The Lost Ones

24 - Adrian

As I sprint, everything's a blurry haze. What's that beating sound? I gulp as I realise it's the sound of my heartbeat. I recognise some faces from the buses, but now they're lying limp on the bloody gravel, beaten to a pulp. I scream Lela's name - it only echoes back at me infuriatingly. Dodging the dozens of fists swinging at me, I push through the crowd, desperately searching for her. My eyes roam over the horrifying scene; I notice her out of the corner of my eye - but it's not in the way I'd hoped. As I draw closer, I stare at her familiar features: her normally neat black hair is tangled and wild, her wide, anxious eyes are glassy and expressionless. The comforting face I grew up with may as well belong to a complete stranger now. I fall to my knees, defeated. Hot tears prick my own eyes; the harsh sound of my sobs and my new found friends' tortured screams become too much to bear. My hands grip my ears, drag through my hair, scratch at my skin. Why won't it end? Why can't I just die now? Why can't I make the noise stop? It needs to stop. Everything needs to stop. Everything needs to stop. Everything needs to-

"Adrian! Adrian, stop, you're screaming!"I wake up, gasping as though I'm drowning. Maisie kneels beside me, her expression one of concern. Putting a hand to my forehead, I feel some curls damp with sweat.

"Lela! Is she okay? Where is she?" Maisie hushes me and tells me she's getting looked after by Riaja. A sense of relief washes over me - until I suddenly remember that some of my dream was real after all. "How- How many people are dead?"

I've never seen a person's face change so fast. My friend's eyes, usually so bright and lively, fall to the floor. She sighs deeply and that's when I know it isn't good news.

"We don't know how many exactly, but we're missing a lot of people. I've been told that a lot of them had been training to fight, so that's why they went out first. It's just so horrible," Her voice, already thick with emotion, cracks mid-sentence. "But..... it's what they would have wanted. Hopefully. We were all fighting for the same thing."

"It's our fault. We shouldn't brought all of you into this." I say, not completely reassured by her words.

"Adrian, it's not your fault. We all knew what might happen and it has. That's all there is to it."

"But if we had just stayed in the hospital-"

"You want to know what would've happened if you'd just stayed put? You'd be dead. Or worse, you'd be living the rest of your life being tested on. If you had stayed, I would still be there too and we'd be sharing the same fate. You act like you have the world on your shoulders; you act like you're doomed to make the same choices over and over again. Maybe you do, after this, who knows what's going to happen to us. But Adrian, you're not alone. Not any more. Whatever the future holds for us all, we're going to stick together through it. That's a promise." And with that, she lets go of my hand and goes off to tend to some kids elsewhere.

Watching the scenery roll by through the window, Maisie's words are on a loop in my mind. I'm struggling with comprehending what just happened to us not three hours ago. From what I've heard we seemed to have lost them and are now nearing what appears to be a deserted seaside town. There are some younger kids pressed up against the windows, trying to get a glimpse of the sea. I have to admit, when I finally see it I'm astounded. How could anything be so clear and blue and beautiful? The coast is adorned with golden sand, the kind I've only ever seen in pictures. I'm overcome with a sudden feeling of gladness, that it might have been worth leaving the hospital just to get a view like this before I die.

"Pretty impressive, huh? Can you imagine, I used to wake up to this every day." Will seats himself next to me, gazing at the view longingly.

"You used to live by the sea?" I ask him, surprised. Will and I haven't had much time for conversation recently. Will opens his mouth, but Drew - listening in, as per usual - laughs.

"Adrian, I'm shocked. He used to live here, at least that's what I'm told."

"I see you're omniscient as always, O Wise Andrew." Will grins slightly, but he doesn't take his eyes off the little abandoned cottages.

"No, just good at getting people to talk." He gives us a wink and wanders off to plague little Peri, who I realise I haven't seen in quite some time but appears to be just as cheerful as she usually is.

I turn back to Will, curious. "So what happened here? Where did everyone go?"

He sighs heavily, momentarily ungluing his eyes from the window. "They're dead, or they've been evacuated long ago. There was a huge outbreak of the disease, and people were dropping like flies left and right," Will pauses for a moment, and I can almost predict what he's about to say. "Along with my family. I must've got the immune gene from my dad, but we'll never know since he cleared off years ago."

"I'm... I'm so sorry. How did you get away?"

"Some government-types came to take everyone to safety. It was a bit late by then, there were less than half of the village left by the time they came to the rescue. Too late for my mum. Too late for my sisters. So they tracked down some long-lost uncle and aunt to take me in; they didn't like me much there. They got rid of me pretty sharpish. I went to some foster family on the other side of the country, at least until they got sick of me. So I pushed off," He says fiercely, as if trying to defend his actions. He's talking faster and faster now as he recounts his tale. "I had some money - earned it myself, thank you very much. I caught some trains and found some kids in the woods. A tall mixed-raced girl, her little sister and her friend. Said they were getting food to bring home - to their 'family', I remember Peri saying before Josephine hushed her - and they asked if I wanted to come with them for dinner. I've been with them ever since."

"Were you happy? After you left and joined up with the others?"

"As happy as you can be running from the law."

Will re-assumes his position of staring out of the window, despite the fact that we've left the town now; he doesn't seem to want to talk much after that. There's the usual low hum of conversation, but everything seems a bit hazy and eerily quiet. So I sit amongst my own buzzing thoughts, reflecting on Will's story and wondering what it must be like to be Gemma, picking up stray children and having to constantly be in charge. I resolve to talk to people more - who knows, at this point in everyone's lives we could get to know each other a little better.