What's Out There?

Chapter 28

Clay's POV

I woke up with grogginess in my throat and soreness in my neck.
I was still in our spot.
My back against the trunk of a tree.
My body nested in between two roots.
I get up. My body is stiff from sleeping sitting up.
The sun is bright, stinging against my eyes.
I make my way back to my apartment to clean myself up some.
I was still in the clothes from our date.
Once I'm inside, I close the door behind me. I throw my shoes on the floor right next to the door. I take off my shirt in a swift, quick motion and throw it into my hamper. I do the same with my pants.
Then I go start the shower water, so it can heat up.
Finally I throw my underwear into the hamper and grab a towel and hang it up.
I hop in the shower. As I let the water run over me, all I can think about is Sarah and what she would be doing right now, if...
After about 10 minutes, I get out of the shower and grab the towel.
Quickly, I dry my short hair and wrap the towel around my waist. I walk into my room and grab some clothes that I quickly throw on.
I grab my phone off of my bed, which is where I threw it trying before my shower.
I press the home button and I see my lock screen. A picture of Sarah. She is smiling. I remember the day I took this photo.
We were in our spot after school one day, and the air was slightly warm. There was this cool breeze that swept through the entire area. Her hair was blowing everywhere, so I took a picture of her.
The photo captured her in the middle of a laugh.
I didn't even unlock my phone before it slipped through my hands.
There were no more tears just the sadness lurking within me.

I checked my alarm clock for the time. It read 12:56 pm.
I missed lunch. But I wasn't even hungry.

I walked out of my apartment, out into the hall, and shut the door behind me.
I look across the hall and see Fern's door closed. She probably isn't even home. I think.
I keep walking, my body automatically turning at the corner, when I collide with Fern. She was also turning the corner.
"Sorry," I apologized.
"It's fine. You know I was going to come see how you were doing before I went inside," Fern said, "Do you want to come in?"
I looked at Fern for a second before I spoke, but it was long enough to notice that her cheeks were stained with tears.
"No thanks," I say, "You've been crying."
She quickly wiped her cheeks and said, "Yeah."
There was an awkward silence which she broke by asking, "How are you doing?"
"Fine, I guess," I reply. What is right under the surface, but wasn't spoken, Terrible. It's awful. I can't live without her.
"You're not fine," Fern replied, "I can tell."
"I'm going for a walk," I said ignoring what she said.
"I'll come with you," Fern offered.
"Alone," I added.
I walked out before she could say anything else. I kept on walking.  I reached the edge of the compound. And I kept on going.
I scoured my way through the woods. I knew where I was going.
After a short while, I reached the edge of the village. I looked around the village for anyone around and saw no one.
I walked in and towards my old home.
The front door opened with a creak and I walked in, shutting the door behind me.
I knew no one lived here. My mom died shortly after I was born, and my dad died of disease in the compound.
I thought I would feel more comfort with being in my old home, but the sadness still remained. I sat down on my old bed and stayed there daydreaming off into no where.

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I was in pitch black darkness. I could feel the floor beneath my feet, yet I could not even see my own hand in front of me.
I searched all around me for light, color, or anything but black darkness.
I couldn't walk. I was glued to the one spot that I was standing in.
After a while, I had pretty much given up on trying to find something.
Until I saw a face forming out of the darkness.
It was Sarah. I realized she was crying.
I tried to ask her what was wrong, but no words came out.
She wouldn't move towards me. She just sat there in the darkness crying her eyes out. She was luminous against the dark that surrounded her.
She just sat there whimpering and sobbing. And all I could do was stand there and watch.

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When I came back to reality, tears had stained my cheeks. I quickly wiped them off.
I had no idea what time is was, but I knew it was much later. The sky was slowly turning darker.
Before leaving the house, I went into my parent's old room. There was a photograph of my mom and dad. They looked so young in the photo. My mom had a very small baby bump starting to show.
I held on to the photo. It was going back with me to the compound.
I glanced outside and once again saw no one. I quickly made it into the woods and made my way back to the compound.

When I got there, I headed straight for my apartment. I entered the building and walked to my apartment.
I noticed Fern's apartment was open, so I closed it for her. She probably wasn't home and just forgot.
I walked into my apartment and placed the photo down on my nightstand, placing it over my phone. Which had many concerned messages from Fern and the others.
I lay down in bed and drift off into deep dark sleep. The kind of sleep with no dreams. The dark good sleep.