What if you woke up one day and everyone over the age of twenty two had just vanished from the face of the earth? How would you survive?
Eighteen year old Ember is faced with this harsh reality, supplies are running low, the world has shut down and...
'If the sun starts to set and the sky goes cold, then if the clouds get heavy and start to fall, I really need somebody to call my own, I wanna be somebody to someone'
Song: Someone To You - Banners.
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After Nate and Jax left I'd gone inside the house to catch up with Avery and Willow, I kept it pretty chill and roughly explained what had happened while Willow was in the room but later that night when she'd gone to bed Avery had pulled me into my room and demanded the whole story.
So I went through the whole story again, from when I got caught raiding the hospital, Nate finding me, him and Jax taking me back to the compound, meeting H, the weird concert, me being sick and unconscious, Nate looking after me, waking up in H's bed, the whole breakfast table saga, H explaining everything and then Nate and Jax bringing me home. Wow. Now that I'm talking it through I realise I had been through a lot in the last 24 hours.
"I have so many questions" Avery stated crossing her legs on the bed and leaning in closer.
"Of course, I knew you would" I nodded "Fire away"
"So they kidnapped you?"
"Pretty much but it was really a joke, H was mad that Nate did that but Nate jokes about everything apparently"
"Where is this place they took you to?...the compound thing?"
"It's not that far away, closer to the city and surrounded by forest"
"How many people are there?"
"I don't know. I didn't see that many people but I heard lots, plus there were quite a few huts"
"Tell me again what this mysterious H looked like"
"Well when I first met him it was in a dark room so I couldn't see much, he was wearing all black clothes and he stepped into the light only briefly enough for me to see his face a little bit but he was kinda intimidating, tall and muscly. He also had pure confidence and everyone just listens to him. When I fell onto him the next morning he looked less scary having just woken up, sleep still written all over his face, he was a lot more gentle, still intimidating but I didn't feel as scared as I had been, although when I realised my knee was in his crotch and I had no pants on all I felt was embarrassment" That made Avery laugh and soon we were both laughing at the crazy situation.
"The whole thing is nuts" She blurts out mid laugh.
"Oh absolutely" I agreed "But for some reason I want to see them again"
.......
It was a week later and I still found myself thinking of that man, with his crazy mop of brown curls and bright green eyes, he was etched in my memory. The way my body felt electric the couple times he'd touched me and the way he smelt, sweet mixed with danger, it was hard to explain but it was my new favourite scent. I don't know what was wrong with me, I had barely spent any proper time with H but it seemed my subconscious wanted to keep him circling round my brain. I had never really thought about guys before in any other way except as friends. even at school I kept away from them which meant I had no experience whatsoever with the opposite sex, although Avery had plenty, not in a bad way, she just knew what she wanted and has had a few boyfriends over the years so I always knew I could go to her for any advice or questions I had.
Things had pretty much returned to how it had been before on the farm, I was tending to the garden which was looking a little worse for wear as we were coming into winter and a lot of the crops would die off soon. The few animals we had left were okay though, I would have to butcher another chicken in a day or two so we could have some more fresh meat. I went through all our supplies and took inventory so I knew what there was and how long it would last, I estimated another four or five months, six at a stretch and that was if we could supplement what we already had with the garden vegetables and meat from the animals but we would be desperate soon and it was starting to take a toll on me, Avery and Willow depended on me and I couldn't let them down, I would have to do everything I could.
"Em!... Ember" I heard yelling coming from upstairs. I was in the cold storage room in the basement so I went running up to see what was going on.
"What is it?" I asked when I found Willow standing in the kitchen out of breath.
"That truck that dropped you off yesterday, those guys....." She trailed off, she looked scared as she pointed out the kitchen window and towards the driveway. I followed her finger and seen what she was referring to, the pick up truck that Nate and Jax had driven me in was parked at the end of our driveway. "They've been there for a while"
I didn't know what they wanted but I was going to find out, surely they weren't here to kidnap me again. I walked out of the house slipping my feet into my gumboots on the porch before making my way down the driveway, I was apprehensive as I approached but soon I could see that it really was only Nate and Jax and I sighed in relief.
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked when I got close enough.
"Nice to see ya again too Princess" Nate winked at me. I was pretty sure this guy could never be serious in his life.
"Ignore him Ember" Jax sighed, gladly "We're just here to check how you're going, are you allgoods?"
"Umm why? Im fine" I answered. Both boys shared a look between them and Nate smirked.
"Orders from the boss" He shrugged smiling. What!
"H sent you?" I questioned. That didn't make sense, he must be joking. Why would H care if I was okay?
"Yes he did Em, now listen" Jax said leaning over from the drivers side into the middle so he could look me in the eyes out of the passenger side window "There's been more fighting and riots on the other side of the city, a big gang of bikers, they've been looking for survivors and wiping their supplies, you need to be prepared. I'm not saying they will come here but just in case" Holy shit, I wasn't prepared for this, my heart started racing and I could feel the anxiety over the unknown about this situation. "We have this for you" He said taking out a walkie talkie looking thing "If you're in danger and need help this radio will get you in direct contact with H and we'll be there asap" I took the radio from Jax looking it over in my hands, this seemed serious.
"But why? umm... why does H want you to check on me?" I asked confused.
"Beats me" Nate shrugged "He doesn't give a shit about anyone usually, well except the little kids back home, but anyone older than ten is better off not knowing the man"
"For some reason he wants to protect you, perhaps it's the diabetes connection but I.." Jax started to ramble on but cut himself off like he'd said something he shouldn't and it really seemed that way when his eyes went wide and Nate gave him a whack on the arm.
"What connection?" I asked wanting more information.
"Umm oh I don't know, it doesn't matter" Jax spits out.
"Nice one looser" Nate says mocking Jax.
"Well we've gotta go, be safe Em" Jax says starting the truck, they took off and I was stood there at the end of the driveway even more confused and scared than ever. If this gang was going around terrorising people then I had to get prepared, they'd be taking my farm over my dead body.
