Survivor | John Murphy Love Story

Not hallucinating.

"Noah, where are you going?", Dad asked with a stern expression. He was always extra careful. "I'm visiting John", I smiled, putting the set of cards in my pocket. My Dad shook his head, running a hand through his brown hair.
"You're 14. You can't possibly have a boyfriend, can you?"
I scrunched up my nose at the thought of being in a relationship with my best friend. I roughly shook my head, causing my bangs to fall into my face. I had cut my hair about two weeks ago and thanks to John I knew how stupid I was looking now. Dad mouthed a "whatever" and I quickly walked off, not wanting to keep my friend waiting any longer. Every day after lunch I'd visit the Murphys, just sitting with them and talking. We used to play tag when we were little, running around the Ark, but not anymore. We were teenagers now. Teenagers didn't play tag anymore.
John was having the flu so I bought playing cards with me. I didn't want him to get bored since he had to lay in bed all day long. I knocked on their door and Mrs. Murphy opened it, a tissue in one hand and alcohol in the other one.
"What do you want?", she slurred, obviously drunk.
"I'm coming for John.. Is he here?", I asked awkwardly, glancing into their room.
"No", with a loud bang, she slammed the door shut. Wow. I've never seen her like this before.

"Noah!"
My eyes snapped open, the bright sunlight immediately blending me. Jared was hovering over me, a worried expression on his face:"You should go to sleep. It's no use being on sky watch when you can't even keep your eyes open"
Sky watch. That's what we were calling our duty, up here. I sighed, sitting up in the hammock. I shook my head, not wanting to fall asleep again. Not wanting to re-live all the moments with my best friend. I didn't want to think of him anymore, it just hurt too much.
"Move", he said shortly and sat down next to me, causing the hammock to shake. If this tree base didn't have two floors, I'd be seriously scared right now.
"I lost my best friend, too", he told me, his eyes tearing up a little:"My girlfriend, actually. Her name was Clarisse. She was the most beautiful girl I've ever seen -no offense. She had hair like gold and her eyes sparkled, every time she smiled at me...how I miss her smile.. One day, I wanted to propose to her. I knew we were young but I also knew, that I'd love her forever. I've always dreamed of going to earth with her, build a house, have babies, as many as we'd want ... But when I had wanted to ask her to marry me, I had found her lying in a pool of her own blood. It was her father who had stabbed her in the stomach, six times. He did it, because she was pregnant. She was too young to become a mother in his opinion, so he killed her and our baby. He had tried to run away, but he wasn't fast enough. I quickly caught up to him, grabbed the knife that he still held in his hand and let him feel the same pain, Clarisse must have felt before I slit his throat"
I honestly didn't know what to say, so I just held his hand and looked up to the sky, wondering if John and Clarisse were looking after us. It was a silly thought. My eyes trailed over to my new friend, glancing at him. He didn't look like he was somewhat brutal. Tyler did look like that. He was buff, a toned body with very muscular arms, he looked like he could rip out your lungs while sharpening his knife. Jared on the other hand was more quiet. At least he seemed like a quiet guy. Tall, lean, curly blonde hair and a thoughtful expression on his face. He was the kind of guy that was always quiet and eventually snapped and then- everything would be over. Personally, I didn't want to witness this.
"We have to stick together now. For them", I smiled, wiping away his tears.
"Hope you're not partying without me", I heard a deep voice and soon enough, Tyler was joining us, sitting on the branches we had tied together the other day. To be honest, I never thought our tree base would be this stable. Tyler's smirk fell, I had the feeling we had ruined his mood.
"Hey, Kids, whatcha doin' up there?", Kai shouted and I rolled my eyes. Who invited her? "You need to come down, now. A girl dropped out of the sky! We need to find her radio to contact the Ark"
Contact the Ark? I could talk to my father, tell him I'm fine. I really missed him. I almost jumped down the tree, impatiently waiting for Jared and Tyler.
"Come on, lame-asses!", I urged, hopping from one leg, to the other.
"Where did she land?", Tyler asked, rolling up the sleeves of his Grey sweater, showing his muscles. Kai pointed at the direction that girl was found and we walked off.
"What if we really manage to contact the Ark? Who would you talk to?", she asked, examining the tips of her hair.
"I'd talk to my mother", Jared shrugged, while our other friend was quiet:"Who'd you talk to?"
"No one. Everyone up there sucks", he growled and immediately thought of what he could've done to get here. We reached the not-so-deep lake and stepped into the water to find that girls radio. We were looking for it for about two minutes when Tyler smirked, kicking the water so it splashed all over me. Goosebumps rose on my arms as the water soaked into my clothing, sending shivers down my spine. Kai cackled loudly, resting her arms on her flat stomach. So she thought this was funny, huh? I coped her stupid laugh, pushing her into the water. Eventually, the radio was found but we continued our silly game. Jared was leaning on a tree, chuckling and shaking his head at us.
"What? Don't you want to join us?", I asked, stretching my arms out.
"No, I'm definitely not doing that", he refused, hiding his smile.
"Whatever", I mumbled, grabbing his arms and pulling him to the deeper part of the water:"Loosen up a little!"
"Guess I've got no other choice", he sighed, picking me up. I was about to protest when I was a figure far, far away in the woods. It looked like John. I was 100% sure it was him.
"Let me down", I whispered, my voice shaking. Jared seemed confused but he put me down. It was already dark and I had trouble seeing, so I couldn't find him anymore.
"You alright?", Tyler asked, carefully walking over to me. I shook my head, tears slowly running down my face. I was so unsure of what had happened. I knew it was him but how could this be? John was supposed to be dead. I ran my hands through my wet, tangled hair and breathed in deeply, looking up to the sky:"I saw him. I saw John"
"He's dead, Noah. We've all seen him dying", Kai said softly:"I'm sorry to tell you this, but you've lost your best friend, you're probably just hallucinating."
"I'm not hallucinating. I'm not crazy! He was there!", I yelled, grabbing her collar and shaking her. She looked frightened, probably remembering the day we had met. I didn't care. She must not say things like that to me.
"You are. And you know why? He was hung because he was a retarded asshole. He deserved it", he spat, getting a boost of confidence. I punched her in the face and quickly grabbed my knife.
"Say that again, bitch", I dared her and the guys stepped between us.
"Noah, don't do this! Do you want to get hanged, too?", Tyler asked angrily. I didn't care anymore. There was nothing worth living anymore. I've lost my best friend and had watched him die. The people on the Ark would die soon too. Including my Dad.
"I don't know", I whispered, not looking at him. I couldn't think anymore. I just wanted John to be back. Jared brought Kai away as Tyler pulled me into a tight hug, once again. He stroked my back, slowly calming me down, under the purple lights of the fireworks.