Halo | 18+

chapter forty nine

- AURELIA JONES -

The next morning, my arm was dead.

Like I'd been punched a thousand times and then hit by a truck, twice! But it was worth it, as everyone else seemed to be okay.

We were in the kitchen, eating breakfast. A pancake mixture the boys had managed to throw together. They didn't taste the best, but it's better then beans and powdered eggs.

"We should invest in some sugar." Ollie grimaced, chewing his pancake slowly as pieces flew everywhere, "You should chew with your mouth closed." Rez grumbled, flipping the pancake over the fire.

"It's not bad for our first pancake in ten years, be grateful." He added, "I am grateful, it's just not the same without sugar." Ollie pouted.

Rez rolled his eyes, placing a small pancake on Lyza's plate, who was sitting next to me smiling, "I saw something in the garden the other day." She said innocently.

I froze, stopping mid-mouthful. I looked up at Angel who was looking at me, "W- what kind of thing?" I asked, she shrugged, "I'm not sure. It had feathers and was kind of fat."

Hold on, "What do you mean had feathers? Lyza, are you sure?" Rez asked her, she nodded her head, smiling brightly, "Yeah. It was sleeping when I saw it but when it woke up I found something- I think she was sitting on it."

"What did you find?"

All of us were thinking the same thing, silently talking with our eyes. Lyza removed herself from the table and came back holding something in her hands, "This!" She placed it on the table.

Staring back at us, was an egg.

An actual, real life, brown egg.

No one spoke, "Lyza I need you to show me exactly where you found this." Rez said. Shoju and Ollie shot up immediately, following behind them, "Ah, you be careful!" Angel hissed, pointing to Ollie who almost forgot his makeshift crutches.

He sucked his teeth but grabbed them anyway, "Behind the house, it made a weird sound." Her voice trailed off down the hallway, the sound of the front door opening indicating they were outside.

Angel and I stayed at the table, flabbergasted. "A chicken? Can you imagine if she saw a chicken." She had hope glimmering in her eyes.

"We need to harvest our own crops, start a farm. Anything we can do for fresh vegetables." I said. She nodded, "I agree. I think we take a trip to the nearest town and see if theres anything we can find."

Suddenly, a commotion of noise interrupted our conversation. The sound of voices, chickens and the flapping of wings caught my attention.

"Why did you bring the chicken in here?" Angel yelled, "Why is it in the house?"

"We can't keep it outside!"

"We can't keep it in the house!"

"Just until we find a permanent place for it-"

"Okay everyone chill!" I yelled, "Put the chicken in the bathroom, we need to build a place for it. Okay?"

Rez took the chicken to the bathroom, a loud 'buck' sound coming from the chicken before Rez closed and locked the door.

"Okay, now what do we do?"

"We're not gonna kill it are we?" Lyza screeched, eyes full of tears as she came running in to the room.

"No, we're not going to kill it." I smiled, taking her hand, "My Mommy said people use to eat chicken! I don't wanna eat chicken!"

Angel sent me a half smile, "It'll be okay little lady." Angel interrupted, "Why don't we go see chicken?"

Angel led her away from us and into the bathroom.

The boys looked at me the same time I looked at them, until a huge grin broke out on my face and I let out a little victory dance.

"The world is healing itself!" I smiled. Rez sent me a half-smile, "I'll admit, it's definitely a good thing, but lets not get our hopes up just yet. You never know- this could be the last one." 

I shrugged, "Let it be a good thing. At least for a little bit." 

"There is a way to breed chickens, you know." Shoju cut in, shrugging nonchalantly. "What do you mean?" 

"I mean, there's a way to produce more chickens. I'm not sure how, but it's how a chicken farmer on the east coast managed to survive for a long time before they found him dead in his home. He died of natural causes, so that's a bonus." 

"I heard about him. Hugo used to talk about him, apparently he was doing pretty well for himself." Ollie said, crossing his arms.

"Has anyone ever heard of the saying, what came first, the chicken or the egg? I think in our situation, it's pretty obvious how we're royally screwed."

I rolled my eyes, "Stop being such a debbie downer, Rez jeez. Stop shitting on a good thing because you're thinking about the future. News flash, there is no future for us. We are it, we are the future. This chicken- is the best thing to happen to us in a while. Please just pretend to be happy about it, or try at least. For us. For Lyza, she deserves this." 

It was quiet you could hear a pin drop, but then Rez dropped his head, "You're right, I'm sorry. It's just so hard to think about the positives when there is literally nothing to be positive about." 

I leaned my head on his shoulder, "I know. But this is the best we got. Fresh eggs, and eventually fresh chicken." 

He groaned, "Now I want KFC."

+ + + 

Rez and Shoju had built a small, chicken coop with old wood and some metal wiring from the fence line to keep the chicken inside. 

Lyza had said goodnight to it, and we all silently prayed it would be there when we woke up.

This is our second night here, and I hoped that thing wouldn't come out to kill us again. Even if it did, we'd be ready. 

Hoping that my blood actually worked and we were all safe, I settled in to bed with a heavy heart and doubtful mind, trying not to let it get the best of me.

I heard the sheets on Shoju's bed rustle as he turned to face me. Even in the dark, I could see him, feel him looking at me.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He questioned. 

As much as I wanted to tell him what's on my mind, there's too much for me to unpack. I stared at the roof, reminiscing about a safer, simpler time when my only concern was what to wear to school.

Now it's how I'm going to survive another night.

I kept thinking back to Marion's letter. It ran through my mind at least a hundred times a day. 

"Aurelia?" Shoju asked again. I snapped back to reality and pushed away the bad thoughts, "Just thinking about how much supplies we have until we have to make a supply run again." I lied.

Shoju made a 'tsk' sound, "I know you're lying, but I'm not going to force you to talk to me. So, when you're ready, just know that I'm here. Everyone needs somebody Aurelia, let me be that for you." 

+ + + 

Even when I think Shoju can't get cuter, HE CAN.

Hello my loves, thank you SO MUCH FOR 600 READS!!! That is insaneee!! I love writing post-apocalyptic/sci-fi books, it's 100% my forte. I even applied for university to be a screen writer so that I can make my dreams a reality!

I love you all, happy reading Xx

WC: 1,247