Looking Back

Chapter 1: 2 Years Later

     I woke up screaming from yet another nightmare that was all too real. It was as If It was all still happening and It never ended the day I lost everything and everyone.

      I calmed myself down and got up for a glass of water. I walked to my kitchen in my little apartment,  got myself some water and sat down at the table. I sighed as I took a sip of some water and just sat there In the kitchen, alone in silence at 5:34 am.

      I stayed like that until my phone rang and that's when I got up from my silence and answered the phone. " Hello?" I was still groggy since I barely woke up a few moments ago. " Hey, Snow, It's me Aaron, can I come over? Please?" Suddenly I was completely awake. " Aaron? Are you alright? Is everything okay?" I was suddenly very worried because this was the same question Max asked me 2 years ago today. 2 years ago, when I lost everyone. My family, my friends, my home, everything. I was hoping to spend today morning everyone I lost during the day. Then when night fell I would be relentlessly trying to find the person responsible for all the destruction and deaths.

     He must have noticed my worries and responded quickly," No, nothing's wrong. I just want to talk to you, please." I sighed. " You know we can always talk anytime since you literally live across the hall from me and we both live in the same apartment building. But can whatever you want to talk about wait until the sun's up? I mean It's literally 5:37 am."

     As If to prove my point I yawned. " I know, but this can't wait. Please? " I groaned In annoyance and gave In. " Fine. You can come over. I'm surprised you're not already at the door." That's when I heard Aaron give an awkward laugh, " Um, yeah, about that..." I didn't even let him finish his sentence as I walked over to the door " Unbelievable" When I got to the door I unlocked It and opened it only to find a pair of brown eyes starring at me in surprise. I hung up the phone that was still In my hands and leaned on my door frame as I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him.

     " You were already at my door? Was the phone call really necessary then?" I whispered in annoyance trying not to wake up anyone in my apartment building. He gave me a sheepish smile in reply. " Well, where's the fun In that?" I basically sent him a death glare in response and pulled him inside and closed the door. Then after I locked the door I turned back to Aaron. " You know how I feel about today. It's been 2 years and It still hurts like hell." I said as seriously as I could. His eyes filled with guilt as he realized what day It was. " I'm sorry I forgot and now I feel like a total idiot for what I wanted to ask you." He said as he looked at the ground in shame.

       " What did you want to ask me?" I asked as I sat down on my sofa. I saw him take a breath as he looked back up at me. " I was going to ask you about that day." Suddenly It was like the whole world stopped dead in it's tracks. It was so quiet I'm sure that you could hear everyone from the building as they were sleeping in their own rooms. So quiet you could hear my train of thought come to a complete stop. " What?" I croaked. " I'm sorry. I should've known that was way too personal to ask, I should just go." He turned to leave, but I stopped him. " Wait" He froze in mid step as I walked in front of him and said, " Do you want to know everything that happened that day?" I could tell he was hesitant to answer because he thought this was too personal. Finally he responded, " Y-Yes, I mean If you want to, you don't have to." I smiled at his response because he knew how much today upsets me and he didn't want to make me feel any worse than I already did. It's been 2 years and all I've been doing is bottling up all the pain and sorrow I went through today 2 years ago, I always knew someday  I would have to tell my untold story to someone and telling someone close is better than telling a total stranger.

       I motioned for him to sit down on the other side of the sofa with me. "Come on, you might want to get comfortable because this could take a while." Aaron got the hint and sat down and when I faced him I could see his eyes filled with curiosity.

      He gave me his full attention and I wasn't surprised since he has always wondered where the heck I came from, ever since the day he found me unconscious 2 years ago about 3 days after I ran from whatever was left of my home and I was already about a whole 190 miles away from my home. By that time the motorcycle I had hot wired had run out of fuel and I couldn't stay conscious anymore, so that's when I blacked out from blood loss. That's when I woke up In a hospital bed, hooked up to an I.V. and found myself looking at a pair of brown eyes. Turns out Aaron was driving out to meet his cousin at the gas station I happened to pass out at and he took one look at me and thought I was dead. He told his cousin to call 911 while he brought me inside the gas station, checked my pulse and was glad to know I was alive, but at the same time curious to know how I ended up like that. 

     Needless to say, I never told him what happened exactly, I only told him enough to where he would stop asking. Aaron felt sorry for me since I had nowhere to go so he found a room for rent at his apartment building, payed for the first 2 months and helped me find a job so I could keep the place. I am so grateful to him for everything he did for me, a complete and total stranger. To this day I still don't know why he did what he did for me, so I think that It's only fair I tell him what happened that day.

    I took a deep breath and looked Aaron straight in the eyes and said, " Okay, so If I'm going to tell this story right I have to start from the beginning."