Sinister (Lethal Fear: Book One)

15 - Museum

The next morning, we packed up camp and started a hike up to the city ruins. 

In school, we had learned that the region of our station was what used to be Manhattan, New York. However, will all the vegatation, the city was unrecognizable. 

We all moved slowly down the half-covered street, watching with awe at the old civilization before us. My worries went away for a moment as I tried to picture how this whole catastrophe happened. How the Sixth had taken down countries, armies and families. How the Sixth had taken down the whole culture of humanity.

"Its beautiful isn;t it?" 

I looked to see Ms, Newton walking beside me, her stake in her hand, but her grip on it was loose. I decided I wouldn't be talking to Ms. Newton. She and the group had abandoned us on the attack of Elena. They had left us all for dead.

She peered at me from her long hair. "Alina, honey, whats wrong?"

I crossed my arms and looked towards the decaying buildings. Nothing like that had been built in any of the stations.

"Is that about David?"

"Yes." I said.

"Its hard to do, y'know."

I rolled my eyes. "To leave someone dead. To not even help someone when they need help. We could have taken her down."

Actually I'm sure Elena would have just retreated.

"Its Hunter policy and as much as we hate it," She sighed. "It can't be changed and I'm deeply sorry for that."

I couldn't bear to imagine the look on Lexi's face when she realized he wasn't coming home. That he would not ever come home. However, I knew for certain that it shouldn't have to be some charity government service. It would have to be me to break the news.

"I'm sorry, Alina, but I have to ask...."

"What?"

"That Sixth.....she had so much.....resemblance," Ms. Newton was looking down at the ground, shaking her head. "This goes against everything I've been taught as a child but she looked so much like your mother."

"She is." I decided showing my pain was inevitable. Everyone had some kind of loss. Staying strong about it didn't matter anymore.

Ms.Newton, to my surprise, laughed. "No, Alina. Sixth don't reproduce."

"Then why do we have so many?" I realized how angry I sounded at that moment. "With all the Sixth we've killed so far, why are we still hiding under dirt?"

"I-I-I don't know." She stammered. The teacher looked stunned and clueless.

I didn't try to clarify anything for her instead I moved up in the line.

Our destination was here. 

An old rustic white mansion. It almost looked like the old White House from Washington D.C. or was it Conneticut? I wasn't good with cities.

I'm sure it had once looked beautiful but now it was being consumed by Mother Nature. Vines had grown, grabbing the top of the marble stoned roof. Cherry Trees had blocked the entrance and possibly the exit. A few animals lingered around this place, almost as if it were a safe haven.

"This was once the most grandest musuem in this part of town," Ms. Newton began her rehearsed history backstory. "It held all the secrets and history of past civilization. To us? Its just a place to get cherries."

Cherry Mansion is what I decided to call it.

We moved on towards the entrance, pushing cherry trees out our way. Well, for Dylan, it was more like cutting them out of his way with a large pocket knife.