The day we fell.

chapter 09: revisiting the past

Lucy's POV:

We made it back to camp, Jace didn't like the idea of keeping Tom here but I told them what happened and they agreed to nurse him back to health and send him on his way, which seems to be what he wants to do anyway. I was still thinking about what Tom said. It's not my fault I don't like violence or that I'm a pacifist! I know he didn't mean it, but it still made me think. My lack of love for violence all started back when I was in primary school. I remember the shouts and arguing from the boys outside my door. Even to this day, I wonder why my brother didn't go out to fight and what would've happened between them. He was drunk, he was friends with a girl. They never did anything dirty or wrong together, just hung out loads. Her boyfriend found out, of course, like every stupid little book, and he comes to our house at like what, 9 pm?  I was about 9-11 years old or so, so I didn't understand the severity of it until now, and I'm 15. I remember the shouting and arguments, the fear in my brothers' voice as he shouts he won't fight the gang outside their door. They threatened to do things to me, yet they never knew about me, I still don't know how they found out about me. I remember their exact words.

"Come out here and fight us, or we'll go in by force and rape your sister," I remember my heart dropping, I didn't understand what it meant back then, but the fear I felt as a little girl stayed with me. I remember finally texting my friends, and saying my goodbyes to them. My mom told me to hide in the kitchen and cover my ears. The gang was banging on our door, hitting it with axes, shouting horrible stuff about what they'd do to me and my mom, but as quick as they came, they left as people were trying to film them. The three black trucks left, and the police didn't even come until the morning. It's not the first time I've been questioned about my brother by the police, but hopefully, it'll be the last. The shouts will always repeat in my head for as long as I live, I think. That day could've been my last, and honestly, it gave me a new view of life. Anything can happen to you, so you have to make the most of the time you've got. So far, I'm still alive, and we're a few weeks into the apocalypse, but I am seeing what Tom meant when he told me that life is a gift, a blessing. 

I snap back to reality. This boy, the man I love, was now playing in my lap unconscious. I splash water over Tom every once in a while to make sure he still reacts while I nurse him back to health. Jay's gone out to hunt, but I did tell him to stay close to the base. But he has been out for a while, I'm getting worried. 

Jace's POV:

I hack down animals around me while getting firewood, but something lingers within my mind. My family, well, what it was anyway. I don't recall much, I barely even remember what they look like. My mother died, and my dad couldn't take it anymore, I was put into a foster home, and they neglected me. I raised myself and taught myself the things I know how to do now. I remember the first time I met Lucy. As soon as I met her, she took care of me and always made sure I was okay. She was like my guardian angel, she always looked after me and I saw her as my mother. 

I remember when I opened up about it to her, her face staying serious but slowly cracking into a sad face as I cried. She cried with me, hugging me tight while comforting me. She's a major part of my life now. She's the mother I never really got. I can't lose her. That's why I hit the son of a bitch. That's my mother, MY mama. I'm such a fucking mama's boy, but I'm proud of it. She loves me and I love her. I'll never forgive Tom for what he said, but Lucy loves him, so I'll have to tolerate him. I just hope that worthless waste of space doesn't take her away from me. She's all I have left. I hear a grunt which throws me out of my mind. I was fucking surrounded by zombies. Just my luck. I immediately zip up the food bag we made and ran, not for my life. For my mother.

 I barely remember the way back, but Lucy put fires near the ends so I could see them. Smartass. I run and run, but I honestly think they're fucking multiplying. I'm surrounded by a wall. There are at least three gangs worth. I remember the gift Lucy gave Tom as a dare which he gave to me. The mini chainsaw. I pull it out of my backpack in one smooth movement and power it up by pulling the string with my teeth. The chainsaw hums and I spin it, ready to show these fuckers not to mess with a mama's boy. The first lot comes, and I swing. Their worthless carcasses slump before me as if kneeling. "Yeah.. that's right" I chuckle to myself, "Kneel to those who are better than you." This was fun, don't get why Tom never let me and Lucy do the killing- we aren't babies! We're older than him!! Bitch. I take down the others with ease, blood spraying all over me. I hurl the bags over a fence, then jump up myself my adoring fans trying to grab me through the holes within the fence. I pick up the bags. "There'll be no encores," I charm, blowing a kiss to the zombies and then running to the smoke. To home. To Mama Lucy.