Scott, Selena, and Eden sat in the grass tired and cold, taking a moment to rest. Scott scratched at his wrapped hand as the slice on his palm began to burn and itch intensely.
"Stop scratching it you're only irritating it more," Eden said, placing their hand on top of his wounded palm.
"I am not it just itches," he replied, pulling his hand out from under theirs.
"Fine, but don't complain to me when it gets infected," they said in a huff.
"Deal," he replied chuckling to himself and scratching at it once again. Selena stared at the sky, her eyes watching as the stars gleamed and shined above her.
"I wonder if they're up there," she said, her eyes filled with doubt and desperation.
"What do you mean?" Scott asked, looking up at the sky.
"Like heaven, I wonder if it's real or if it is just a coping mechanism people use to ease the fear of death," Selena said, dropping her head, and twirling her finger along a long blade of grass.
"The ideology of heaven and hell is as corrupt as the system that created them, no one is watching us from above once you die that's it," Scott said, tightening the wrap around his hand nonchalantly. Eden nudged him with their shoulder.
'What, I'm being honest. Might as well rip the band aid off now." Scott said shrugging confused about how he was in the wrong.
"Wow, it doesn't take you very long to turn back into an asshole does it?" Selena asked as her blood boiled below her skin.
"What can I say, sweetheart? I am who I am. Always have been and always will be." Scott said smirking smugly, standing up from his seat.
"Come on, we need to keep moving," He continued, lowering his hand to help her up.
"Fuck you, Scott!" Selena yelled throwing dirt from under her in his direction.
"Look, I don't owe you shit, so if you'd rather go join Henderson and his group of rejects who are most likely dead at the bottom of that waterfall I saved you from, be my fucking guest. If not we're leaving. Now." Scott replied, his demeanor switching from nonchalant to bitter. Silence washed over the group before Eden and Selena rose to their feet knowing the only choice they had was to stick together.
"That's what I thought," He said, preparing to continue the journey south.
Selena shuffled behind contemplating her decision. Was this the right choice? Should she have made the journey alone? Could she even survive alone? She wasn't prepared to risk it and end up dead in some middle-of-nowhere field with no one to find her. All she knew at that moment was that her best chance of survival was Scott. So she did the only thing she knew she could, she followed.
Scott loved being seen as the asshole, it was an easy way to keep people at arm's length, and he saw it as a leadership trait. He knew if he was strong then people would follow him. At least that's what his dad would tell him while he swung his wet leather belt across Scott's back leaving swollen red welts painted on his spine like a canvas. He believed the scars he bore from his father were the marks of a leader, a survivor.
Scott knew deep in his heart, or rather the hole where his heart should be, that being an asshole wasn't a quality people favored. He only knew one thing in life and that was if he were going to fight he'd better have won, otherwise, it was another "teachable moment" from Dad.
As the night passed and stars began to fade with the light of the morning sun, shivering became sweating, and walking became a chore. The three of them tried to focus on getting to a place to take shelter, but the beating sun became unbearable with each passing hour.
"We have to stop," Selena groaned, dragging her feet more and more with every step.
"We can't stop, we need to find a place to set up camp, and we can't do that if we have to stop for the princess every hour," Scott replied angrily, as his voice filled with frustration as sweat began to stream across the brim of his large forehead.
"Fuck that! We've been walking for hours and you have yet to find a place suitable for your standards. You can't be pleased Scott, get over yourself!" Selena yelled fed up with Scott's constant disapproval of places she and Eden thought were good, before stopping in her tracks.
"Fine, you take the lead. I'll stop right here and sit in the shade while the two of you look for a place to set up camp," Scott said sitting with his back against the large trunk of a tall pine tree. Selena and Eden stared at each other for a moment before a smile grew across both of their faces.
"Fine, works for us," Eden said, feeling proud and excited to explore freely, without Scott constantly rushing them. The two looked around for a moment searching for a direction that looked promising before sprinting toward a large wooded forest just past the field they were wandering. Scott rolled his eyes and shook his head before interlocking his fingers behind his head leaning against the rough bark of the tree and closing his eyes.
Amanda was parched, and her tongue was dry and cracked, causing her mouth to feel like it had been set ablaze after being soaked in lighter fluid. She swayed back and forth as she stumbled along the narrow trail in the center of the large empty plain she had wandered into. She was surrounded by nothing other than abandoned farmland and overgrown weeds that sprouted up and over the electric fences as if they had been abandoned years before. The sun peered down at her with anger burning her skin and sucking the last bit of liquid from her pores.
She knew if she didn't find something to eat or drink soon she'd most likely faint and cook in the sun with no one coming to save her.
She had no sense of balance or direction as she stumbled around holding onto broken wooden posts, that were scattered along the pathway. She searched for any source of substance to ease her intense thirst with no success. She staggered further twisting her ankle on a rock and falling with minimal strength to attempt to soften the impact. She slammed into the dirt sending dust flying in the air around her as her head smacked against the course dirt below her.
She raised her head, her vision all but gone, she could hardly make out the silhouettes around her. Then as she watched, hoping someone would walk over the hill and find her lying there, a shadow appeared in front of her: a pair of legs towered above her. Fading in and out of consciousness catching only glimpses of what looked like her being lifted from the ground, then the ground seemed to be moving below her before she fell unconscious once again.
When she awoke a second time, she found herself in a shaded area laying on something sharp and itchy. As her vision slowly blended back into view she saw a roof above her, riddled with holes and bird nests along the long support beams, and what seemed to be a loft above. Looking around, she could see bundles of hay around the walls of the building, realizing that's what she was resting on. She scrambled to move her weak and dehydrated body, trying to find out who brought her here, she felt the dry grass under her back, poking into her shirt and scratching across her back.
"You're awake," A voice said, as the sun peered in from the open door. Amanda looked toward them seeing the legs of a shorter boy. Looking up slowly, she could make out his outfit; tight black jeans, an old band T-shirt, and a silver chain around his neck. She raised her head as high as she could to see his face. It was Ashur Henson. The sun shined through his dark wavy hair breaking the darkness and adding a small pop of yellow to his otherwise dark scalp.
Behind Ashur stood another boy Amanda didn't recognize. He was tall and pudgy with caramel skin. His face carried a long nose and bright ocean-blue eyes, while his hair was more of a messy brown rag that rested on top of his head. The two boys entered the room and sat down next to Amanda.
"You know you're pretty heavy for a small girl," The tall boy said, smiling slightly.
"I'm Avani by the way, Avani Newton but everyone calls me Boulder, well they did anyway," Boulder said staring at the ground.
"And I'm Ashur, but I'm sure you knew that," Ashur said, wearing a crooked smile. Amanda stayed silent looking up at the boys confused, and nervous, Her tongue still burning from the cracks on its surface.
"Oh shit here, girl," Boulder said reaching behind him and pulling out a blue metal water bottle and holding it out to Amanda. She flinched for a moment, before reaching out slowly and snatching it from his hands, quickly unscrewing the cap and chugging the water aggressively leaking several drops out of the sides of her mouth and down her cheeks.
"Whoa whoa whoa, calm down girl, you're getting more out here than in your mouth," Boulder said, laughing at Amanda.
"Thank...you," Amanda said weakly her voice husky and scratched sounding more like a wordy breath than a statement, as water dripped from around the rim of her mouth.
"Save your strength. Rest up in here for a while until you feel comfortable coming outside," Ashur said, standing up and urging Boulder to do the same.
"Oh yeah, get some rest...I guess I oughta learn your name huh?" Boulder said realizing it had slipped his mind while he was talking to her.
"A...Aman..da," she said as each word burned her throat.
"Amanda. Got it won't forget it." Boulder said giving Amanda a thumbs up. She smiled slightly as the boys left and closed the door behind them. She lay there basking in the only light coming into the dark room; the beams of sunlight shining in from the cracks in the walls of the building. She stared up at the ceiling her eyelids heavy and her breaths shallow.
Her eyes fell closed and got heavier the more she tried to keep them open. Eventually, the weight of her eyelids grew so heavy it became impossible to keep them open. As her eyes closed her mind emptied no thoughts no sounds no visions just darkness.
She felt herself floating in the darkness, her mind encumbered by dehydration, and her body numb to any feeling. As her body floated through this dark tunnel her mind created, a spark of light flickered in the distance, while her eyes darted along the emptiness. She looked closer to see what it was as the flickering light reflected off of her face. The closer she got the more she could make out. It was a woman dressed in a long flowing white dress floating in the darkness as if it were submerged in water.
The woman's hair was a light brown outlined in a bright white glow. Then there was her face looking almost exactly like Amanda herself but older and more experienced.
"Mom?" Amanda asked aloud into the void as she attempted to thrust herself faster toward the woman. The white lady opened her arms with a large smile plastered across her face. Amana tried harder and harder to reach the floating vision of her mother, but the harder she tried the further it got.
"Mom!" She shouted inching closer and closer, before finally reaching the woman's arms after what felt like an eternity. Suddenly the weight of the darkness lifted making it easier for Amanda to hold herself up.
"Is it really you?" Amanda asked with tears falling onto her mother's chest.
"No, my love, simply a figment created by your mind to help you heal." The lady said her voice echoing softly through the dark void.
"Oh," Amanda said dropping her head.
"Oh don't be sad dear, I'm as real as you want me to be," The woman said lifting Amanda's head with her finger. Her hand was as cold as ice against Amanda's chin sending goosebumps down her spine.
"Are you going to leave me too?" Amanda asked, inhaling sharply.
"No my sweet Dash, I'm here as long as you need me," The woman replied pressing her lips against Amanda's forehead.
"You should go dear, it seems someone is attempting to take you away." She continued releasing Amanda and floating away quickly.
"Wait, where can I find you again?" Amanda yelled out as the white lady faded into the abyss.
"I'll be right where you left me!" The woman called back, her voice bouncing all around the surface of the void. Suddenly Amanda awoke still in the building she had been in before. Next to her sat Boulder holding the blue water bottle he had brought her earlier.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you just wanted to drop this off for when you woke up," He said, tapping the top of the bottle and sitting in the pile of loose hay lying around him. Amanda grabbed the bottle unscrewing it slowly and pressing it to her lips taking small and paced sips.
"There you go, drink up Amanda we'll be outside when you're ready," Boulder said, standing up happy that his new friend was drinking normally and fully awake.
"You...can call me...Dash," Amanda said pulling the bottle from her lips and speaking softly, her voice still scratched and dry.
"Okay, Dash we'll be outside when you're ready," Boulder said with a large toothy smile before walking out of the door.