Eden trailed behind as Scott and Selena continued forward. They stared ahead, zoning out as they found themself wondering if there was any part of Scott that cared about anyone else. They had known him for as long as they could remember. He wasn't always this bad, he used to be kind and caring toward others. It wasn't until their mom died that everything changed. She was a beautiful woman, she was tall and confident. Eden remembered very little about her, she died when they were very young, but Scott remembered her well.
He remembered her beauty and how she stood proud no matter what she was doing. How even in a crowded room she would still be the center of attention. Scott envied his mother after she died, he envied the love his father showed her. Everything changed once she was gone. Thomas fell back into the alcohol and was never the same. Scott grew angrier every day and went from a charming fun-loving kid to a disobedient asshole. Eden would never say it out loud, but they missed their big brother and wished he'd come back.
"Don't fall behind, I'm not turning around if you get lost!" Scott shouted, looking over his shoulder.
"I won't," they replied, speeding up to keep pace. The more they saw of the changing world the more they wondered what lead them to this. They remember the news stories about Russia and Ukraine but it always seemed like the U.S. was going to stay out of it. When news spread about Russia invading Lithuania, things spiraled quickly. People all around town were being shipped off to fight a war they had no business fighting.
The news kept everyone well informed but even with everything going on, nobody expected Putin to launch the nukes. "A power play" is what the media said "a bluff." Social media went ballistic there were memes and videos all over the internet, and you couldn't scroll for more than five minutes without seeing at least six. The thing Eden had thought of the most since then were the videos of the fight across the world. There were bombings all over Ukraine and Lithuania, major capitals were being destroyed, and nearly seven hundred thousand deaths, even more now.
The thought alone made them sick to their stomach so much chaos so much pointless death and for what? A pissing contest that Putin was determined to win. Even so, nobody could've prepared them for this. The world was broken and damaged, and there was no way to know who else had been affected or if anyone else survived.
"Are you with us?" Scott called out. Eden heard his muffled voice but not the words he said. their mind was racing and their heart hurt they were disconnected from reality and had no interest in coming back.
"Eden!" Scot yelled, stopping in his tracks. This time they noticed and quickly turned their head to Scott.
"What?" They asked, softly.
"Are you with us?" He asked, slowing his words, attempting to dumb the question down for them.
"Yeah, sorry just...tired I guess," They said, rubbing their eyes.
"Just...hurry up, we're losing light," he said, turning around and continuing through the field. Eden rolled their eyes, they knew he was right and that they didn't want to be out past dark, but they didn't understand how this wasn't affecting him at all. It was like he didn't care about anything. They wondered if he might even enjoy the new world they were living in. He didn't show any fear or nervousness, only anger, and determination.
Selena had a lot of regrets in life, she hated herself deep down and didn't know how to approach it, so she took her pain out on everyone around her. Except for Scott, he was different in her eyes even when he was an asshole she couldn't push him out. She had been in love with him for many years, and being so close to him for so long made it easier to ignore his behavior and forget the anger she had toward him. She had seen him do a lot of things she could admit weren't in anyone's best interest but love does a lot of crazy things to the mind.
She remembered when she met him, a lonely angry kid sitting at a lunch table built to fit sixteen only seating one. Someone who felt just like she did. She was an angry child she was the adolescent victim of a rocky divorce that lead to her father's suicide. She went to therapy but she just fed the shrinks what they wanted to hear. Then there was Scott, the first person to understand what she was going through. Two angry kids against the world. They went from friends to more fairly quickly.
The two of them explored their sexuality together and they ran away together a few times. Scott's dad never really noticed and Selena's mom was too high on Xanax and Klonopin to know what day it was let alone where her daughter was. When the two ran away they always went to the same place, Mort's Theater. It had a ladder to the roof around the side of the building they'd bring snacks and blankets and lay on the roof and fantasize about all the places they'd go when they got the money.
It seemed like more of a pipe dream back then, but now it felt real. She stared at him as he bruted. She couldn't help but smile a bit, realizing the fantasies they shared long before he broke her heart, were closer to reality than she thought possible.
"What?" Scott asked, angrily.
"Nothing," She responded, chuckling to herself.
"We're almost there, he said, pointing toward the top of the hill.
"Over that hill?" She asked, excitedly.
"Just beyond it, that's where the bridge is, from there we'll steal a car and be on our way in no time," he said, enthusiastically.
"Do you think the cars still run?" She asked.
"If the bridge is still standing, then yes. That wasn't just a regular nuke, it was something different," he said.
"What do you mean different?"
"Think about it, no mushroom cloud, no radiation poisoning, and the plant life around here is more vibrant than before, if anything it was a warning shot," He replied.
"No, I don't think that," Selena quietly said. She thought back to the car in the forest, the body of the officer inside, and of course the vines. There was no way that was a warning shot. It may not have been a normal bomb but it wasn't anything less than attempted genocide. Selena knew something was happening in the world, it was changing things around them weren't the same as they were before and she didn't know if they ever would be. The idea of Scott enjoying this or even downplaying it made her think he wasn't the same boy she sat on that rooftop with.
Was this what sent him over the edge? If not would his seeing the outcome change his opinion or would it drive him further down the dark path he was already walking? She slowed her steps, no longer keeping pace with him she trailed behind eventually matching pace with Eden. They were still in their head, staring at the mountain range in the distance.
"What's going through your head kid?" She asked, placing her hand on their shoulder.
"Do you think anyone is coming for us?" They asked, turning to Selena with despair in their eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"What if this wasn't just us? " If they hit everyone, there could be hundreds or even thousands of survivors and we'd never know," they said, their voice cracking.
"I...I don't know, I hoped maybe the military would've come by now, and checked for survivors, but I haven't heard so much as an engine turning over let alone a helicopter soaring overhead," she said, with worry in her tone. Eden stared at the grass under their feet. Thoughts piled up inside their brain. They thought back to Ms. Halsome's English class last year, they read The Lord Of The Flies as a group project. They began to wonder if the same thing would happen to them.
"I'm not ready to die," they uttered, as a tear rolled slowly down their face dripping, falling almost in slow motion to the ground below.
"Eden, as long as we stick together we will stay alive. I won't let you die," she said, wiping their tears away.
"I'm scared, This is a new level of fucked up," they said, angrily.
"This whole fucking war, it never should've gotten to this point. We're fucking kids, and what of the other people out there the now orphaned kids who watched their parents burn to a crisp and leak from their holes? How about the parents who saw their kids blown up on a bridge?" They said, clenching their fists so tight their nails dug into the palms of their hands. Selena was at a loss for words. She knew Eden was right but didn't know what to say to ease the pain and fear in their mind.
She dropped her head in defeat, before saying the first thing that came to mind.
"We'll stand for those orphaned kids, we'll fight for those broken parents. This war is bullshit, so let's make sure we never see another one," She said, holding her pinky up to Eden. They smiled slightly, gripping her pinky and kissing the side of their hand.
"You know, you would've made a good president someday," Eden said, chuckling slightly.
"I always thought I'd be a psychologist or an alcoholic somewhere," she said, shrugging slightly.
"I don't believe that you're going to do great things, I can tell that already," Eden said, patting Selena once on her right shoulder blade.
"Focus up! We're here," Scott shouted, standing at the base of their final ascent. Selena and Eden approached slowly behind him and stared up knowing that the other side of that hill was going to change things forever. They didn't know what remained or what came after the blast, but they knew whatever it was would affect all of them differently.