Chapter 3: Wishful Thinking
Airianna Alinsky
February 2028
About 69 months after outbreak
Arizona
Season 5/The Final Season
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"Airi, I'm tired. I can't keep doing this."
"We can't stop now, the dead are behind us."
"Screw the dead, we can take them, but we won't be able to if we continue on like this. It's been weeks."
"We're not stopping, end of discussion."
The air was hot, the humility skyrocketed, water was intangible, and we were at our final breaking point. I knew I should have let us take a break days ago but I couldn't give up on them. People were counting on me, it was the least I could do to at least try.
I had passed out a few times as a result of the heat and the strain the world was putting on my damaged brain. I have no idea how I'm still alive, I'm not sure if I deserve to be either.
"Airi, what the hell is that?" Angie whispered softly from besides me, her voice filled with noticeable concern. At first I was unsure of what she was referring too, however, then I saw it."It looks like people."
"They're all cut in half. My God, am I hallucinating?"
"I don't think two people can have the same hallucinations, Angie."
"Fuck."
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Ethan Warren
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"Anyone know where we are?"
"Haven't had a clue for the last 63 miles."
"Why are we still walking, Ethan? If we want to find the others we're not gonna find them out here."
"We don't have a home, Zahir, what else do you want me to do. I'm done making decisions, figure it out yourself. I don't know why you're all still following me."
"Thomas named you the Ringmaster. You are his heir. I promised him I would follow you to the ends of the earth," Emilio stood tall.
"I never agreed to that so it doesn't apply anymore. Just go, live your own life. Protect your wife and son, and go find your sister. You don't need me anymore."
"We're not leaving, Ethan.""You don't get it, Steve, I'm sick of this. I'm sick of people dying, I'm sick of it being my fault! You're all capable of making your own home, I refuse to be a part of it."
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