Life After

Episode Five: Brandon

The trees seem to reach the very heavens. It was so beautiful out here. Then everything went black. Then pain. Then nothing. I wake up slowly, with someone holding me close. The warmth feels nice. But I'm not sure if it's real or part of some dream. I can smell her hair.

"Where am I?" I ask, trying my hardest to get up.

She's holding onto my shoulders tightly like she's afraid I'm going to disappear. I gently try to move, but she tightens her grip even more. So instead, I use my strength to forcefully pull myself from under her arms and sit up on the ground.

"You need to take it easy," Kat says, still trying her best to hold on to me. "You're hurt."

I look down at the bandages wrapped around my side and notice a small amount of dried blood. "What happened? Where are we?"

I glance over at where we're sitting in front of a tree line that leads back into the forest behind us.

"You were hurt when you fought off that monster. You didn't show it but I knew something was wrong by how you were walking," she says with a hint of anger in her voice. "Why didn't you say something sooner!" She glares at me for several seconds. Then looks away as tears form in her eyes.

"Sorry," I say, taking her hand.

She squeezes my fingers and then places them against my lips to kiss before looking back up again. Her face has been full of so many emotions these last couple of days. It makes me sad to see how much pain she's hiding under her mask. I wish there was some way to help her. But I don't know what to do. I can tell she's still confused about all the changes going on around her.

"I'll be fine. This isn't the first time one of those things got a hit on me and it won't be the last."

I notice the sadness in her eyes. I reach out and hold onto both of her hands with mine. She smiles at me, which makes my heart flutter. The touch reminds me why I love this girl more than anything in the world. We've always had that special connection since the moment we met. I want nothing more than for us to grow old together. If we live through this... that might not happen though. Not if we stay out here in the woods.

"We need to get moving we still have a ways to go," I say as I gently brush the hair from her forehead.

"I know," she says softly, "but you're hurt."

"We can't just stay out here I promise I'll be fine."

I lean back down so I'm sitting right next to her. Then wrap my arm around her waist like usual when I feel bad about something. But it doesn't work this time because she pushes away. Her arms crossed defensively across her chest and I see tears building up again inside of her eyes. She's obviously still upset with me. It hurts but there's something else too. Something that bothers me more than anything in the world right now. There's a distance between us. A barrier has formed over the past couple of days. And there hasn't been any real physical contact except for the kiss before we left.

"You're right," she finally says, sounding a little defeated. "How much longer do we have to go?"

I look out into the forest, trying to find our path through the trees.

"A day at the most."

I hate seeing how sad she looks when she thinks I might die from this wound. So I quickly turn towards her, placing my lips on hers. The feeling I get from kissing her sends warmth throughout my body. It reminds me why it's worth fighting for her no matter what happens.

The memories come back so clearly. Being thrown around like a piece of trash... starving for days... sleeping outside in a box... cold... wet... scared... alone... hungry... dirty... smelling awful... waiting for death... not knowing where to go... who to trust... or if anyone even cared. Then I remember the worst part; having someone care for you but wanting them gone anyway. But there was one thing that always kept me going, and that was hope. I couldn't let myself give into the hopelessness of the world and believe I would be the next victim. I needed to keep looking for the light at the end of the tunnel because that's all you had in a world full of darkness.