The War of the Elements

Revelations

(No new disclaimers but thanks to you who have read my story!)

The road leading from my hometown of Chester, to the City, is one of the best kept roads in all of the United States. That doesn't mean its good, jut better than a rock quarry. A fact that Lila, Brock and I quickly learned on our mad dash out of Chester.

We tripped and stumbled every few feet but we kept on running anyway. Anything to get away from the fact that our hometown, the only home we ever knew...was gone.

We had been running for what felt like hour before, as one Brock, Lila, and I collapsed in exhaustion. As we laid there under the harsh summer sun, I felt a sharp pain in my side. Choosing to ignore it as a stitch I just stared into the sky. My vision slowly started to fade to black, with the pain still in my side.

Lila POV

It hadn't quite clicked with me yet that my home was gone. Its really all a blur, though mortal terror can do that to a girl.

We had been staring up at the sky for awhile without saying anything, so I decided to role over to look at my new travelling companions.

The first person I saw was Brock. His black, short cut hair had little beads of sweat lining the tips. His deep tan making him look darker than he really was. His tall form was bent over something on the cracked and pitted pavement from about 400 years ago. His bony arms were surprisingly strong, (a badly placed bet on who would win an arm wrestling contest proves that much), and his extremely muscled calves were hidden with a beat up pair of jeans.

Brock didn't notice my stare as he was too transfixed with waking up Jim.
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"WHAT HAPPENED TO JIM!" I roared, though my hoarse voice killed the effect.
"I don't know he just passed out," he replied,"I'm trying to wake him up but he's solidly asleep."

I looked down at him trying to see what was wrong. His mousse brown hair was still as naturally curly as it had been before, albeit caked in sweat and dirt. His t shirt was ripped in places, (a fact that didn't go unnoticed, as I had a slight blush), and his face looked as beau- I mean normal, as usual.

Seeing nothing wrong there I continued looking down his torso, I didn't see anything unusual, until I turned him over and saw a six inch shard of glass sticking out of his side. It was absolutely drenched in blood.

And because of this fact, my body decided to promptly faint.

Brock POV

I heard a light thump and looked over at Lila to see her passed out as well. Naturally I did the only thing I could I picked her up and checked her for any signs of harm. After finding nothing, I went back over to Jim and found him turned on his side, a six inch shard of glass stuck in his side.

No wonder Lila fainted, she can't stand the sight of blood, and jesus was there a lot of blood.

I strode over to Jim and examined the wound in his side. It was pretty bad, the blood was running out in worrying amounts. I used my handy bottle of anti-septic that I keep with me everywhere, after Jim nearly died of an infection in his arm a couple years ago. I cut some of Jim's shirt into bandages, smirking slightly at how Lila would react to my best friends exposed torso. I slowly and meticulously took out the shard. Luckily it wasn't barbed. I dipped a bandage into the alcohol and cleaned the wound. Then I used the cleanest parts of hid shirt as a bandage. I tied it all up in a neat little knot to keep it in place.

I stepped back and took a look at Jim. He looked a little pale from blood loss, but otherwise he seemed perfectly a-okay. I smirked as I had an idea. I took Jim and Lila, sat them up against a tree and laid her head in his lap.

It's so obvious that EVERYONE knows, or rather knew, that they loved each other. They're both so oblivious it's one part hilarious and one part frustrating as hell. I can certainly see what Jim sees in her. She is downright gorgeous with her short dark brown hair, her green eyes, and her stunning I'm-gonna-kill-you-never-mind-I-love-you attitude. Though don't get me wrong I don't like her as more than a friend.

I suddenly felt very drowsy and only had enough time to stumble off next the tree, lean my body against it before I was solidly asleep.

-_*_-

Jim's POV

I woke up feeling a weight on my thigh and a stabbing pain in my side. I addressed the pain in my side first. The bandage that was wrapped around my side I assume was placed by Brock. He was the only one of us trained in first aid.

I looked down to see a curtain of dark brown hair covering my lap. My face flushed a light pink, when I realized who was using my thigh as a pillow. I looked down at her lovingly and unconsciously stroked her dark locks. God I've fallen hard for this girl.

Rather reluctantly I laid her back onto the ground, and painfully got up. Once I was solidly on my feet I looked around at my surroundings. The cracked and pitted pavement beneath my feet was a very light gray color from age. The grass on the edges of the road, was yellowed and course. I had heard legends of the grass being a lush green and the land being beautiful, but those days were long gone. The sky was a dismal mustard color from the leftover radiation, and the clouds were an ugly brownish gray color. The tree we were leaning against was gray with age and the leaves were a hideous milky white. They stood out in the surrounding are for their bright color in an otherwise yellow and brown, dead environment.

A presence made itself known by a small cough. I turned around to see Lila standing there with an upset expression. She made her way next to me and stared off into the distance.

"What happens now? I mean our home are gone. Our family and friends dead. Our only lead is to travel towards the City, where we can be FUCKING EATEN BY GHOULS ALONG THE WAY!" She was in hysterics by the end, tears running down her face and he posture slumped.

I was no better. Tears were running down my face as the realization hit me. We were alone in a world where everything was against us. My side hurt even more with every tear.

A pair of bony yet comforting arms encircled our shoulders, and Brock in hoarse whisper told us,

"We will be okay. We may be by ourselves, but we are never alone," he said with as much conviction as a preacher during prayer,"we will make it through this because we are strong, together. As long as we are together we will survive, and I don't know about you, but I'm not leaving you guys."

So we sat there, our sobs subsiding, and our courage rising, until we stood up and looked in the direction of the City.

"Watch out Ghouls. We are men and women on a mission, and we are strong" I said while staring out towards the road, my arms wrapped around my only family left in the world that mattered.

(This concludes the second part of War of the Elements. Thanks to all of you who have read the story! Any constructive criticism is very much appreciated to improve my writing.)