𝖆𝖒𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖘𝖆𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖒 | d.f. | book two

🐲 alex28 🐲

9:52am

i stuff many individual waters as i can into a backpack matt and i found.

matt is stuffing juices into his.

as we move, we step over dead bodies, dry and fresh blood everywhere.

"this shit is crazy," matt says, shaking his head.

"it's ruthless."

"where did it come from?"

"new? man-made? humanity's reset button?" i list, throwing ideas out.

"maybe all the above," he concludes, phrasing it as a question.

"i'm going to try to pack two cases and the backpack to the car," i say, zipping the backpack up.

i set it on, the straps digging into my shoulders.

"i'll do the same."

i grab two cases of water and take in a deep breath.

with the legs alex. with the legs.

i pull up, the muscles in my arms and calves screaming alive. i get the water off the ground, slowly making my way to the car outside.

i see grayson and soraya there, finishing putting in tissue packages in the trunk.

grayson realizes my struggle and rushes over.

"i'll help you out man," he says, grabbing the case on top. the load lightens infinitely.

"thank you," i breathe. grayson sets his water in and i set the second one on top. "matt's coming with two more. my backpack is filled. we'll do sodas next."

"okay. gray and i are going to find flashlights and try to take as many batteries as we can find."

"cool," i nod, dumping the waters in my bag, out.

"this is all surreal honestly," soraya says, rubbing her arm. "to think we'll have to go on supply runs from now on. and the dead bodies... do we just leave them?"

"we'll figure it out ray. let's make sure we're good first," gray tells her.

she nods.

we head back inside as matt comes out with two waters. grayson assists him, so soraya and i continue inside together.

"are you okay?" i ask her, the question popping out.

"i was just asking grayson that," she chuckles.

"you got stabbed soraya. you could've died. that's not normal and something you can just skip over. plus you're all happy and optimistic, it's weirding me out."

she laughs.

"alex, i told dom this before, but if i don't think about it, it's like it never happened. it'll be put behind me, never to be thought of again."

"yeah, i don't think that's how it should work," i tell her.

"why do i have to worry? i'm fine! nothing i think about will change anything that happened before. so why should i dwell on it?" she shrugs.

"have you given up? you are not the soraya i met."

"no! i would never give up on apple. i want her back just as much as you!" she tells me, frowning.

"no, soraya. not on my sister, on dominic. i don't think i've heard you talk about him in a way that involves you rescuing him from ann." she's silent. "it's not him. he would never do what he did if he was my brother."

"but he did do it alex and that is your brother! he didn't remember a single thing of him and i's time together. it was short, but... i don't know. he made it seem like it meant something. so, i thought it meant something. but he just looked me in my eyes, lied to me, and plunged a knife into my stomach. what else do you want from me to say about your brother?"

"i know he'll spend eternity trying to make it up you," i tell her, looking her in the eyes. "that is not him that did that to you."

"and what if he's gone? ann won, and he's never coming back?" she asks, shaking her head. "then what alex?"

"he's not gone. he will come back. he's in there somewhere. i know he is," i say, nodding. "he has to be."

"we need to be prepared for anything. my focus is on making your mother proud and bringing apple back to us. dominic is not my concern right now."

"do you really not think about him?" i ask her.

"alex!"

"i want him back ray. ann can't win."

"and she won't. not while i'm alive. we're going to fight back. we are family now."

"we've all we got ray in this world. so just think a little about my entire family, not just my little sister."

"okay," she says, nodding. "i'll think about it."