The World- How It Ends

Chapter 2- The Walk

I look sadly at a half burnt house. The main floor is completely burnt, a portion  partially collapsed into the basement, and half the second floor collapsed. It was one of the only 2 two story houses in the town, the other one burned completely down. I doubt there is anyone alive in there.  It is the last house we have to check for survivors even though there have been none so far, Mike insisted we check every one. Mike walks up behind me.

"We have to check" he said, as if reading my mind.

"Your right. Come on Maria, let's go and get it over with." I say walking in the house. Mike follows me in.

"Let's check down stairs first. Then we will risk going upstairs. It's a family of 3. Mom, Dad and a little girl." he says. I walk over to the collapsed portion of the main floor.  I decide it's safer to climb down the slope of debris instead of the stairs. I reach the basement floor easily. The holes through the roof show little areas of the basement,  like little spot lights in a theater. I hear claws scrambling and look back to see Maria sliding down the last lite bit of the slope. I bite back laughter. This isn't a place or a time for laughter. I turn back around and scan the basement.

"You couldn't have used the stairs? Jesh, I swear your trying to make things hard for me." Mike said, climbing down the pile. "Dad was on the stairs. No sign of the mom or girl" Mike said softly into my ear. I knew by the way he said it the dad didn't make it. "You check over there, I'll go over here" he says and walks off in his direction. 

"Sure" I say, and bend down to Maria "where are they, girl? Is anyone even down here?" I ask not expecting anything,  but it was worth a try.  Maria walks off and with a shrug I stand up and follow her. She leads me to a fairly untouched part of the basement.  I stop as she stops. In a corner,  huddled away from what would have been the aprouching flames, a women curled up into the corner. "Mike" I say, "I might have just found them.". I walk over and crouch down next to the woman. I look for breathing. I see nothing. I'm about to get up to to look for the girl when I notice she seems to be shielding a small thing rapped in a blanket. I realize Mike is standing next to me. "The mom is dead. I haven't checked the girl." I say nodding toward the blanket.  He lefts up the blanket, a small 3 year old girl. He shakes his head. I look away and stand up.

"Come on, let's go" Mike says. We walk to the stairs. "Let's go see if Caleb found anyone" he says and walks to the stairs. I stop by the pile and climb up it. Maria whines at the bottom, then goes to the stairs. I see Mike come up and then almost immediately Maria. I walk to the door. Caleb is sitting on the ground, drawing something it the dirt.

"Acting younger then your 13 years?" I ask as I near him. He looks up.

"No, writing a message for any others that we didn't find." He says and moves his hand. In the dirt is written in sloppy handwriting

 SARA ARIELSDAUGHTER CALEB MIKESSON MIKE WARRENSSON - HEADING TO NEXT TOWN TO THE WEST. 

"We don't know if that town was bombed as well.  It is less the a hours travel, I would think some one would have came to help. " I say. Maria whines, and I reach down to pet her. She still whines, only it's lower, it's more like growling. I look around, looking for what ever she is growing at.  I don't see anything.  I look down to her and see she is looking to the forest. I see a dark figure move into the shadows.  "Let's go find Mike" I say and turn around. I walk quickly away.

"Wait, what was that all about?" Caleb asks running up behind me, almost tripping on Maria.

"Nothing, some bird or something" I say. Mike was going through a pile of supplies we had gathered. I walk quickly towards him. I feel a hand on my arm. I turn, yanking my arm away.

"Then why are you so uptight?" Caleb said pulling his hand away.

"Because,  we are in the middle of a war zone. People tend to be uptight, expecially after spending the day looking for dead people." I snap turning back around. Why wouldn't he just quit asking about it. I walk up to Mike. "We should get going." I say.

He looks up "why?".

"I just have this feeling" I say.

" well, let's wait one more night." Mike says. I can't understand why they just won't leave.

"There is no one here. Most likely every town around here got bombed." I say. Maria whines.  I rub her head.

"We are going to wait another night. Leave if you want, but I would prefer you stay." Mike said and went back to sorting out supplies. 

A few hours later,  maybe an hour before sunset if that, Mike hands me a bag full of supplies.  "Here's your supplies, and" he pulls out a knife in a sheath from his pocket "a weapon". I look at the sheath, it has a lope for putting it on a belt.

"Thank you" I say. I don't intend to leave to night. At least not yet. I sit on the ground and go through the supplies.  No water, but cans of food, a few small blankets, sewing needle and thread, a couple shirts, a jacket, a couple pairs of pants, a belt to put the knife on, and a large length of leather cord. I put the supplies back in the back pack. I put on the belt over my leggings. I slide the knife onto the belt to my left hip. I slide my back pack on, and grab my knife.  I write a message to Mike and Caleb.  In the dirt, in my neatest hand writing I write -

SORRY BUT I HAVE TO LEAVE. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING.  PLEASE DON'T COME AFTER ME.
SARA

I put my knife back. "Come on Maria. Let's go". I say. Mike and Caleb are sleeping already. It is almost dark, the time of day where the sun is no longer in sight but there is still light. I walk toward the forest.  Maria is the only one of us that looks back, she gives a small whine then runs up to me.

I walk north, or to my best guess of north. It is nothing but miles of wilderness.  I want time to thikk, to deal with the tragedy that has happened.   It would take me 3 maybe 4 weeks to cross the forest, then I should end up close to a major city. I walk a ways into the thick forest. I stop and sigh.

"Now what are we going to do?" I ask Maria.

She cocks her head as if saying 'your the one who wanted to leave, so what are we going to do?'

"Your a great help, you know that?" I say ruffling her fur on her head. She wags her tail. I start laughing, I'm going completely insane, not even a half a day alone and I'm talking to myself. My laugh  sounds so loud in the silent forest.

I start to wonder about Claira as I stop laughing.  Where is she right now? Successfully escaping the Enemy? All these questions are running through my head. Before long my mind turns to my parents. I stop thinking and focus on the trip. I find a small oddly shaped tree. It is shaped like a ramp, and curves around its self, forming a type of seat. I climb up, and haul Maria up, putting her in the seat. I pull out the leather cord and tie myself to the tree branch so I don't fall.  I slowly slip into a tortured dream of dead faces and figures dressed in all black chasing me.

I wake up to birds singing.  In one of the branches above me sits a small sky blue bird. It sings it's sweet song. I lay there a moment listening to it. Amazingly, Maria stayed on all night. I untie my self, wrap the cord up and put it back in the bag.

"Come on Maria, let's go" I say and slide off the tree. Maria cautiously walks down the ramp like part of the tree. When she is one the ground, she looks up to me with a triumphant look. "Good girl, now let's go" I say and start walking.

At first the forest seemed eerily silent, but after a while of walking in it I begin to hear the forest sounds. Birds chirping quietly in the tree tops, the scuttle of mice and other small animals along the forest floor, and the rustle of leaves in the wind. The thick canopy breaks every now and then creating little spot lights on the forest floor. In my eyes this is what paradise looks like, this beautiful.