Chaos

In Memoriam: Cole Patel

-In Memoriam -

-Cole-

I'd always thought my death would be heroic. Sure, I knew I probably wasn't the best poster-child for good behaviour, but I'd always known I wasn't bad.

Then again, I also thought I'd die at the ripe old age of one hundred and four, like my great-grandfather, but no, when the world literally ends, I guess you have no choice. Sure, you can pretend that, while the world is being torn apart by savage beasts that were once human, you were doing everything right and keeping everyone close to you alive. I couldn't. I didn't even see a Flesher. No, my death, of course, took place as a result to bad wounds from glass after an earthquake. Great. Honestly, that's probably the stupidest way to die besides, I don't know, tripping on your way to school and stabbing yourself in the nose with a pencil.

Back on task. I guess, like all stories, I should start at the beginning. Now, I'm not going to be telling you about my privileged childhood, or my lack of ever doing anything wrong, well that wrong. I mean at the start of that one fateful night that changed everything. The earthquake...

*

"I got it!" Brittany yells from the other room.

"Well I wasn't going to get it," I mumble to myself.

I can hear her talking to someone; probably someone from across the street. Or maybe it was someone from the town seeing as the others didn't exactly like us.

I vaguely remembered some children from here. We used to go out and play in the backyard, groom the horses and stuff.

My great-grandfather, who originally owned this house, would encourage us to interact with the animals and people who live around here. My mother had wanted nothing to do with this house.

When great-grandpa died and left the house to his eldest daughter Vivian, my mother had tried to convince my grandmother to sell it. Grandma Vivy wouldn't hear of it, and said this would always be her home. When she died, about ten years ago now, she left it to her twin daughters, my mother and Brittany's mother. Mom tired to convince her sister to sell it too but she refused. Needless to say we aren't a very tight knit family anymore. In fact, Brittany was really the only one I talked to from my family besides my parents.

I hadn't been to this house in many years. I had forgotten how beautiful this place was. I really took for granted the fact that we lived in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

"What's going on out there?" I ask, as I hear Brittany close the door. Just then, Nicole's little brother, Sam, sits down onto the couch next to me.

"What are you doing here?" I ask the kid, feeling like I was dreaming or something.

"I got dumped," the kid, Sam, mumbles. I smile.

"Me too little guy," I say, and remain watching the television, trying to pretend the kid wasn't there.

“Can we watch The Walking Dead please? It’s awesome!” he asks as I’m still flipping through channels.

“No,” I reply, skipping over said show.

“Why not!?” Sam complains.

“Because you’re like six, you’re sister would kill me if I let you watch it. Besides, it’s stupid and completely unrealistic. Like people would ever run around eating each other,” I tell him, putting on Spongebob.

I would only later come to realize how wrong I’d been.

“And Spongebob is realistic? He’s a freaking sponge!” the kid pouts. “And I’m ten, not six! And my sister and I always watch this together. So you’re point isn’t valid.”