énouement
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the bittersweetness of having arrived in the future
but not being able to tell your past self how things turned out
❀
"I mean, there's only so many options." Gordie began, shrugging as he leaned against the wall. The group of five who discovered that they were trapped were now joined by Allie and her clique. Adelaide was sat cross legged in the middle of the road, staring at the trees in front of her. "Maybe we're dreaming." Addy sighed, looking around, "It's the best option." she gestured around. Harry looked up from the ground, inhaling before he spoke, "Maybe this is just some, elaborate fucking game." everyone furrowed their eyebrows towards him, "Like someone built an exact replica of our town and just put it in the middle of nowhere. And if we just walk, like, this way or that way or any way," he stood up "then, eventually we'll get back to the real world." Addy shrugged at his idea, it was far-fetched, but what else could be happening?
The group sat in silence before Harry continued, "I'm not saying it makes any sense." Cassandra walked closer towards the group of teens, thinking intensely, "There was a smell and then it went away. And it came back, and the buses came for us." Adelaide rolled her eyes, standing up, "You can't just work this out, like some math problem, Cassandra." Harry nodded at her input before adding, "Yeah, I mean, not a flicker of a doubt?" he mocked Cassandra, quoting her lines from the previous school play.
Cassandra glared between the two, "The world doesn't just turn upside down without a reason. We're not in some play-within-a-play." Both Harry and Adelaide laughed at her response but she continued, "Okay? Clever is not the same thing as true. There is a point to everything, there are answers." Harry sat back down on the hood of his car whilst Addy remained standing, leaning against the bridge. "Thats right." Helena began. Adelaide rolled her eyes knowing she was about to say something religious. "God doesn't just play games with people for fun." Cassandra smirked at Harry, knowing someone was disagreeing with him.
Luke butted in, "All right, look, Grizz and I will get a group together and we'll go hike out here through the woods, okay? Like a search party." Addy looked up at Grizz and Clarke. Concerned for Grizz's safety she said, "Do you think it's safe?" Grizz looked at her nodding his head in a reassuring way, "Yeah sure." Addy nodded, hoping he wouldn't get hurt. "Yeah, Grizz knows what he's doing. And if there's people out there, we gotta find 'em right? You know to get help?"
Harry stood up, clearly bored already. "I'm leaving. I'm hungry." Adelaide nodded, agreeing with his point and standing up to walk back home. Allie got out of her position on the wall, "Your leaving?" Adelaide turned and folded her arms, Harry sighed, "Yeah, I got a house with a refrigerator with food inside of it, and I'm gonna go eat it." Addy nodded. "Come on." Harry said to Adelaide as they were about to go home. "You can't just leave." Cassandra stated, standing up. Addy furrowed her eyebrows, "Well what are we supposed to do instead?"
Cassandra looked between the two, clearly getting frustrated. "We have to figure out what is happening to us." Harry nodded, smirking, "You're not student council president anymore." he added. "God," Cassandra begun almost shouting, "you really need to get over that." Harry ignored her comment and turned his attention towards Kelly, "You coming with, Kel?" Adelaide jumped in the car waiting for Kelly to join. "No." she stated. Addy rolled her eyes and shrugged, "Jesus Christ, just get in the car Kelly." she said shaking her head. Will angrily looked up at Addy, "Leave her alone." before she could defend herself, Harry jumped in, "Hey, fuck off, Will." he pointed at him, getting riled up. The group sat there in silence, surprised Adelaide was following Harry.
"Fine, who gives a shit?" he got in the car next to Adelaide and drove off.
❀
"You want me to drive you home?" Harry turned to Adelaide who was looking out the window in the seat next to him. She turned to meet his eyes and shook her head, "Can you uh, drive me to the grocery store? I should probably pick up a few things." she shrugged. He quickly nodded. The rest of the car journey was fairly awkward, but Addy felt comfortable in his presence. Upon arriving to the local food store, Adelaide jumped out of the car. "Thanks." She smiled and began walking inside. "Hey," Harry begun making Addy turn around. "thank you for leaving with me, before." He smiled shortly. She nodded, surprised that Harry Bingham was actually thanking someone. "Cassandra doesn't know what she's doing. I wasn't going to stay with her." They laughed. "See you later, ok?" Adelaide smiled looking at Harry in the car. "Yeah." He replied before driving away.
Walking into the grocery store, there was chaos everywhere Addy looked. She grabbed a shopping cart and made her way through numerous isles, picking up everything that she needed, even if it wasn't necessary. Listening to Cassandra's speech earlier made Adelaide realise that she didn't have a clue what she was doing, and if Cassandra Pressman didn't, no one did.
As she was filling her cart, Addy noticed Elle doing the same thing. They made eye contact and Adelaide began to walk over to her. "Hey." she said, Elle froze, not knowing what to say. "Look, can we just make up? I don't know what that was earlier, but I'm sorry, ok?" Elle rolled her eyes at her comment, folding her arms over her chest she replied, "Fuck you." she whispered slightly before wheeling her cart off to another part of the store. Adelaide sighed and sat on the floor, ignoring the many teens rushing around her.
Will was walking around and upon noticing Addy with her head in her hands, he sat down next to her. "Crazy, right?" Adelaide looked up at him, frowning she began to stand up. "Wait, Adelaide." she turned around and waited for him to speak. "Look, Harry...he's a mess. Don't follow him around he doesn't know what he's doing." she smirked and raised her eyebrows, "Who says I'm following him around huh? Cassandra, and her little clique?" Will shook his head, about to say something but stopped himself. She looked at him in amusement, before walking away with her shopping cart.
Adelaide began to walk home, pushing her cart along the road. She walked slowly, thinking about the interactions she had in the store. She officially had no friends and she was trapped with people she didn't get on with. Addy was not an emotional girl, but the past 24 hours began to settle. Looking down at her dress from the night before, having still not changed, she began to cry. Just walking home and crying. She looked to her left and spotted Gordie leaving Cassandra and Allie's house. He spotted Addy and widened his eyes, noticing the state she was in.
He rushed over to her quickly, "Adelaide." she stopped and turned around, unaware at how much of a mess she looked. His eyes filled with sympathy. He didn't say anything else, he just wrapped his arms around her feeling sorry for the girl. Whilst hugging him, Addy began to cry some more. He started pushing her cart, helping her get home and she took a deep breath, thankful that at least some cared. She sighed, "Elle hates me. So does Cassandra and her group. I miss my dad. I have no friends." she paused shaking her head and crying some more, "I don't know what to do with myself." The two stopped noticing they were outside of her home.
"How about you start by taking a shower." Gordie smirked and carried her groceries inside. She walked in after him. Smiling sadly, she gestured towards her living room, "Make yourself at home." then she began to walk up stairs and clean herself up, taking a shower, drying her hair, changing into clean clothes.
Walking downstairs, Addy could smell something coming from her kitchen. She looked inside and noticed Gordie piling some freshly cooked pasta onto a plate. She smiled, taking a seat. He placed to plates down of pasta, "I mean, I didn't have anything better to do." he laughed before sitting next to her. Addy nodded her head, "Thank you, Gordie. You really didn't have to-" he laughed through his nose interrupting her, "It's fine, honestly." The two sat in relatively comfortable silence. Adelaide would make the odd comment about how good the pasta was or how much she missed her dad, Gordie spoke mostly of solutions to getting out of the town.
This comforted Addy. Knowing that someone smart was thinking of how to get out of here. Upon finishing their meal, the two noticed multiple texts telling them to meet in the church. Furrowing his eyebrows, Gordie stood up, "Well, I guess we should go see what's happening." Addy nodded, throwing on her dads jacket and leaving the house.
❀
"What the fuck is going on?" Adelaide said as she walked through the doors of the church, Gordie by her side. They were noticeably late, as everyone looked up at them as she walked in. Harry looked between her and Gordie and stood up, "So you're hanging out with Gordie now?" Addy sarcastically laughed, "Shut up, Harry." She sat down on the table next to him and avoided Elle and Will's glares from across the room.
Cassandra stood up, beginning a speech, "Listen. Hey, listen up. While we're all here, together, there are some things that we ought to figure out. Before we rip this place apart and maybe... you know, start hurting each other." Harry smirked, ready to listen at her attempt to console the worried teens. She continued, "I don't know what the hell is going on. Maybe Luke will come back with some good news." Elle frowned, looking up at Cassandra, "Maybe? Of course he will." Addy rolled her eyes, knowing that wouldn't be the case.
"Yeah, why don't we wait and see, Cassandra?" Harry smirked mockingly. Cassandra started getting frustrated with Harry, yet again. "Because, I would rather prepare for the worst before the worst happens." Adelaide folded her arms, "What do you mean, prepare?" she questioned. Cassandra shook her head, "I don't know specifically but I think it means, we agree not to just take things, when we want. Until all the food is gone and we starve." Most of the people moaned in disagreement, especially Adelaide. "Well I'd agree to that." Allie stated, a few other teens agreed too, including Helena, Clarke and Will.
Harry rolled his eyes, "This is bullshit." he threw his hand in the air in protest, Addy nodded. Will noticed this and gestured between the two, "Jesus guys, what is your problem?" Adelaide frowned and directed her attention towards Cassandra, "Which one of us gets to decide who gets what?" Becca looked up at Addy, getting annoyed, "It's called a democracy." Harry sighed, "She's not a fucking idiot." Now, although Adelaide didn't particularly like Harry Bingham, she didn't like Cassandra Pressman either. And, she would rather keep her own food and home, than have to share it with others.
"How do you want to decide things?" Cassandra walked with her arms folded to face Harry. "Every person for themselves then we're back to where we started. You want to flip a coin to decide?" Harry laughed in amusement at her statement. "You don't like democracy, how about random fucking chance." She showed him the coin, mocking him, "Call it Harry, call it." He shook his head, laughing at her gesture, "I-I'm not gonna do that." she smirked, nodding her head, "Ok, I'll call it for you. You get heads."
She flipped the coin, "It's tails." Harry shook his head. "Still think it's unfair? Best two out of three." Flipping the coin two more times and still getting tails, Cassandra shrugged. Harry looked at Adelaide, rolling his eyes in amusement. "Do it again." he ordered, standing up. Cassandra flipped the coin multiple times, all landing on tails. The crowd began to grow nervous, watching the scene play out in front of them. Eventually, before everyone had time to begin panicking, Cassandra flipped the coin for the last time, "Heads." She showed it to everyone and a wave of relief washed over the teens faces.
Cassandra turned to address the crowd, "It's all up to us. There's no civilization here, not until we start one. So what are we gonna do? First, I think we have no choice but to share. Share food, share resources. Adelaide rolled her eyes, "Seriously?" she said to Cassandra. Allie spoke up, "Really? How much electricity do we have? Until it's all used up and everything goes dark. I think 225 people in 200 houses doesn't make sense."
"Keep what's ours." A boy shouted from the back of the church, Harry and Addy nodded in agreement. "What is yours," Cassandra shouted, "you have money? Who you gonna pay? The things that you need to live; food, clothes, the stuff in stores, no one owns them." Will looked up from having his head in his hands, distressed by the situation, "Are we gonna fight each other over food, that's fucking crazy."
"Thats because you have nothing." Harry stated making Addy glare at him, thinking that comment was going a little far. But, he continued, "Some of us have things that others want. Right Will? Like houses, girlfriends?" He looked towards Kelly who did not look impressed. Will narrowed his eyes, "Right, Harry I have no house. The place that I used to live in is outside of town, it doesn't exist. You want me to just live on the streets?" Adelaide began to feel sympathy for him but Harry just laughed, "You can live wherever you want. Just not with me." Allie looked up at Will, "You can live with us."
Harry stood up, "I don't have to listen to this, not anymore." He began to walk out of the building, this time it was Addy that tried to stop him. "Harry, hey we can all figure this out-"
Suddenly a gunshot is heard from the back of the church hall, making everyone get down in protection. Harry helped Adelaide down and put his arm over her. "Well, fuck this." Campbell begun. He started to walk towards the front. "Harry and Adelaide are right. No one elected you king, cousin. Did anybody vote for her, did they?" Cassandra slowly began to stand up, "Anybody elect her to speak on your behalf." He gestured towards the kids. Cassandra raised her arms in defence, "I-I don't want to be king." Campbell sighed, "Thats not what it looks like." He walked forward and raised the gun to her head.
Allie mumbled a panicked "No." and proceeded to stand in the line of fire. Cassandra calmly pushed her back and faced Campbell, "I've thought a lot about dying. I've almost gotten used to that. But I don't like to be afraid. Do you want chaos? Fucking shoot me." Adelaide shifted uncomfortably, not able to watch what was going on, Harry grabbed her hand reassuringly. Campbell laughed breaking his composure, "I don't want to shoot you." he lowered the gun and looked towards the frightened kids. "I wanted to get everybody's attention. This meetings obviously over." Everyone began to get up off the floor, Adelaide realised the position she was in with Harry and quickly stood up, letting her hand slip from his grasp. Kelly looked over at the two in anger.
"We'll be back when Luke gets here, until then, if anyones tired of listening to her you can follow me." A few people stood up and walked forward, including Harry and Adelaide. Addy knew Campbell was a little psycho, but she'd rather go with him than follow Cassandra's orders. Harry walked over to Kelly trying to convince her to come with him, "Hey, Kelly, let's go." she looked at Adelaide, then back at him, not moving she replied, "You can go with Addy." he frowned and began to walk out not protesting.
Just as the group were about to walk out the door, Luke walked in carrying Emily. Grizz and the group followed slowly behind. The teens all stared in horror as she was placed on the table at the front of the church. "She died from a snake bite." Luke said, breaking the silence. "Her whole body just shut down. We did everything we could, but we couldn't save her." Adelaide stood next to Grizz and put her arm around his waist, not imaging what he'd been through. He spoke up, "So we're going to bury her tomorrow. Before it starts to smell." He put his arm around Addy's shoulder before continuing, "So I'm gonna need a couple guys, Clarke?"
Luke stood staring at the crowd, "There's nothing out there guys. Just a whole bunch of, just woods that go on forever. We're all alone. This isn't our home" he finished shaking his head. Adelaide rested her head on Grizz's shoulder as the teens cried, and hugged each other in shock. Helena began to pray and many people began to pay their respects to Emily.
They eventually scattered out of the church, Harry leaving with Kelly, Allie leaving with Cassandra and Addy leaving with Grizz.
If there's one thing that Adelaide knew for sure, it's that this wasn't West Ham anymore.
This is New Ham.
End.
2957 words