Failure of Glory

Chapter 12

When Jolie entered the kitchen to find her mother and sister with weary expressions she thought about going back into the room until night came but soldiered when her mother gave her a small smile.

"I'll do it," Naomi said as soon as Jolie sat down. "I won't 'wake up' and if your father gets suspicious I'll steer him away."

Jolie nodded wordlessly then turned to Aaliyah. "You should get packed." Jolie watched her leave the room before turning to Naomi. "I'm not taking her with me, end of discussion." Naomi began to protest but Jolie cut her off. "I am not willing to gamble her life just because I think I have what it takes to survive out there. I mean I don't even know what I'm gonna do when the fog comes during the day." She threw her hands up dramatically. "Maybe I'll die and dad can use me as a lesson."

Naomi sat back in her chair. She knew Jolie could take care of herself, she was strong and she was always stronger alone but that didn't mean that she shouldn't have someone with her. When she was alone she got in her head but all she needed was someone to ground her. Who knew what would happen if she was out there all by herself and she lost it. Naomi knew her daughter wasn't crazy; she just held it all in, and didn't allow herself to feel it until she had to.

"It's either you take her with you know or she sneaks out after you," Naomi speaks calmly.

"So you're saying that either way it's my fault right?"

"I didn't say that." She watched as Jolie put her head in her hands. Naomi pulled her hand away and gripped it tightly. "All I said was that you can keep her with you so that you can protect her or you can lose sleep wondering if she's okay." Naomi squeezed Jolie's hand to get her attention. "This isn't just about keeping her safe, It's also about keeping you out of your head."

"How about I see how she does tonight and I'll make my decision based on that. I can't take her with me if she's going to be a danger to herself and I," Jolie reasoned.

"Fair enough."

"You're still here. Are you not done with dinner," Hasan asked in a monotonous voice. Hasan began to turn around and make his way back to his room.

"Don't." Jolie winced at how loud her voice came out. "I was just about to leave and you haven't eaten dinner yet so... go ahead."

He squinted his eyes in suspicion before shuffling into the kitchen and sitting down while Naomi began to fix his plate. He looked over at Jolie who was still standing there and raised an eyebrow, wondering why she was still here.

Jolie nodded awkwardly and slipped out of the kitchen. She knows that they both are too stubborn to make the first move of an apology to fix their long since broken relationship but she was hoping that the small gesture would start something. Normally she would have eaten slower just to be spiteful, then taken even longer when she noticed her father lurking around the corner. But she was leaving soon and if this was the last she was gonna see of her father she wanted it to be somewhat bearable.

"Dad's eating dinner now so it won't be long before he goes to bed," Jolie informed as she walked into the room. "Are you packed?" Aaliyah sat on her bed with her nose in an anatomy book. Jolie snapped twice to get her attention.

"Oh, um yea."

"Anatomy huh, getting into the deep stuff. Mom didn't put that in my curriculum until I was sixteen."

"Yea well, It's something to read," Aaliyah shrugged.

"Yea, I get that."

As the clock hit eleven the girls finally received the tip off that they had been waiting for. Naomi slipped into their room to tell them that Hasan had fallen asleep and a quick reminder to close the door. Jolie signalled for Aaliyah to grab her bag and follow her.

Jolie led the way with her hands out in front of her so that she didn't bump into the table. With there being no windows-therefore no light-it was pitch black in the kitchen and living room. They had to rely on their other senses to get them out and Jolie's quiet whispers anytime Aaliyah's shoes scuffed the floor.

Jolie squinted into the darkness-as if that would help-hoping to see the silver outline of the ladder. After a few seconds she closed her hand around the bottom rung and tapped Aaliyahs hand that had been resting on Jolie's shoulder for guidance to let her know that they had made it.

They stepped lightly on each rung until they made it to the top and Jolie twisted the top open, just as she had done that first night. She thought that it felt a little bit easier than before but she chalked that up to not closing it as tight when she came back down. She pushed open that hatch and climbed out then turned around to pull Aaliyah out.

Aaliyah gripped her hand tightly. Her nerves had been building with each step they took towards the surface, she had even thought about climbing back down but she hated to prove her sister right. She slowly stepped out of the bunker and onto the ground.

Aaliyah watched her shoes dig into the dirt below her feet while Jolie closed the hatch. She had the biggest urge to reach down and pick up the dirt, let it crumble and fall between her fingers but she didn't know if it was dangerous. She didn't know if anything out here was safe. So much had changed since she had been out here, she vividly remembered luscious, green grass that grew in their front yard but apparently that was no more.

Jolie watched her with her hands on her hips and a small smile on her lips. She watched Aaliyah gulp big breaths of air just like she had. It was like we were drowning and all of a sudden we were pulled to the surface and we could breath, and we couldn't get enough of it.

Aaliyah looked at Jolie and pointed down at the dirt. "Can I touch it?" Jolie nodded happily. Aaliyah grinned and bent down, picking up a handful of dirt before squeezing it and letting it fall through her fingers. "It's so much softer than I remember," she mumbled, entranced with the feeling.

"Alright come on, we didn't come out here to feel dirt," Jolie said, pulling her sister up from the ground. "Where do you wanna go?"

"I wanna go to that Journal guy's house, wanna see where he worked," she responded.

"Alright, you stay with me, you stay close. You don't touch anything unless I say so and under no circumstances do you go near anyone," Jolie said, thinking of the toy car man. Aaliyah nodded eagerly. "Alright then, let's go."