Miles, Beck, and the twins sat in the grass beside the lake they had just fallen into, Staring up at the large waterfall that should've killed them the second they splashed into the still water below.
"How did you know that would work?" Beck asked, looking over at Miles still in shock from the heinous scene they had all just witnessed.
"I didn't" He replied, shakily removing what remained of his wet shoes, and throwing them into the pebbles beside them. The three other members looked at him in disbelief the man who saved them could've been the one to kill them, the silence was overbearing as Abel filled with anger.
"You gambled our lives?" he shouted, standing up and backing away from Miles with his fists clenched.
"I made a decision and took the risk. The other options were almost certain death, this one was a seventy-thirty," Miles replied, in an attempt to calm his brother down.
"No. Fuck you, that wasn't your gamble to make, we all could've died and you just hoped for the best?" he replied, with anger in his eyes as his face began to emanate a red color.
"It's not like that Abel, it was a split-second decision that saved our lives," Miles said still attempting to calm him down, but standing by his decision.
"No, there were other options. You took a risk, not only betting on your life but mine, Amanda's, and not to mention Beck's. You had no right to make that choice for us!" he exclaimed, storming off in another direction.
"Where are you going?" Miles called out.
"The further from you the better!"
"Abel you can't just go off on your own you'll-"
"Die? Yeah well if I stay, you'll just make that choice for me." Abel said, cutting Miles off.
"Abel!" Miles called out one more time standing and turning toward the hill his brother began to climb. Abel gave no response as he trekked over the hilltop. The three others watched him climb higher and higher before disappearing over the peak.
"He isn't wrong you know," Amanda stated, as they watched Abel walk away.
"What?" he asked, confused by the statement.
"He isn't wrong, you always do this, you always make big decisions without consulting us even if it includes us. If you want to gamble away your life fine but don't bet ours and act like we're the villains," she said, ringing water from her soiled hair. Miles stared at his sister at a loss for words. He thought of what to say but nothing could come out, not even a simple apology.
"Exactly, you can't even admit you're wrong in the first place. You can't just for one split second jump off your high horse and say you're sorry," she said, standing up off the ground.
"Okay hold on I just saved your life. I chose the moment I saw an opportunity and took it. Any of the other options would have seen us mangled and drowned, so I'm sorry for using my critical thinking. Not to mention all of this coming from the girl who hid in the theater instead of facing her fears and showing her face because you're too afraid of what people may think. I get it, news spread pretty quickly about your attempt last year, but don't sit there and lecture me about making poor choices when you could've been the reason me and Abel got blown to bits back there!" he shouted, stepping closer to her getting sterner with each word.
A thick silence fell over them as she stared at her brother in awe. Miles' face went from stern to apologetic seconds after realizing what he had said, his mind raced to find the words to take back what he said but it was too late. He had done the damage and it was too late to take it back.
"Amanda I...I'm-" He stuttered, not knowing the right words to say.
"Save it," she cut miles off, as a tear rolled down the wrinkle of her cheek. She began walking toward the mountain in the opposite direction of both brothers. She didn't know what lay ahead but knew she couldn't rely on anyone, not even her family. She thought back on all the times her family had let her down; from her father once a well-respected man with hopes and dreams of winning a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in nuclear physics, now an alcoholic glued to a recliner. Then there was her mom who couldn't even be home long enough to see her children off on their first day in high school. Now Abel, a brother who left her behind with no goodbye and no come with me just retired, walking as far away as he could without even the slightest glance back. She couldn't blame him though she knew he was right and she didn't exactly rush to go with him either. Miles stood and watched her as she walked away, knowing any words he said now would only drive her further.
Amanda contemplated what she was doing, was this right? The world ended around her and she just left her only family behind. She didn't know what else to do, but she knew she couldn't turn back. If she was going to survive this new world, it would be by her own doing.
Meanwhile, Scott, Selena, and Eden walked for miles not knowing what direction they were heading only knowing that they had to find shelter, and soon. Nightfall was coming and there was no promise of safety anywhere in sight. Scott couldn't help but think back to the river. He remembered the feeling of Selena holding him, wrapping her arms around his waist. Her tight grip squeezed the air out of him as the tears she shed fell onto his shirt.
Was she just stressed or did she feel what he felt at that moment? He couldn't bring himself to ask her, but he felt something for her, something he couldn't quite explain an almost warm feeling in his chest. Was it love? Or was it just his hero complex filling his mind and ego with the role of the protector?
Selena thought back to her days at school, the time she spent in the library instead of at social gatherings, and the classes she was excited to start this year. Was this the end of all of it? Would she ever see her friends again? Her family? She didn't know. The only thing she knew at that moment, was she had to survive, she needed to know what it was she had witnessed. She thought back to her time in the water and through all of her scattered memories, the only thing that stuck out was how warm Scott's arms were even when they were floating in the river. She couldn't explain the feelings that rushed through her as she clung to him, and she wondered what he was feeling or if he even noticed her with everything going on around them.
As the sun set to the west, the moon began glowing, emerging from the shadowed state she lived through the day. Its light, now a deep crimson color illuminated the terrain surrounding them, it danced behind the trees creating shadows on the ground around them. Eden stared at the dark figures imagining them to be the flashing military lights shining from behind the trees inches away from rescuing them. They knew they weren't, but the idea gave them a little bit of hope as they walked slowly behind.
"The moon, it's red," Selena shuttered.
"What the hell did we get hit by?" She wondered.
The mesmerizing sunset faded quickly leaving nothing but its ominous partner in the sky above surrounded by thousands of bright stars shining down on the three travelers below. Scott looked up at the stars above thinking back to his days in the Boy Scouts, where they had taught him to follow the stars and how to navigate them.
"Which way are we facing?" Eden asked, spinning in a circle attempting to guess.
"South," Scott replied.
"How do you know that?" they asked, mockingly.
"Because right in front of us is the constellation Octans in that constellation is Sigma Octanis better known as the southern star," Scott said stopping and pointing at the cluster of stars that formed the shape of a triangle above them. Selena and Eden looked at each other in shock. Almost surprised that Scott had any kind of knowledge in his brain other than what type of cigarette burns slower and what percentage of alcohol Smirnoff was.
"Wow, you truly are a jack of all trades aren't you Scott?" Selena asked chuckling to herself.
"I'm not as stupid as I paint myself you know. I have some knowledge in my brain, I only use it when necessary," he replied tapping his finger on his head.
"You don't say," Eden replied mocking him. Selena joined them and laughed out loud, as Scott frowned and rolled his eyes, before turning back around and continuing forward. At that moment Scott scoffed, smirking slightly.
Miles sat by the lake holding his knees to his chest looking at the reflection of the bloodied moon dancing in the rippling water. The sound of waves crashing together rippled through the trees as a fire crackled behind him.
"Come on Miles you need to warm up you're still soaking wet," Beck said, holding her hands above the popping fire.
"Just a few more minutes." He replied, throwing small pebbles into the lake. He knew that he had messed up badly with his siblings but what he didn't understand was why out of everyone Beck stayed with him. She didn't owe him anything she didn't have to stay but she did. Why? Suddenly arms wrapped around him from behind.
"You aren't the villain Miles. You did what you thought was right, you saved all of us, I promise they'll come around," She said, hugging him tightly.
"What if they don't?" He asked, attempting to hide the cracking in his voice.
"They need time, and you need warmth. Come on let's sit by the fire and decide where to go from here," She said, standing up and reaching her hands down for him to grab. He spun around slowly and grabbed her hands helping her lift him off the ground.
"What if we stay?" He said, smiling slightly.
"What do you mean?" She asked, confused by his question.
"I mean we have water and lots of land," he said, gesturing toward the open fields and forest surrounding the area where they were sitting.
"Think about it, if we go back we could just get hit again, plus we don't know what the after-effects could be or what they could do to us," He added. Beck stayed silent thinking it out in her head. She knew there was little chance of her family surviving though she had hoped they had. She knew nothing was waiting for them back in the city, nothing more than death and despair, and she knew that the radiation could have detrimental effects on them.
"Okay," she said, smiling back at Miles. The two of them stared at each other knowing that this was their best option for the time being. Miles pulled Beck in and hugged her tight.
"We're going to figure this out." He whispered. She pulled away to respond when a rustling noise came from the tree line behind them. The pair jumped up and stepped back towards the lake as the sound of snapping sticks grew louder as something lurked in the dark toward them. Miles bent down keeping his eyes on the naughty trees and picked up a large rock.
A tall dark shadow emerged from behind the trees, the only thing visible was a silhouette. A tall healthy-shaped person stood on the edge of the woods. Miles and Beck stumbled backward before Miles cocked his arm back and threw his large stone. The stone hit the person in the head. A loud thump was followed by an even louder-
"Ow!" The person grabbed their head and stepped forward into the active light of the flickering flame. It was Tracey, still dressed in his blue letterman jacket and his brown pants both of which were seemingly covered in dirt and mud.
"Ace?" Beck said leaning forward for a better look.
"Beck, Miles?" He replied, more shocked to see them than he was, getting smacked in the head by a rock.
"Oh my god, what are you doing here? How did you make it out of town?" Beck asked, rushing over to him.
"My folks have a cabin up here I made my way out of town and away from the shelter before I saw the beam in the sky. I assumed everyone had been killed. Then as I was sitting on the porch, thinking about what I was going to do, I saw the smoke from your fire I thought maybe someone from my family had the same idea." He replied, His head trickling blood down the side of his face. Beck and Miles made their way over to him helping him to the fire.
"Why didn't you say it was you?" Miles said grabbing one of his socks from the rocks surrounding the fire, where they placed them to dry, to place over Ace's wound.
"You can't exactly blame a guy for being nervous, you threw a rock at my head," He replied, pressing the damp sock to his bruised forehead. The three laughed at the situation relieved to be with friends and to see other people had survived.
"Did you say you had a cabin?" Beck asked.
"Yeah, it's just over that ridge a few yards and about a mile hike hidden behind a thickly wooded area. My folks loved seclusion that's for sure." He replied pointing toward the hilltop he had emerged from.
"We hate to ask but would it be possible if we-"
"Of course, come on, y'all can have the top floor," Beck and Miles smiled excited to have a friend nearby and the fact that they didn't have to camp out by the lake in the cold night air all night. While Beck and Ace talked Miles soaked his jacket in the lake, before throwing it over the open flame, extinguishing it. The fire sizzled before being fully snuffed leaving nothing more than a few burning embers and a large cloud of smoke rising high into the sky.