Isolation

Unstable Emotions

This woman, she's been staring at me for a few minutes, and for good reason. She asked me a question what seemed like forever ago, and now she's just awaiting my answer, except. I don't know what to say. What did she say again? Is she real? Am I dreaming or something..?

No, this isn't the time to be asking questions like that. Say something, guy! C'mon!

"H-Hi.." I choked out, I was clearly cringing from my response, my voice cracked and I had sweat practically covering my face. The woman in front of me leaned back with a confused expression. "What? I asked who you are. Come on, already." She seemed to be getting pretty impatient. "It's..uh, Ryan, I g-guess.." I said with a shaky voice, looking away almost immediately, taking in deep breaths and exhaling hard. "Ryan? Nice to meet you, my name is Ann." She responded, reached out to shake hands. I looked back at her then took it, shaking it.

The feeling I got from even communicating with another being was like a holy blanket wrapping around me in it's warmth, I hadn't had this in so long. "Ryan..?" A voice rung out, I came to and the person looked uncomfortable, probably because I've been holding onto her hand. Quickly, I let it go then sat back straight. "U-Uh, yes..?" I responded to which she just sighed lightly. "...You're crying."

...What? Hah, no, that's..I've never cried in my life, ever. In disbelief, I brought a finger up to my face, low and behold, it was wet. I rubbed my eyes, the source of this wet feeling. I was crying. I simply laughed a bit, blinking a lot often to get the tears out as I held my face with one hand. "O-Oh..So I am..W-Whaddya' know..?" I closed my eyes and exhaled again, my breath was shaky, unstable. "Are you okay?" She asked, watching the scene with worry in those green eyes. I nodded my head and looked at her, my eyes probably a bit red from the crying. "Yeah..I just, haven't seen another human being, another soul, in...2 months."

Ann's eyes widened at the hearing of this, then away. "Two months...? That's, a long time.." She then looked back down at the table. "It's understandable why you're acting the way you are now then." I noticed something... "If I've..been alone for two months, haven't you went through the same thing?" I asked, she looked like I was telling a really bad joke, then shook her head. "No, I wasn't alone. But I was still by myself anyway."

"What do you mean..?"

"When this whole thing happened, I woke up, found no one in my neighborhood. So, I went out to look for others. Almost immediately, I saw a group of nine people. They were going through the same thing, we all took care of one another, until..." She looked gloomy suddenly, like the light from her eyes were suddenly drained. "...Until, one of the people. Namely, Richard, couldn't handle it anymore. He couldn't handle being left in some deserted town with 9 other people he didn't know. He lost his mind and...we had to drive him out some where else in the city." She took in a light breath then continued.

"...Even after that, those people couldn't really control themselves. It was a fight for who would be the 'leader'. That was a large fight that resulted in a second person leaving. Not sure where she went off to.. After that event, all of us agreed to not discuss that matter." She leaned back a bit, taking a moments rest. "...That all happened...within the course of...two months?" I asked shortly after. This is where things got weird. She opened her eyes and looked back at me, as if I was crazy. "..No, two weeks."

I stopped completely.

Two weeks?

She woke up two weeks ago?

But I was...

Two months, without people.

How could this...be?

"...yan..."

"Ryan..."

"RYAN!"

I was immediately snapped out of it, my breathing was incredibly heavy and I was on my knees, on the ground. I looked up to see Ann, who looked incredibly worried. I looked back down at the floor, seeing a small puddle of tears. "...W-Wha.." She gently stroked my back while exhaling. "You..you lost yourself for a second there." She said quietly. "Y-Yeah...Is it...A matter of waking up?" I asked her, and she just stared back at me. "I don't know." She responded. I looked back to the ground, closing my eyes then standing up. "Hey, Ann?" I asked, my head pointed upwards, looking through the ceiling window and out into the sky, where I imagine birds fluttering by. "Yes, Ryan?"

"...I..I can't stand it.." I felt more tears trailing my cheeks as I spoke. I looked to her with a bit of relief in my smile. "I can't stand being alone any more...C-Can you..take me back with you? To, y'know...your 'group'?" I asked. When I realized she wasn't looking at me, but rather, something else. I turned the other direction, seeing a very skinny person, skin that was covered in dirt and other things I couldn't make out. He was wearing a grey hoodie and black track pants though.

I know this person

Is the last thought I had before he leaped at me.