TWO YEARS LATER
ALLY
They say that when you die, your vision is the first to go. Everything fades to nothingness as you begin to take your last breaths, your surroundings dimming, becoming darker every second; almost like watching the sun set. Then goes your sense of touch. The hand you felt holding yours is no longer there, the kiss on your cheek fades just as fast as it was placed. And soon enough, you can't feel your heart beating either. The last thing to go is your sense of hearing. Everything is loud, and annoying almost. Like a fly constantly buzzing beside your ear, but you can't swat it away. That sound for me was hearing Troy crying on the floor of the hospital room the day that Val took our daughter from his arms. It hurt me to hear it, and for a second I felt my heart come to life once more. I couldn't help him, and I couldn't make the sound stop. It still hasn't stopped two years later.
I sat on the window seat of our bedroom and looked out at the rainy city streets, thunder ricocheting off of the clouds. My head was resting on my knees as cars drove by every now and again on the desolate roads of Boston. Only the people with well-paying jobs could afford cars anymore. Luckily for us, Lauren and I had paid off the apartment before our region went to shit. Before our country went to shit, honestly. Val had not only become the Commander of Region One, but she had also taken over Region Two and working her way through Region Three. They didn't stand a chance against her army of robot freaks, their eyes the color of blood and malice. She killed anyone who wouldn't pledge their loyalty to her, shooting them square in the head or letting her minions take care of them in any way they wanted. It was less painful to just be killed right then and there.
I sighed discontentedly as I hugged my knees tighter, the room just as dark and depressing as the weather outside. The bedroom door creaked open, but I didn't bother to see who it was. It could have only been one person anyway, seeing as I hardly stepped foot outside of the apartment nowadays. Not interacting with people was becoming easier by the day. My only friend being Troy, and even that seemed to be wearing thin.
"I don't want to go, Troy." I keep my eyes fixed out the window as I heard him enter the room and close the door behind him quietly, the room thick with tension. This is how every day went. I never left this room except to eat and shower, and I hardly ever ate. I never had the appetite to. I had lost nearly all of my muscle, my arms as skinny as rails. My legs could barely tolerate my weight anymore. I was just too weak to do anything but sleep.
"I know, but you need to get out of the apartment. I lost her too, you know." He sighed as he sat down on the edge of the bed, facing me. I let a single tear roll down my cheek unhindered as I blinked the rest away. I was always so surprised that I was capable of producing tears even after it felt like I didn't have any more to cry. I pulled my knees even closer as I refused to look at him. It only made things worse. We sat in silence for a while, neither of us knowing what to say.
"Do you ever think about what she's doing?" I asked as the rain continued to fall outside, the droplets lightly hitting the window. "Do you think she misses us, too?"
"Of course I do, Ally, and I think she misses us as well if not more." He got up from the bed to sit at the end of the window seat by my feet. He reached his left hand out and gently placed it on my knee, and that was when I turned to look at him fully. His short, blond hair was held underneath a hat, his facial hair growing in. The dull, grey light from outside made his face look pale and almost sickly, and I instantly became hyper-aware of how awful I must have looked.
"That's not possible," I whispered as I continued to look at him. He nodded his head in understanding as he tucked a piece of fallen hair behind my ear with a small smile. I will never understand how he continually put up with me, how he could love me after everything I put him through.
