Blackout • NH

Chapter 42

Niall's POV

These past few days have been quiet. Nobody has spoken of the incident since. Of course Louis, Liam and Harry continue their constant banters. Keeping the mood of the group less depressing.

Ellen has became more independent. She's been making snares and traps around our campsite to catch squirrels or rabbits. Don't know where she learned it, but it's been damn helpful with what little food we've had.

We are deep in the woods, still along the river. We found an old tall fire tower hidden behind brush and thorns. It's been abandoned for over 10 years. Even the road to it is no longer existent.

We haven't made an effort to leave this place since Aiden. Marion is still giving us difficulties when we try to get up and leave. She's still in denial.

"Guys, it's getting dark out. We should all head up to the top of the tower for the night. It's too dangerous out here." I say.

Nobody says a word but they follow orders. It's been stressful. Leading a group of people and having that weight on your chest of making sure they stay alive is a lot to handle.

We all climb to the top of the tower and settle in for the night. Ellen and Marion take the small bed built into the wall of the tower. The rest of us take the few open couches and chairs. I however stay up and stare out the window into the distance.

I see the city on one side of the tower and the ocean on the other. I stared out towards the ocean, watching the waves come and go. We were able to get away from the sound waves but they can still be heard echoing off of the land.

I look down at the small sweater I hold in my hand. Still filled with her scent. I unwrap it and pull out the geode, admiring it's beauty. I watch as the light from the torch glistened off of it. It didn't last for long until I accidentally turned it and the light shines brightly into my eye. Temporarily blinding me.

I looked back out towards the shore when something caught my eye. I see a light coming from the tree tops. It's not super bright, but it's bright enough for me to see from up here. It's about 2 miles away.

"Liam, let me see your binoculars." I whisper.

"Why?"

"I think I see something."

He hands me the binoculars and I look through them, adjusting the quality of the scope. I see a small figure in the tree. It looks to be a tree house. I can see someone inside but it's still too far to make out the gender or face of this person.

"What do you see Niall?" Louis asked.

"I see a treehouse with someone in it."

"What!" Liam said.

"Yeah, they look alone though. All I can tell is that they have a small figure. Could be a child or teenager or a petite adult. Can't tell if it's a male or female though. We are too far away."

"Maybe they need help?" Ellen spoke up.

"Help?" I say.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to be out here alone with nobody to talk to." She says.

"Should we go check it out tomorrow?" Liam said.

"I'm not sure. The river and brush get more difficult to get through the farther down you look." I say.

I hand Liam the binoculars. He looked through them to get a look at the treehouse.

"Maybe we should go to them. Ellen is right. I wouldn't want to be alone in this world the way it is. Maybe if they're friendly enough, we can have them join us." Liam suggested.

"Absolutely not!" A voice speaks up.

We look and see that it was Marion. She gets up and walks towards us.

"Aiden may have put you in charge Niall but I still have a say in what goes." She says, quite rudely.

"Look Marion, we are sorry for what happened, but we have to kept moving forward and heal as we go. We miss him too but we need to keep moving. He wanted us to get to Uninhabited and find Jodie. Which is what we are going to do. I promised him we would do as he asked." I say.

"Just because you promised doesn't mean it will happen." She said.

"It will happen and I'll make sure of that. Even if I die trying, I won't stop until his wish is fulfilled." I shout angrily. Pushing past Marion and going out onto the observation deck of the tower to dwindle in my thoughts as I pull out the geode and move it around in the moonlight. Admiring it's beauty.