Immunity

Immunity - Chapter Four

    Tanner Richards was a geeky kind of guy. His fascination in words, in the stars, in the world, made me have a fascination in him. He was never a quiet person, always boasting on the next thing that was discovered. If there was a new star in the sky I didn’t know about, he’d be the one to point it out to me. He’d single it out of every other millions of stars there were as if that very star was special. That it was different than all the others.

    He did that to me too. Single me out of every other person in the room and we’d talk as if we were the only ones there, as if we were in our own little world that was revolving around that particular star that would one day become a sun. Those blue little eyes of his would light up with excitement and passion, his smile sending a thousand watts to my heart.

    But now I would never hear his voice that was full of facts and wittiness, never would I hear his laugh again, never would I know whether or not if our star was gone. If it was dimming like my will to live, dying like he had as I did nothing to prevent it. If it isn’t then I wish upon it. Wishing for him to come back to me because he would know exactly what to do in my situation, know exactly how to protect us, protect me.

    And oh boy did I need protecting, I was alone and living. That was the worst part. Living with the guilt of knowing I could’ve done something so that he could still be here. It was worse than dying, I haven’t been this alone in so long, even if I did have my brother and sister.

    Here I was; wallowing in self pity when I didn’t deserve to because, I, against the odds had survived out of seven billion people. Seven billion, it sounds like such a hollow number. Now that I think about it isn’t even a lot compared to what I thought it would feel like. It sounds like baggage, something you have to carry around with you like I carry the reprimanding disgust and guilt with myself.

    Was Tanner just seven billion? No, no he wasn’t. He was his own billion, his own infinite, his own galaxy of stars in which he carried me part of. Dead to a single bullet of a single weapon that a single man carried. Dead because I, the coward, relished in fear and selfishness, couldn’t have- no didn’t have the balls to even try to protect him. He would’ve helped me because that’s what Tanner would do, push aside his fear and jump out behind that damn window and tried to protect me. So why couldn’t I have?

    But now I would. I would go back in time and save him, try to save his whole damn family while I was at it too if I could. But now? Now, it was too late and I couldn’t save Tanner Richards and I would just have to accept that cruel mistake and move on. But the thing was, I couldn’t move at all.

    My eyes opened in shock and I tried to sit up, taking in my surroundings. We were inside my house and I was on the couch, my leg covered in gauze which was wrapped messily, a pretty dark haired girl my age sitting next to me. She stared at me curiously, a bandage wrapped around her own arm where I could see blood seep through.

    An alarm went off in my head and I looked around vigorously, like a prey escaping from a predator. Which in this event should not occur, seeing that this was my house and she was merely a stranger, an enemy perhaps? I avert my eyes to the ground and I pick up the Winchester and raise it to my chest, my veins drowning in adrenaline and nerves.

    “Who are you?” I ask steadily watching as her eyes widen. And I hope that she doesn’t see the uncertainty in my eyes, the fear, the desperation. I didn’t want to kill someone twice in a day but if I had to then I had to, oh well. Unless she isn’t going to kill me herself. But she had her chance, if she wanted to kill me she would’ve done so already. But still, I hold my gun up.

    “Someone who just saved your life.” The pretty girl says with a scoff and I grimace at her, putting the safety mode off.

    “Well I saved yours so I suppose we’re even.” I retort sickly sweet, she narrows her eyes at me and then to the rifle.