War

Chapter Two

Amity 

Time. It sure drags on in the aftermath of the world's inevitable end, doesn't it? Sometimes it goes quicker, and flies by in the blink of an eye. But that only pertains to the good moments. They come and go, leaving as quickly as they came and staying gone for long, agonizing, grueling periods. A smile, rare to grow on my face, slips away so fast you can barely catch it. And you find yourself wondering if it was ever even there in the first place. My good moments with Viney and Jerbo were soon to come to an end because that was the deal we made.

They'd help me find the group we were meant to meet up with. A small group that is separate from Edric's in location but not in goals or practices. Once there, I'd follow the group to meet Willow and Edric, and Viney and Jerbo would go back to theirs. With the promise of further communication through the radio. It hurt to know we'd be separating and I'd be leaving them soon. I had grown used to their company and to leave them and go on with strangers, not so much to Edric and Willow, but to me. It wasn't exactly something I was jumping in joy for.

We were supposed to meet up with such a group nearby. Then as they continued what they were tasked with I'd go with them while also searching for Emira and Luz in the process. But it was who I'd see again that got the most of my focus. I didn't know these people or what they were doing or anything about them. Only that they were people in Willow's group that my brother trusted and that had to be enough. They all had the same mission as my brother in the end. To find me and find out everything they could about Belos so they could fight back.

I had wanted to talk to my brother more. To tell him everything. But something had been happening on their end and his last message to me was a location to meet the group at. So, before we set off, I told Jerbo and Viney everything that happened. They both promised me they'd get me to where I needed to go. And that is what we'd been doing since then, traveling. There was recent movement from Belos's group nearby to our location and we all knew it could be dangerous. But Viney and Jerbo insisted they escort me to meet up with the group before we went our separate ways, promising to see each other in the future after all was said and done and communicate in the time between that.

I would miss them, but this mission had to come alongside the war. Find the cure and then worry about the rest as things unfold. There would be plenty to get done; spreading the word, distributing the cure, and making sure Belos's group can no longer hurt anyone. It would be a lot but this was never meant to be easy. We were always going to have to fight for it. The point we'd meet up was quite the trek still and we had limited time to get there now. It wouldn't be easy to make the time and the travel to such a destination with difficulty, but this was what needed to be done. And we had been doing good enough so far. If I wanted to see Edric again or find Emira and Luz, then this is what I had to do.

It was dark out now. We couldn't make it out of the town to the next one over in time before night fell upon us. We'd decided to stop for a supply run before we followed the hiking trail to the town where we were meant to meet this group. So we made to settle in the woods for the night while we took turns keeping watch. I was sitting in a position that reminded me of the past when a similar instance occurred. One with Luz the night she'd finally shared her name with me. A night that felt so far from now and the thought of it reminded me of how far we've come since then.

"Luz."

She'd said in an uncharacteristically soft tone different than her usual back then. When she was more distant.

"What?" I mouthed quietly to myself falling back into that memory, that moment.

"My name, it's Luz, and you were right Amity."