Dead Horizon

Together

     Ember took Sophie to their living space. This is what Ember called their cell because it made the situation sound a tiny bit better. Sophie ran down the hall to find their cell number, which was 402, which was on the fourth floor. Ember tried to keep her eyes on Sophie but something else seemed to catch her sight. It was not the time, nor place to be thinking about boys, but he made her feel different. All Ember could see was his icy-blue eyes and hair that seemed dull and spontaneous. As she got closer and closer to him, he looked at her and blurted out a nice quiet, "Hey". But she knew he was just being friendly, we could all use a little kindness right now, that's what her mother, Kate used to say everyday, even when things weren't bad. Ember went silent.

Jackson helped his mother unpack and immediately cleaned up using the facewash, towels, lotion and the three-in-one shampoo, conditioner and bodywash. Evelynn was glad to see Jackson adapting fast. Evelynn decided to see what all of the fuss was about in the cell next to her. It sounded like people were crying, little kids sobbing. There was a guy in light blue scrubs and he had a medical mask on so tight that his cheeks were popping out the sides of the ear loop attached onto his mask. She did not fully understand if this place was a good environment for her little boy to be growing up in, but it was worth a shot, however many minutes they have left on this earth.

Eleanor decided to take a small stroll after hours just sitting there. In her cell, her 'living space'. She walked past people in scrubs, hurt people, crying people that were losing their loved ones. She spotted a blonde lady peeking in on the cell next to her and she looked sad too.

"Hi, little girl. What's your name?"

The blonde lady said to Ellie. She had a necklace around her collar bone that read 'Evelynn' . Ellie guessed her name and responded.

"I am Eleanor, but you can call me Ellie. I like it better."

"Oh, such a pretty name. I'm-"

"Evelynn?"

Ellie asked, pointing to her jewelry.

"Oh, yes. It's-it's Evelynn."

"Pretty."

"Thank you."

Evelynn took the gold and silver shining necklace off of her neck and gave a look to Ellie as in 'come in'. Ellie took that as an invite as well and she was surprised at how big her cell was as she walked through the bars on the door. The two sat down at the little table in the corner and Evelynn brought up her living situation, but Ellie was honest, she trusted her.

"Well if your father is not better anytime soon I would be more than happy to take care of you until he can, however long that takes. You need to eat and I brought tons of food. Plus my little boy Jackson would be so grateful if he got to play with someone close to his age."

It was almost like she was throwing every pro in the conversation and not one con came out of her big mouth. Ellie paused and thought about what she had gotten herself into. Did she actually think she could trust this lady? Without thinking much, her mind immediately agreed and she left to go get her sleeping bag and clothes from her tiny cell.

Ember walked past her cell, still staring at that boy, who barely knew she existed.

"Sissy! It over here. Look!"

Ember turned around as fast as she could when she heard Sophie's voice. It was almost like survival mode had turned on already. As soon as she figured out what she had done, she was in shame and embarrassment, there was no reason why though, no one cared about anything anymore. She was not in school anymore and there were no kids judging her on what she wore that day, no more bullying, well not in the shelter, and not to her.

"I'm here kiddo."

She replied to Sophie. Ember and her family always had a small southern accent and mostly because of where they used to live before her mother got a new job and got pregnant. Sophie found her accent calming, it was not that strong, but it was there. As the day turned into night and the weather transformed into a hazey coldness, with nothing but rain and wind. Kate came back to the cell after picking up some food from the guest pantry down stairs. But she walked in to find her two little girls snuggled up on the bottom bunk together. Such a big age gap between the two girls, but they didn't see it that way. Ember's long dark brown hair fell to her elbow and she was getting sick of it. Her mom loved her hair long and so did Sophie, mainly because she liked to play "salon" and wreck her perfectly-parted hair.