the statue specifically. But it doesn't matter now. It's broken, like everything else in this world.