Torn

Chapter 3

 Trekking throughout the shade laden trees as the sun fiercely beat down on the barren asphalt, I intently searched the road ahead as far I could see, hoping to find my dad's dark grey chevy truck rolling down the highway. Why didn't he show up? What happen? These were the questions burning a hole in my conscious as I lugged myself forward like I had been doing for the last 10 kilometres. Thankfully, I only had three more forested kilometres to go until I hit the outskirts of the city, then I could use my well used bus pass to arrive home. Walking around the last shaded treed bend in the road, I finally was able to grab a view of the city. I though I had saw hell. Fire flared from the city from a million spots, smoke rose colour the once blue skies orange, and worst of all, I heard silence. Shell shocked from the sight, I instinctively began to run full steam until about 60 seconds later I reluctantly gave in to my body's demanded for rest. Was my family safe? Did anyone get hurt? Filled with new determination, I kept travelling on to the city hoping somehow my family had survived.

Travelling down my road, it was lifeless, as piles of rubble remained where my neighbours' houses once stood. Staring down at the road, I was afraid of what I was going to see. Ruins.

Letting go of all my possessions, I ran onto the debris filled front law yelling out "Mom! Dad! Derrick! Anyone!" Glancing my the caved partially burned remains of my house, you could tell right away that no one inside would have survived. The backyard! With no time to lose, I ran like a D1 sprinter to the backyard tearing the brown weaken wooden fence off its footings like it was a piece of cardboard. Rounding the obliterated balcony, I scanned the yard, praying to find some kind of life. Wyatt! Seeing my younger brother laying on the stump of the remains of the enormous oak tree, flying over to him, I checked his vitals. Phew, he was sleeping! Seeing that the destruction had already passed through the area and him being alive was a miracle, I let him keep on sleeping as I quickly searched the premise to discover if anyone else was still alive. No one. Not willing to give up, I kept on searching until I heard my brother was about to awake in which I quickly grabbed my survival trip gear lying on the road and returned to my brother's location.

Just as I came back to his old oak tree stump, he woke up from his deep slumber. How was I going to break it to him? There was no-one left. Only us. Deciding to make sure he was okay first, I softly asked him "Wyatt, are you okay? Are you-" "Mom and Dad are dead, aren't they. Derrick too." he stated. "Yes, they're gone." I solemnly confirmed the heartbreaking news.

"What's going to happen?" quietly, he inquired as he sat by the greyish black beaten stump.

"I don't know. I just know that we will make it out of this alive."

After those words, we sat in silence as I used my recently acquired first-aid training to make sure that he hadn't been hurt. Luckily, he only had a few cuts on his leg as I pulled out the industry standard alcohol wipes and band aids from my extensive first aid kit. Warning him that this might hurt, I carefully cleaned and bandage his cuts before infection could set in. You could never be too careful, especially now that we were all alone. Why? Why did they had to die? Why out of all the cities in the world this one had to be bombed? With waves of water running down my eyes, and anguish rushing over me like a bullet pierced my heart, I angrily hit the greenish-black ground. Whoever orchestrated this is going to die. Pushing the raw emotion away, I finished checking my self for cuts, vowed to myself that I would avenge my dead family, and started at the new task at hand. Keeping us alive.

Glancing at the clean green woodsy watch on my wrist, it read 7 pm. The sun would be down in about three hours. Suddenly feeling fatigued from the many miles I trekked, I decided this a good as spot as any to sleep tonight considering I seen not one soul except Wyatt since entering Blue Sky. Clearing the area around the stump to set up camp, I made quick work of the tent and made a meal of beans and canned meat for me and Wyatt. Once we had both finished eating our dinner, I cleaned Wyatt up and put him to bed in my two person tent. After about 30 minutes, he was sound asleep, so I unzipped the tent cover and stepped out into the breezy cool night air. What am I going to do? Staying here until the military comes is suicide considering I have to care for a child as young as Wyatt with only having a single day's worth of food for one person left. Closest city is Everett but I have no idea how to get there. No use in me staying up trying to decide what to do so I tidied up the mess from supper and got ready for bed.