Bee and the Boy

Chapter Two

My ears buzz as the dust settles around me. As the world comes back into focus, I blink until everything is clear. I look over at the fallen traffic light that was once my city, my home. As I look down, I see my leg bent at an unnatural angle.

"Help." I attempt to call out. I swallow to avoid passing out. A sheen of iridescent catches my eye. "I need help," I mutter before the pain knocks me out.

~

I awake to a boy standing over me. Wait, is he hovering? I flinch.

"Hey, it's okay, I'm here to help." I stare at him blankly, reaching a hand behind me as I try to back away. The boy looks around. "Stay here," He says as he flies away into the grassy patch beside the highway.

"Yeah, no."  I flip onto my stomach, pulling myself towards the ruins of the traffic light.

The buzz of wings sound above me, but I keep crawling, despite my leg.

"Wait, I can help you, I can make you a splint." He holds up 2 sticks and some grass.

"Get away from me."

"Suit yourself." I hear him flying away.

I stop and turn myself around. He is perched upon a cattail. I watch as he rips off a piece of the male flower and eats it. "What are you?" I stare at him.

"Part firefly."He replies with a mouthful. "Name's Skater."

"Firefly?"

"My dad was human, Mom wasn't.  Quite the scandal." he puts an emphasis on the 'quite'.

"Right."

Skater throws the rest of the flower away and flies down to me. "So, do you want help, or are you going to keep crawling?"

"I'll keep crawling, thanks." Flipping back onto my stomach, I continue on. Suddenly I hear a rumbling sound above me. A large, moving machine blocks out the sun as it passes over me. I tense up, even for a moment after it's gone.

"Best to get you off the road." A pair of arms slide under mine as I'm lifted into the air.

"Put me down!" I horsely yell as Skater sets me down in the grass.

"Have you never seen a truck before?"

"Of course I have. Just not one belonging to a giant one." I dart my eyes around in embarrassment.

"Oh, right, you haven't been outside before."

I scoff. "Well, are you going to help me then?"

"Oh." I watch as he takes out. His splint supplies from his bag made out of a leaf. "This might hurt."

I watch as he works on making the splint. He pulls it too tight.

"You ass." I scream at him.

"Sorry." I want to yell at him again but I feel my consciousness slipping, until I can no longer see him.

~

I wake up to find myself on a small bed. The room smells of swamp, and is a muted grey. Skater is sleeping on a chair beside me, I flinch when I see him there. I sit up, only to throw my pillow at him.

He jerks awake, scanning the room until he focuses on me. "You're alive." He rubs his eyes.

"Yeah, no thanks to you." I cross my arms.

"The doctor said your leg should heal up in two weeks."

"Where am I?"

"Marsh town."

I rip my blanket off me. "I need to find my dads."

"We had scouts check things out, everyone is safe in a secure location. You need to rest" Skater pulls a photo out of his pocket. "I guessed these are them?" He flashes me the picture.

"You went through my wallet?"

"Be glad I did, Beatrix." He sounds out each syllable as if he were a young toddler. I throw another pillow at his head, he ducks this time.

"I don't know if I should believe you."

"Tell you what, when you're better, we can go back to the city, together."

I raise an eyebrow at his proposition. "One week." I respond.

"One week." He agrees, extending a hand toward me.

I shake his hand. "Call me Beatrix again, I'll kick your ass."

"Sure thing, kid."

~

Over the next 4 days, I watch from my window, the people of the swamp working day and night.

On the fifth day, Skater brings me a deck of cards, to pass the remaining time.

On the sixth day, he brings me a pair of crutches that he smuggled in from the doctor's office.

On the seventh day, he doesn't come at all. I wait for him the entire day, until I've had enough, and I slip out from my bed. Using the crutches he left me, I sneak out and head back to Light City.

Except, I have no clue where I am. So I just start heading north, until I hear loud noises, like cars, so I know I'm going in the right direction.

And there I see it, Light City. Or, what's left of it. In just one week, the gods have cleaned up the wreckage. I stand just before the highway, hidden amongst the weeds when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I spin around.

"You!" I face Skater. "You left without me."

"I didn't want you to see."

"See that everything is gone?!" Where are my dads?"

"I...."

"Where are they!" my voice starts to get higher.

"Dead." He reaches out a hand out to me.

"You lied to me." I push him away.

"Beatrix, I just..."

And that's when I punch him. So hard, that he falls backwards.

"I never want to see you again." I turn, and spot a caravan not 20 feet away. I look to Skater once more, him laying on the ground in shame. And so I hobble toward the caravan. A female steps out and rushes to my aid. I watch as Skater gets up just as we speed off.