Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Don't you dare look out your window darling everything's on fire."
J u p i t e r
I had decided against taking my horse, and for that I hadn't made it very far before the sun began to rise in the morning sky. The town was barely awake when I had thrown myself over the wall and landed in the snow with a heavy thud. My feet were already screaming curses at me from how they ached with each advance I made closer to the end of the creek trails. It was a route that I was familiar enough with, I hoped to god I wouldn't get lost and have to turn around. Talk about embarrassing.
The snow that had fallen during the night was somewhat melting with each passing minute, the day becoming somewhat of a nice winter day. It made me wonder what the town was doing. If they had even really noticed that I had left. No doubt a search party would be in order. And even worse, if they found me, they'd happily drag my ass back to Jackson with a smile. Ellie included.
I fought back the sudden ache in my chest at the thought of who I had left behind. Ellie. I couldn't think about what must've been going through her head when she had awoken. Didn't want to know the troubled thoughts that must've piled themselves high as she searched the town for me. Or maybe she didn't. Maybe she fell back to sleep peacefully without a second thought of where I was. What I was doing. If I was okay. Maybe she really didn't care at all. But you do. I just about rolled my eyes at the small voice in my head. It was still almost just begging me to turn around. Begging me to reconsider. If I turned around now, I would make it back before dark.
No. You need this. You want this.
I didn't turn back. I kept going, my legs moving faster just to prove a point. I was still close enough to the Community, I still had time to change my mind. The inevitability of a patrolman finding me on the creek trails was apparent. So be it. I would tell them I needed air, or anything to suffice a good enough excuse. Other than being yelled at, which was also just as inevitable. Fuck I was sick of being yelled at.
As they day went on, my legs grew sluggish. Not used to being on foot for this long at a time. If it was five years ago, I could've walked across words no problem. But even my bones seemed to groan with every movement I made. The snow didn't help that. With each step my foot melted into what once was hard ice, but was now melting as the seasons started to change. A bitter sweet reminder that another year was in fact gone. I almost smiled then, knowing that Tommy and Maria could rest assured they wouldn't have to throw me one of their big town shindigs for my upcoming day of birth.
Twenty. It seemed like an impossible age to reach when your fourteen and getting slashed into by infected. It seemed impossible when my mother looked at me with nothing but disgust, and turned on her heel to walk away. Twenty. According to Tommy, and his endless bickering about underage drinking. The legal drinking age had been twenty-one before the cordycepts outbreak. Meaning legally, I still wasn't allowed to drink. Another smile spread on my lips. That rule didn't stop me. Twenty. I hadn't achieved much of anything in my life, and twenty just seemed so close to birth, I wondered if I'd make it to an age that was close to death. Or if maybe I'd die long before then. I didn't know what I wished for the most.
