~~~Present Time~~~
All I can think is, maybe it's a person, a real person, maybe I'm not alone anymore. God, it could even be Toby. I run faster and faster towards the light, down the street trees and buildings are a blur. The light is so bright, I can just barely make out the silloutte of someone in it, so human. My legs want to give out and stop, but I am running on pure adrenaline, pure faith.
"Hey!" I yell to it-I'm almost there. Keep running I tell myself, then yell, "Hey!" again.
My mind reflects to the faces of people, anyone and everyone, the wanting in my heart is so strong. It overpowers me and takes control of my thoughts, they've become unconditionally irrational. More people, a city that survived the Parade, Toby could be there, or here in front of me?
I'm so close I can taste the light in my mouth. But as I keep running, I realize the silloutte is short and stout and very not-human at all. Standing on the road is a dog.
It's something I haven't seen in ages, but still not human-or Toby. Tears immediately start down my face. I'm happy it's here, it's better than no one at all. But still....
The dog has shaggy, matted down, black and white fur. It's a collie. Strapped to it's back is a blue flashlight, the kind made before the Parade that never dies. The dog is super skinny, like it hasn't eaten in days. Kindly, it woofs and nudges me with it's nose.
My heart is shattered all over the place. I go to the closest house and sit on the steps and bury my head in my hands and begin to let my tears flow.
"Where are you Toby?" I cry angrily. "And why aren't you here?"
The dog trots over and stands next to me, expectantly. I turn to face it, mad at it for not being a person. I pick up a pebble and throw it as far and as long as I can until it runs into the next house and breaks a window. It gives me a quizzical look and steps closer to me.
"What!" I shout. "What do you want?!"
The dog whimpers and backs up.
"Yeah, I thought so!" I scream. "The heck are you here for! Where is Toby and everybody? Where did everyone go? There has to be someone left, somewhere! I'm so sick of being alone! I'M SICK OF BEING THE ONLY ONE HERE!" I pause because the tears are choking me and I breathe at all. My shoulders shake and my head hurts horribly. I take a couple deep breaths.
"And why are you here?" I say to the dog. "Why do you have a flashlight on your back?"
It backs up a little more and, tucking its tail between its legs, sits down.
"Stop it. You're making me feel bad. I'm sorry okay?" My cold expression softens. "Why DO you have a flashlight on your back?" I reach out to take it off.
The duct tape is stuck pretty badly. I pull it off slowly, accidently tearing some chunks of fur off it's matted down coat. I manage to take it off witbhout too much whimpering at least. As I peel off the tape, a note falls onto the ground. I unfold it and then take the flashlight and put it above the note to read it.
"Thank God. I can't be the only one." it says, "Everyone has died. Everyone is gone. If you're reading this, please, come find me. I'm still here, in Redfall. There are-no, there must be-more people out there. I know it. 10-16-46, Felicity Stevens."
That was three years ago, after the Parade. So maybe there are more people. But, they could have died already. Plus, I have never heard of Redfall. It's probably a city, God knows where. Could Toby have found it?
No, I'm getting my hopes up too high. I pet the dog and stand up.
"Let's go back home and think about this." I say.
~~~~~
The next morning, I'm parched. I swear I'm dying of thirst. The dog, whom I made a bed out of sheets next to my bed, looks thirsty too. So, I take it along with me to go get a few gallons of distilled water from a store down the street. I put on my bag, fill it with the necessities just in case I decide to take a pit stop.
The dog tries to stop every so often to lick at a shrinking puddle. I hiss at it to stop when it does.
It takes us almost a half hour to get home because the dog licks at every puddle, barks at every bird, and stops to pee, like, every other minute.
I stop halfway, realising something.
"You need a name." I say suddenly. It doesn't take long to already know what I want to name the dog. "How about Blue? I always wanted a dog named Blue. After that one little kids show my parents watched as kids, ya know?" The dog shows no emotion, it must not care. It's a dog; it can't name itself.
"Blue it is." I smile.
When we finally reach the outside of apartment, I catch the strong scent of smoke. My eyes catch a bright orange something looking at me through the second floor window.
"Holy crap," I say aloud. "Fire."
I drop my bag and my feet leave the ground in an instant, forgetting about Blue altogether. I just run past the lobby and up the stairs.
"No," I whisper. "No. Oh crap!"
There's no way I can save it. Too many flames. They engulf the entire floor, licking violently at everything its path. My apartment looks like the source. I stand there at the end of the stairs at the landing in awe. I can't even put it out; my whole supply is inside of the apartment.
I stumble out of the building. It's not like it meant much to me anyways. In a way I'm glad it's burning to the ground, it feels almost, like I'm becoming new or even letting go. But there is feeling of guilt, one that says, what now? Where do I go?
I let go. I just do. It was my home, one that smelled like bad memories and was falling apartment anyways.
Suddenly, a wild thought appears in my head. What if I could go find more people myself? There's nothing left for me here in my own city, nothing left to live for. I could find more people and even if there's no one left, I could still find Toby. But if I left and Toby came back, I might never see him again.
Couls I do that? Could I live without Toby, just to find others? My brain says no, but my heart says maybe it might be time to move on. Then again, my hearts been very wrong before. I can't wait here forever, can I?
I take the note out of my pocket and reread it.
"I will always miss you, Toby, but I can't keep waiting. I've got to try at least." Blue woofs a little bit loudly and I jump. I see she's confused. So far from home.
Wait, since Blue is friendly, that means she was raised by humans! Yes, there has to be someone out there!
" I could find Redfall! If the girl wjo wrote the note survived the Parade, she might still be there, waiting, like me. Blue, you probably know where it is, you where probably raised there!" I say excitedly. "I might even find Toby along the way!"
Picking up the bag and putting it on my back, I stretch out. "Real people. People like me." I grin goofily. Blue lays down. I sit next to it.
I push a loose strand of hair out of my eyes. "I could go, but should I? Would that be responsible, leaving the city to burn? So many questions, ugh." My fingers feel for my hair and I tie it back into it's ponytail. It's a mess.
"I want to. I'm going to." I say loudly. "I'm gonna find more people!"
I stand up and gesture to Blue. "Let's go." I say and smile at the same time. "We gotta try at least."
So we, we begin, faith in the unknown now, on our journey. I know we will find something. Even if we're on a doomed downward spiral, I see the whole world lay out in front of us, waiting.
I can feel it.
~~~~~
Yay!
Please vote or comment, I appreciate it so much! All my love goes out to Alexsis, my best friend this chapter. She's awesome and I feel she should have a chapter dedicated to her. I'm gonna start dedicating chapters now, by the way. Maybe she'll realise she got a chapter dedicated if she EVER GETS AROUND TO READING THIS. :D
So anyways thanks guys!
-PBP is OUT!
