Ashes Of Angeline

Part IV

            You walked on the sidewalk. I couldn't be sure if it was out of habit, or if there was or wasn't a reason for you to walk here, but there was comfort in walking on the sidewalk like I had so many other days in my life. I used to have it memorized; knowing the familiar cracks in it that I would skip over as a child. Alas, like many other things over these past few months, the sidewalk had changed as well.

            Billions of new cracks had spawned through the tough stone, making it impossible to avoid stepping on the pavement's scars. In some parts, the sidewalk would be broken upward while others would slope down ungracefully. The earthquake played the sidewalk like an accordion it seemed, leaving it bent and difficult to navigate.

            Yet the three of you seemed to be acquainted with walking this way, moving with ease through the rubble. Dem and Noah walked ahead, linked together by their hands. Judging by appearance, none of you were siblings.

            Dem's features were too sharp, her body tall yet curvy, her complexion ashen and her hair dark. Noah on the other hand, had warm honey toned skin and was short for his age, which by my guess was around seven or eight. Your golden locks of hair, stormy gray eyes, and broad shouldered form did not fit in either. The three of you were quite the assortment, and although you all seemed to care about each other like family, the idea that any of you could be related simply did not fit.

            Absently, you kicked at a piece of rubble. You followed it's path down the street, kicking it only a few feet ahead of you each time. I tried to keep up with you as best as I could, swerving around obstacles and uneven patches of pavement. Eventually the stone you had been kicking fell into a crevice and you sighed quietly, pausing to glance over your shoulder to the way we had just come.

            I watched the fog roll lazily over the city's skyscrapers in the distance. It was thick, and resembled a snake the way it coiled around the glass buildings. Looking back at the city was tempting, the view I knew so well being engulfed by the mysterious wall of fog made my stomach twist. My mind tried to capture the image, worried that I would never get to see the city again.

            Your lips puckered sourly ever so slightly at the scene, your eyes analyzing the murky haze from a distance. Dem was helping Noah climb over a tree that had fallen over the sidewalk, and your strides became long and more purposeful as you approached them. “Are you sure we should stay another night here Dem?” You asked, trying to meet her eyes as she pulled herself over the large tree's fallen trunk.

            “Logan, they estimated the fog wouldn't meet camp until midday tomorrow, calm down.” She said, scowling playfully from the opposite side of the tree, her hand clasped in Noah's. “Besides.” She added, leaning across the wide tree to whisper in your ear. “I'm not sure if the kid can walk much longer.”

            You pulled away from her then, you lip tugged somewhat downward. “I could carry him just fine.” I watched as a light blush materialized over Noah's caramel cheeks and his dark eyes glanced away. “Besides, aren't you tired of running from it day by day? Sure, we get a break once and a while but we'll just have to pack up and move on soon enough. Don't you want to get ahead of it?” Your eyes let Dem and I peek into the war between feeling eager and feeling hopeless that was raging within you; a gleam in your eyes one moment that shifted to a dull gray the next.

            “It'll follow us wherever we go Logan! I know you're no social butterfly but I'd rather stay with everybody at the camp and keep moving instead of running away the rest of my life.” Her eyes glared at you, yet it managed to look exhausting. Perhaps this wasn't the first time this argument had occurred between the two of you.