Attacca ─ Five Hargreeves

03. Walking the Wire

From the notes Genevieve had written to keep track of how long she had been wandering the land, the number had reached one hundred and eighty-second day. Still, nothing was astounding about this neoteric world. It was still empty, still lifeless. Even the sun was conflicted to flaunt its glory, the sky didn't defy being flanked by grey during the day, perfectly suited to the conditions below the skyline.

Five was right, a map was completely useless, but they just continued walking and searching. She once suggested that they disregard her mother's place and focus more on survival, yet he just ignored it. He said they needed something to hold on to, even though its existence wasn't necessarily true. The boy didn't talk much, rarely initiating a conversation if she didn't start one. Whenever they took a break, he would always sit a few feet away to write something.

Genevieve didn't know what he was doing with the book, what penning he was working on to the point that sometimes he lost track of time—forgot to eat, forgot to sleep. She was aware of the boundaries he placed between them from the start. But even so, she could sense a speck of caring beneath that stoic exterior, after all, he was the one who made sure she got a complete recovery.

Genevieve didn't mind the looming space, intruding wasn't her thing. If he wanted some alone time, she wouldn't get in the way. It was just the two of them here, it would be a backbreaker if they got sick of each other.

"I got you a new shirt," said the girl, smiling ear to ear at Delores as she waved the rusty blouse in front of the inanimate object. "It's dirty, but you'll be fine."

The first time Genevieve noticed the mannequin, it certainly caused several bemusements, but then again, she learned that Five had been alone for quite some time before he stumbled upon the Kilday's vault. He didn't need to explain anything, she could figure it out on her own—loneliness bred madness. And to keep his sanity intact, he created an outline where Delores was a living being, she was his coping mechanism.

It wasn't entirely weird, Five only did all that to survive amidst the havoc.

And speaking of Five, he really was serious when he said he would rummage the area a bit further because she didn't see him close to her position. After going through a harsh winter that left them needing extra energy to make it through the season, their supplies now were heavily running low. Her mother's journal obviously didn't lead them to the next haven, she even deemed that it was probably just ruins now.

The girl genuinely felt bad, she felt like she managed to conceal the headaches that frequently swung into her head, but Five always knew it anyway. And it constantly ended up being him alone looking for supplies for the two of them. It was better than having to fork out strength to bury her body, he said. But she was afraid, what if he just had enough and left her? She still recalled the moment he specifically told her not to slow him down, yet that was exactly what she was doing.

Genevieve couldn't survive on her own, she spent half of her life sleeping, for goodness sake. She was terrible at this—the whole living in the apocalypse thing. Her mother never discussed the end of the world, the girl even thought that if the world were to end, she would die along with all other humans. Unfortunately, her mother continually had another blueprint that made her accidentally survive the doomsday.

Her mother's writings didn't help much either, there were a lot of things she didn't understand. They were living in hiding, someone intended to take her from her mother. Was that the reason she had to go into that steel box? Was that the cause of her mother's frantic behaviour that day? She wanted to know, but why was her mother so cryptic about reciting things?

All of a sudden, a flux of wrath and sorrow dripped freely through her system, spreading to her fingertips and stimulating her hands to mash the book tightly.