When The Storm Comes (When We're Older alternative ending)

the port

mentions of drugs

Newt

"Gatsby must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream."

I read my book, allowing my mind to tune out everything else as I submerged myself into the spectacular life of Jay Gatsby. This might have been my favorite book I'd read so far, for the writing and the symbolic meaning behind every little thing was enough to take my mind off of the fact that there was one less body in the van. 

The road we were on was long and full of rough terrain. We'd been driving all night, Ali and Vince must've switched places while I was asleep, for Vince was now the one behind the wheel, his head propped up by his arm that leaned against the window. It was difficult to read while the car shook constantly, but I was so immersed in my story that I didn't even notice the many potholes we went over, or the music quietly playing from the radio.

I had woken up just before sunrise to Vince and Ali discussing which road to take next. I'd seen a fair share of sunrises in my life, but this one took the cake. I felt the bright orange sunbeams warm my placid skin through the window of the van early that morning. My eyes fluttered open to a plethora of the most beautiful colors I'd ever seen in my life; orange, yellow, pink, hints of blue poking through it all. I lifted my head at the sight, my mouth going dry in admiration for the world. Despite the fact that I'd never get to experience what life was like before the sun scorched the earth, I still tried my best to find something that took my breath away every day. But it stunned me that something so dangerous could be the cause of something so heavenly.

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me!" Ali screamed from the passengers seat, blasting the volume of the song he was singing. His off-pitch singing caught me off guard--I had to lift my head from my book for a moment. "R-E-S-P-E-C-T, take care, TCB!"

The others groaned as Ali continued to give a wake-up call, all rubbing their eyes and plugging their ears.

"My ears are blessed with the sound of music..." Minho yawned from beside me, running his fingers through his hair as he sat up.

Ali turned to face him. "Are you always this sarcastic?"

"My level of sarcasm has gotten to the point where I don't even know if I'm kidding or not."

I chuckled and opened my book again.

"Y'all better wake up, we're almost there." Ali smirked.

"Where exactly are we going again?" Brenda asked from the row behind us.

"North."

"Oh, well that helps a lot..."

"North west..."

"Got it." Brenda rolled her eyes.

The day consisted of Ali screaming to songs when he wasn't telling Vince where to go. We had all joined in at one point, yelling random words just to participate. Of course us Glader's weren't too familiar with music, I myself had only heard a few songs in my life. But after listening to the radio all day, I grew an appreciation for it.

We had made a small dent in our rations, turns out sitting in a car all day made me very hungry. We were all dying for something other than rice and teriyaki sauce to touch our taste buds, we didn't care what it was. Minho snacked on a bag of chips while Fry sat back munching on a plain slice of bread. I didn't find any of the food available appetizing--I'm not sure why. Maybe it was because I wanted to save what we had, just in case of an emergency. In case we got stuck for weeks in the middle of nowhere or our plan went south once again. Although, I never thought I'd say it, I longed for a bowl of Frypan's stew.