Sky Corruption (Past Tense)

Chapter Eleven

The day passed pretty quickly as it arrived, China woke up several hours earlier than she had before, her braids curtaining her face as she yawned. She sat up on her mattress, glancing over to the left to see Winter laying on her stomach, mouth open as drool escaped over her bottom lip. China snickered to herself as she tossed the quilt off of her body.

As China's bare feet met with the cold steel floor, she stretched her arms in front of herself and shifted toward her sister's side of the room. She glanced over toward Winter once more, who's shaking in her sleep from the coldness if the room. With a grin, China pulled the blanket over her sister and then proceeded her way out of the room. China was once again welcomed by the scent of faint bleach and disinfectants as she shambled down the hallway near the kitchen. The dull whitish-grey walls gave China a weird feeling to her stomach. She opened the third door to her left, revealing the small kitchen.

Nikki made some more sandwiches before turning in last night. China pondered to herself as she approached the small cooler that was propped on the table.

Best things about mornings is that there's always nice leftovers. China thought as she picked up a wrap of Nikki's infamous breakfast sandwiches. Without a second thought, China plucked another wrapped sandwich from the cooler before slamming it shut and tiptoeing her way out of the kitchen and down toward the door that Bob was behind.

On the other side of the door, Bob never seemed to notice that China was coming in, his back was against the wall, his head buried in his arms as his knees were brought up. China noticed how fairly tall the boy is, about over six feet, maybe six foot one. China snickered mischievously to herself, in a reckless attempt of scaring him, but the door slammed behind her before she had any chance to do as such.

Bob dully raised his head, his eyes met with China's as she made a small "O" shape with her mouth, she sauntered toward him.

"It's you..." Bob's voice was faint but his tone was wary. China giggled as she waved the wrapped sandwich.

China sat down cross-legged in front of him as she handed him a sandwhich.

Bob narrowed his eyes at it as he slowly inspected the wrapped sandwich, "What is it?"

China gleefully smirked, "Bite it and find out,"

Bob squinted back at China, unsure whether or not he should trust her, she hastily unwrapped her tin-foiled  covered meal, bringing the sandwich towards her mouth and taking a loud, obnoxious bite.

Bob shaked away his paranoid thoughts as he did the same, his eyes widened as it's taste welcome his mouth. China's giggle attracted his attention towards her.

"I know, Nikki's cooking is the best out of the entire group, let's make sure that stays between us okay?" China chirped, Bob took another bite of the sandwich and winced, several flashes had entered his mind as he felt his head throb.

He gasped and clutched his head as he hunched over. China immediately dropped the sandwich, "Hey! You should slow down eating!"

Bob shook his head, "No! That's not it!"

I can't seem to picture anything! Why does my head hurt so badly? The boy frantically asked himself.

China slightly recoiled but went back into her usual posture, "Do you know what this is?" She asked, pointing at the sandwich.

"It's a sandwich isn't it?" Bob asked, a second ago before that pain, he didn't even know how to comprehend what China was holding in her hand while she eagerly sunk her teeth along the toasted bread.

"China is it?" Bob started, China stopped aggressively biting down on the remaining crust of the bread and turned to look at him with her eyebrows raising in response, he had her attention.

"What's going on? Why is the surface destroyed?" Bob asked, China set down her sandwich silently, she's never really spoken about the incident with anyone...but she knew that it was how she met Jay in the most inconvenient way possible.

China didn't let this faze her, instead, she took Bob's hands in hers and looked him straight in the eyes, "A while back, the visitors came down...they weren't friendly at all, they destroyed everything, and I mean everything."

Bob raised his blonde eyebrow, "Visitors?" He meekly asked, his heart raced as he realized that nothing really good came with that word.

"What are they?" Bob asked China, who remained neutral.

She gave him a shrug, "No one really knows what they are, but you were a cutting close edge to being mistaken for one of them."

"B-but you're still here...you aren't running." Bob stuttered, earning a charming giggle from China.

"Because." China let the word drag, "You're a good person,"

"I have a hard time believing that myself-" He tried talking but China quickly interrupted him by clamping her hand over his mouth.

"Trust me. You need to believe in yourself, you have to hope," China asserted, but there's not an ounce of anger or irritation in her voice, more so a passion, a profound sense of belief in this boy.

"And another thing...the world isn't destroyed." China added, Bob narrowed his eyes at his new companion.

She grinned, "We're still here, able to laugh and be happy, the sun still shines, I can go out and see the Lady Liberty, as long as life goes on, the world is still alive."

"How are you this happy?" Bob asked, China closed her eyes, removing her hand off of his mouth as her smile never faltered.

"Because, there's so many things to be happy about," China answered. With those words in the air, they stared at each other, the redness started to appear on Bob's face as China's eyes radiate so much confidence.

"With that being said, I'm gonna go and find Jay...see if we can get you out of this boring room," China chirped as she stood right up. She stretched her arms in front of her, "Probably do some exercise so I don't gain a few pounds." China added with a warm grin. As she walked out the door, she glanced at Bob.

Bob stammered, launching himself onto his feet, "What's about to happen to me?"

China gave him a confident wink, "Nothing bad, I'll make sure of it." She reassured him as the door slammed behind her.