Occisor

4- A Story to Remember

Knife- check. Flashlight- check. Gun- check. Pictures- check. Mentally checking off all my possessions, I zip up my bag. I shrug on my vintage army jacket, and stand up from the crouched position I was in. I have done this many times before; but now, it's different. This time we are leaving town for real, not just to another location. Sighing as I walk over to the dying flames of last night's fire, I poke it with a metal tong so that sparks fly and twirl. I throw in some logs and paper, then light it up to kindle the flame. It's a regular routine: wake up, pack, get the fire started, get everyone else up, make breakfast. Then we go hunting or moving or whatever else you do in a post-apocalyptic world.

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I hear her get up. Just like every other morning. She does this little sigh thing, it's pretty cute. It's like the cross between a sigh and a yawn. Kinda like a cat stretching. Then she climbs out of her sleeping bag and gets dressed out of her pajamas into her day clothes. Then, she looks around, checking that there are four other bodies and nothing is out-of-order or misarranged. She's really good at protecting us and keeping us all in line. In know it's my job as a guy to do that, but she's the mamma duck, keeping all her little ducklings in a neat row. Next, she goes to the fire and relights it. Finally she slings her packed bag over her shoulder, and heads outside to go write in her journal. She always goes to a high place; either in a tree, rooftop, or on top of cars to write. I think she told me once that she was claustrophobic, so that's why she likes high open places. Or maybe because she can see everything around her initially, and nobody can sneak up on her. But every day it is just like that. Nothing more, nothing less. The same exact routine.

She leaves, but I know she will be back in two hours. At 8 o'clock she will start cooking the wretched Lima bean breakfast, and if we are not awake from the awful smell, she will gently wake Charlie, A.J and I up. And that's it. That is every single morning the routine we go through, and I think it's beautiful. She has no idea that I listen to her get up; listening to her gentle breathing, and her movements. She thinks she all alone, but she not. I mean that in the best way possible. I could tell that she feels extremely lonesome at times, but don't we all?

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Bingo! I decided to go hunting and check the traps today, and my oh my was that a good thing, because we caught a beaver! True, I have never tasted beaver so I don't even know if it's good, but its food so oh well. With two rabbits and a beaver slug over my shoulder, I walk back to camp feeling like a champion. Charlie skins and A.J cooks the meat while Alex cleans up after the meal. Jessica does nothing as usual. Then the big day starts; the long treacherous journey of starting our 1800 mile hike to Washington D.C.

A gaping hole in my stomach threatens to engulf me. I physically feel sick leaving our town, the longest I have been away from home was 3 weeks when I went to summer camp. But I wasn't nervous then because I knew I was eventually going home. Now, I don't know if I will ever see our little town again.

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My stomach feels hallow. Trust me, if I didn't think it was the best decision, I wouldn't have suggested it. I feel bad though, Emma's pretty upset that we have to leave. I was too, but I guess she has some weird girl emotional attachment to our town. Charlie and A.J weren't as troubled as Emma, they just went with the flow like always. And I don't really know what the hell is wrong with Jessica, she just acted as prissy as she always does.