Journey in the Aftermath

Chapter 7: Put Some Ice On It

This chapter is told by the POV of Steven

"FUCK!!" BOOM!! Devin screams as lightning hits the ground a few yards away from where me and Jessica are taking shelter. Devin is tied down to a chair and his arms are propped up. Beth is using wraps, made by Jessica from useless clothes that we found in a cabin while looking for shelter, to treat Devin's arm wounds.

She started doing the wraps in the cabin while me and Jessica were looking for a shack or something that would be near the cabin. On our way back lightning struck the top of the cabin and tore the roof to shreds. Jessica doesn't know this but we are heading back to the city after we fix up Devin. I read it in his mind. He's been the one leading us but hasn't told us where we are headed. That's fine. He has his secrets and me and Jessica have ours. Like the fact that she is somehow from the future. BOOM!!

"Will you hold still already!" Beth shouts at Devin who keeps squirming whenever the cloth touches his skin, or at least what's left of it on his arms.

"Steven, did you hear that?" Jessica says next to me

"Hear what?" I reply looking at her confused. BOOM!!

We're almost there, I'm coming Devin. What the shit?? Whose thoughts are those??

"Levi this way!" A voice I don't recognize shouts behind us somewhere in the trees

"Steven get ready!" Jessica yells as four strangers come bursting out of the trees "It's the friends of the asshole siblings! They came back for us!"

"Jessica stop! They know Devin!!"  I yell and step towards the people

Did he just say Devin? Wait a second, is that...?

"ANTONIO!!!" I scream and run forward

"STEVEN!!!" Antonio screams and runs forward as well

"FUCKING GOD DAMNIT!!!!" Devin screams in pain. BOOM!! A big lightning bolt strikes right between us blowing both of us back a good distance

"Devin!! What happened to you?!" Antonio shouts over to Devin. He just looks over at Antonio and pukes from the pain he's in

"You big baby" Beth says winking at him

"Are those wet when you put them on?" one of the boys Antonio is traveling with asks Beth

"Yes, I thought it would sooth it, but it didn't at all" she replies

"Ok, well my name is Forest. We are friends of Antonio's, and I'm guessing you guys are too, so it looks like we should be helping eachother out. My friend Madeline here can freeze stuff. That guy's arms are dead, you can't save them, at least not with what you're doing. I think our best bet would be to soak his arms then freeze them solid to at least preserve and protect them for as long as we can. I know a place we can take him but that can wait until later" Forest says calmly and confidently taking over the situation.

With nothing but the moonlight and occasionally Devin's lightning, we all get to work. Me and Madeline work together to gather water from a stream not too far from where Devin is. I levitate the water into the air and form them into blocks then Madeline freezes them solid so they are easier to carry considering we don't have a bucket or anything.

After getting back we have Antonio use his powers to have a bunch of tree vines wrap around the ice bricks and crush them into icy water to soak Devin's arms. Once they are soaking wet Madeline freezes the water around them encasing them in a thick layer of ice.

"So? How's it feel?" Madeline asks Devin. He looks up while just letting his arms dangle there with the ice surrounding them

"They feel heavy" he says then smiles "But they don't hurt anymore"

"Good! Thank you so much Madeline!" Beth says hugging her

"No problem Beth, you two are my friends, I'd help you out with anything. Although, where have you been? At the lab you just sort of dissapeared for quite a while until now I guess. What happened?" she asks and my head starts ringing like after a gunshot was shot right next to my ear

No. No they couldn't have. Beth is alive. But she fell. The blood. All of that blood. And the hole in her forehead. My sweet Beth is dead. I give up. I hear then look around and everybody is silent waiting for Beth's response

"She shot one of the guards so they took her away and locked her up, I found her after the explosion, she saved me" Devin says turns away from everybody. Those must have been a flashback of his I heard. So that's what happened. I'm so sorry.

"Hey guys? Not to be rude but we need to be going, the sun is coming up and the group is waiting" Levi says

"The group? More survived?!" I ask excited that my friends are ok

"Yeah man, back at camp Oliver, Kelly, Milton, and the new girl Bailey are waiting for us. Let's go" he says and turns to lead the way

"I'm not going" Devin says defiantly "I'm heading out to the city. Going to find a way to heal my arms. There has got to be some kind of medical corps there somewhere right? Some doctors or something..." he explains then opens his mouth to continue his case.

"I'm going with" I say knowing how much this means to Devin. He gives me a confused look but before he can deny it, both Madeline and Jessica perk up

"Me too!" they turn to eachother and half glare, they don't like eachother already? Really?

"Levi. The machine maniac? You think he is still there?" Forest asks his friend Levi who is standing too close to Madeline for me.

"Oh for sure! I'll take them there!" he says suddenly realizing he gets to be with Madeline some more "The machine maniac is this guy we came across before meeting you guys. He has this power that lets him see every way a machine can be built, its amazing what he can make from copper wire and a tin can. If anybody can fix your arms he can, or at least point you in the right direction. He said he was going to the city when we saw him. He might still be there"

"Alright! That's great, we can find you guys there after getting the group. I'm guessing it will take some time to get fixed up so you should head out now. If he isn't there or anything happens, we should have a meeting place right?" Antonio says then ponders places to meet

"The old fight spot. That's where to meet" Devin says and everyone agrees since everyone but the newer 5 people know it super well. We gather the small things we need then split up. I get this nervous feeling that our new journey has officially began.