Life After Death

Chapter 18

Flames of fire surrounding us had never felt so tranquil. Warmth spreading through our skin and blood, the chill of the air being overwhelmed by the heat radiating from the smoke. All of us sat around this one circle, food in our stomachs and a drink in our hand.

We had spent two days together, the day me, Jade and Whitney found a wardrobes selection of clothes, and yesterday which we seemed to spend doing a whole lot of nothing. But now, Jace's exterior was well and truly cracked, and he made the mistake of showing his smile a few times around them - his dark and mysterious presence shattered along with it.

So now we were sat, with the sun no longer present with us. The campfire we had made with dirty rags and sticks Dahlia and Javon had found from a nearby woods, was our one source of light. Nathaniel and Reid had even found marshmallows for us to indulge in, and so we all agreed that we could open some of our dried biscuits and make smores, something Brooke was particularly excited for. Even snuggles - she had kept the name my sister gave the teddy bear - was sat on her lap with her, enjoying the view.

"Okay, so we were all students," I began, wiping the remains of biscuit crumbs from my face, "So what did you guys do? You're all adults."

And so, starting with Axel, it followed round the circle.

"I was married, until she died in a car accident before the world went to shit. I was a football coach at our local high school."

"Well, I, as you two know already," Whitney aimed at me and Jade, "Was a bartender. Why I'm so good at dealing with the Lurkers, they aint no worse than rowdy men on a Saturday night."

"I was a retired gardener."

That made sense for Dahlia, we hadn't spent the most time with her, but she always seemed interested in the nature, and when it came to finding logs in the woods, she was always the first volunteer. Even if she did just look at the trees and flowers for most of the time.

"Shop manager," Javon half smiled, yet half grunted all at once.

Axel had warned us about him, and how if he spoke to us, we were lucky. He seemed just the same as Jace, just an older more experienced version. Seeming to be able to hold out for longer, even if he did show signs of friendship occasionally.

"I was a solicitor."

Also wasn't surprising, out of them all, he did seem perhaps the smartest. Certainly, in the ways he acted, the effects of the world not seeming to have rubbed off as much on him as they had the rest of them - and us I guess.

"Should ya'll be drinking beer?" Axel grinned, "I mean, being under twenty-one and all..."

"Well, if you find someone to enforce the law around here, I'll give you back your bottle opener, what'd you say?"

Nathaniel must have swiped it at some time during the night, earning a rather shocked look from Axel that he'd been mugged by a 17-year-old.

"Careful, he may give you a detention," Whitney smirked.

"Your eye," Javon butted in, not caring for the ongoing conversation apparently, "What happened to it?"

"Javon!"

"It's alright, Dahlia," Jade begun laughing slightly, probably having expected this question for a while now, "We got attacked by some men a few weeks back. They're dead now, but one of them managed to get a knife across my cheek and over my eye."

"So, you can't see out of it?"

"Nope, not anymore. So, it's probably best I don't stand on the left of everyone, given that I no longer have my peripheral vision handy."