Oblivion {n.h.}

Chapter 68.

There were tears.

Runs into the street.

Calls and hollers of joy echoing in the back of my mind.

My head felt underwater again, and every voice was distant, similarly to the way I'd heard them when I was stabbed and in pain at the front gates.

An overall feeling of relief just hung over the community like old coats.

Kaya found the cure to save the world, all she needed to do was go forth with it.

"Where do we even start?" Thomas asks Kaya intently.

"We have it in bulk, I'd say we start as soon as we can. We've already wasted enough time." She replies, running toward the lab just down the hall where we stand.

"Who's coming with me?" She calls, and I didn't raise my hand for a reason.

Neither Niall or I answer, so the older woman continues her trot to the lab and I get out of the hospital quickly, where people load up trucks inside the gates.

A surreal feeling, and I'm not totally sure what I'm seeing is actually there.

Happiness, people beaming with it. Trucks being loaded up, everyone friendly and helping out, something I hadn't seen in a while; humanity.

Most people returning in and out from the hospital in order to retrieve cases of the cure, as much as every vehicle can possibly hold; and they'll be leaving soon.

At least four vehicles all fully loaded, and the whole community stands before them, only waiting on Kaya to return out to us.

"I can't believe this." Joshua speaks from behind me, setting a hand on my shoulder softly, and I nuzzle into Niall from the front of the crowd.

Yet again, I can't tell if what happens next is real or not; only too good to be true.

"Alright we're settled." Kaya calls, and I turn my head to watch the girl run to the front of the crowd, standing before us like a leader.

And then it was revealed, the last person I'd think to be standing before me. I couldn't have ever even recognized her a few weeks ago. Now she's the girl I probably look up to the most, a female figure I dream to be like one day.

Brandy and Alex, both of the original scouters, are the only people who stand by her side up there, and the look on Kaya's face says it all; that there isn't enough up there.

"Who else is joining us in the fight for the world?" She speaks, and the words cut through the safe zone like a knife.

A nudge pushes past me quietly, and the familiar large figure catches my eye. Joshua stands up by Kaya, Thomas not far behind him.

"Are you sure about this, I already lost you once." Jackson speaks from the opposite side of the crowd, his black hair only visible to my eyes, yet I can see the stare from the ocean in his eyes on Josh, and all the man does is nod proudly.

"Danielle? Niall?" Kaya asks us, and I feel my gut wrench at the answer I'll have to give the girl, Niall squeezing my side with his palm softly.

"I have to stay." I answer her, gulping softly and looking at the ground, kicking my foot once before speaking again, "We have a family on the way."

The gasps aren't physically heard, but the loudness of the crowd's breath caught in their throats was a lot of noise.

All Kaya does is smile, her eyes reverting to the ring on my finger that I didn't even think she knew existed.

"We need at least one more body." Kaya announces, and everyone looks between each other expectantly.

One person only stepping up before us; Steven.

Suddenly my throat is the only one catching my breath, and I push my way through, slipping out of Niall's grasp and toward my friend who opens the door of a grey truck.

"Don't." Is all I can say through my gritted teeth, grabbing his shirt as one of his feet already rests on the strip step below the vehicle.

One of his hands leaves the metal and pets the side of my head softly, brushing my hair against my ear.

"I was already invisible here anyway." He says quietly, obviously not wanting the crowd to hear his words. "You'll be fine, I'll be fine, I'll be back before you know it, and everything will be okay." He smiles softly, although his eyebrows knit together in a loss of strength, the hardness of the situation showing in his eyes.

"Allison wouldn't have wanted you to go." I whisper softly, holding back the tears in my eyes that threaten to fall.

"I know," he sighs, looking at the ground in shame, "Allison's gone, and so am I now." Steven steps up into the truck and starts the engine, looking out at the crowd before him, studying their faces one by one.

"Steven–" I try desperately to stop him again, but he doesn't move his eyes away from the crowd, only speaking softly again, his last words repeating in my head over and over.

"Good luck with your family, Danielle, I can't wait to meet the little one." I let go of the metal door, stepping away from the large vehicle, my mouth agape and tears stinging my eyes now, and he shuts the door in front of me.

All I could do was scoff sadly and make my way back to Niall, trying to ignore the looks from others, Kaya finally sending everyone off, and the trucks driving away soundly.

People cheering and waving goodbye at our life savers.

Lifesavers.

Because that's what they were.

Months passed, the child in my stomach growing larger everyday along with my love for Niall. The world quiet only a few walkers here and then to worry about, but as more time passed the more I thought about the last time I'd actually seen someone get bit.

Because since Robert, no one actually had.

Steven, Josh, Kaya, Thomas, Brandy, and Alex weren't heard from. Although they had walkie-talkies strapped to their belts, they didn't use them; they didn't need to.

No matter how long Jackson and I would sit in front of one of the old things and wait for the voice of my brother's best friend to come through; it never did.

The quiet was all we had, even on the days someone was hurt on the job out getting supplies, it was still quiet.

Our silence only interrupted those few months later, as I feel about to pop, someone showed up right on our doorstep.

Maybe it was the way the doors opened or the sound of the wheels riding the sanded road, but it was the best experience of my life.

The United States of America Air Force and Navy had flown above our heads, washed up on our beach, and driven right into our home.

Saying they were sent by Kaya Myers herself, and that America was all that was left; America was taking back the world.

And as they loaded everyone onto buses, all of our supplies combined with theirs able to last us years, moving us to not only somewhere like a safe zone; somewhere that's going to be safe forever.

I realized that oblivion really WASN'T real. Because no matter how hard I tried, I remember every single person I've ever known; pre apocalypse or post, I'll remember them and never forget them until I'll be the one who has to be remembered.

And make sure that my child knows every fucking detail of every person I knew; because that's how it's supposed to be.

Anything but

O B L I V I O U S