Dawn Of The Day

Epilogue

Trigger Warning: Suicidal thoughts mentioned.

We woke up early thanks to all the noises downstairs. Charlie would drive back to Nova Aria today to check on his precious Cessna, and that would mean that none of us could stay our asses in bed.

I needed to pack him some food and supplies. Charlie would be gone for days as he always did, and the thought of the old man scavenging for food or shuffling in line for Federation ration just didn't sit right with me. Fights often broke out in those places, and many people got hurt or arrested.

In the past six months, many necessities had become scarce, and the prices grew ten times. As a result, people hoarded as if their lives depended on it. They very much did.

We suffered the worst economy since the Federation's founding, but on the bright side, the martial law had been lifted soon after Castillon's capture. He did put up quite a fight in court, but eventually, the evidence against him was overwhelming. Things progressed as they should, and Castillon was sentenced to life in a maximum-security prison. If you ask me, it was still far too lenient for what he had planned, and some he had succeeded. Unfortunately, I wasn't the one who made the judgment or shady deals behind Citadel's curtains.

One day, we saw a four-paragraph snippet in a newspaper about the CEO, or should I say the late CEO of QL Solutions, Herman Lang. He was found on the side of the road with a bullet in his head. Suicide was the official report, but we believed otherwise. Many lives had been lost that way, and it seemed that even though Castillon was stuck in prison, his fingers still reached far and wide to stir up our world.

According to Charlotte, it could also be another party that wanted to keep Zedlum a secret. I couldn't say which was the truth, or if I was interested in any part of it. I just wanted it all to be over. Really over.

Spring ended, and the summer rolled in. Some old TV programs returned, replacing the dreadful nightly Federation announcements along with many of our neighbors.

When I drove past the gas station a couple of days ago, I saw the sign We're Open! It was surreal, and sometimes, I felt as if we were living in a fake reality. At any moment, someone could pull the rug from under us. Like that.

The helplessness could drive anyone insane, but I tried my best not to let it drown me. Last night was another night Robert and I talked until sunrise. My amnesia had come back full force since we laid the garden stone with my dad's name down next to Mom's under the tree in the backyard. I couldn't sleep much. Not anymore. Many times, not without someone in the room.

Somehow, that someone had always been Robert. Our conversations often revolved around our childhood, what we had, and what we lost. Who we lost. Sometimes, we just listed what we had done during the day. I knew I had grown codependent on Robert. I tried my best to avoid it at first, but it was inevitable, I guessed.

After everything, maybe, codependency wasn't such a sin as Vince had said one time.

I thought about the group of people who currently occupied our house often. I, Vince, Robert, old man Charlie, and Charlotte. Our "found family". Edgar had left soon after his wounds healed. Besides a few text messages here and there, it was as if he had fallen off the face of the Earth. Something told me that we wouldn't see him again any time soon, and that gave me such bittersweetness. But the man deserved his peace at least.

Charlotte, on the other hand, had become a fixture of our lives. Most days, she would sleep like a cat until noon in the guest-bedroom-turned-nursery. During her short awake windows, she would sit on the front porch, staring at the empty field. Many times, she would play darts. The woman was superb at that.