A/N: Big plans for this chapter and the next one, too! Hope you like! Thank you 💚💚💚💚
(Zoe POV)
When I wake I see it is still dark outside. Zach is still snoring his head off as I crawl out from under neath the covers. I walked to the closet looking at all the clothes that were left. I found some dark green skinny jeans. They were the same shade as the leaves on the trees. I also grabbed a black tee shirt it was tight and showed my abs. When you work for food like I do you gain muscles. I brushed my black hair which was shoulder length. I looked in the mirror approving of how I looked.
"Where are you going?" Zach said from behind me. He had scared me so I jumped turning around.
"No where!"I said quickly. He knew that I went outside the wall. Technically it was banned, but I couldn't stand it in here. Rachel and Nikkei both knew except the one person who I really had to sneak away from was my mother. She did not approve of me going out so that is why I got up so early. Zach usually covered for me.
"So you just wanted to dress up today for no reason what so ever?" Zach questioned me. He knew me so well I couldn't lie to him. So chose to tell him only part of the truth.
"If you have to know I am just going to the sun sphere." I said grabbing my pocket knife. In the closet I saw a pair of black boots. I slipped them on.
"Your not alone up there are you? Who do you see up there Zoe? It is no one from in the wall because I know for a fact everyone stays here except you." I stared at him. God, he was smart when I didn't need him to be and dumb when I wish he wasn't.
"Yesterday I found an opossum and today Rachel is going with me. I need to get on my way good bye brother." I said then pushed past Zach. Once I was outside I sighed then started jogging down the street till I saw Rachel who stood by the tree I used to get over the wall. "You ready?" I asked her pushing my hair out of my face.
"Sure lets just go." She said. I climbed up the tree followed by Rachel she mimicked my moves. Once we jumped off the concrete slab at the bottom on the other side she started talking, "You do that everyday? Your crazy Zoe." For the next ten minutes she complained about everything! I was thankful when I saw the base of the sun sphere I began to climb up the steps. "You go ahead I will just wait down here. Don't stay to long!" Rachel called up to me.
It felt like it took forever to climb the thousands of steps up to the emergency exit. I opened the door to the viewing room. I didn't see Joseph yet so I decided to sit at one of the desks. "Good morning. You look beautiful this morning." Joseph stepped out from a doorway coming towards me. "I didn't think you would actually show up."
"Well I did. So your nineteen huh?" I said I didn't stand up so he came to me and sat on the desk.
"Yup. We went to East Wood High together. I have always been a grade ahead of you. Zoe, who is that girl down there? You can bring her up I don't mind."
"That's Rachel. She doesn't like heights so I told her she could stay down there." I stood up and started pacing the room.
"Oh? Zoe?" He stood and walked towards me. I didn't like how he kept getting closer to me. I stopped pacing so now we were standing face to face. His blue eyes started down at me.
"Yes?" I said. I was mesmerized by his eyes. I wasn't all there for a second then the next thing I know my back is pushed against the wall. Joseph kissed me. I was shocked it happened so fast. I kissed back while part of me agreed with my actions the other told me to slap Joseph and run. He stopped and rested his forehead against mine.
"Your a great kisser." He whispered.
"Thanks." I bet if anyone had seen what happened they would have called us crazy. Yeah, I only met him yesterday but I feel like I have known him forever. He started kissing me again. It felt good. I sighed into the kiss. Life was good for the moment.
(Rachel POV)
Zoe has been up there a long time. I would go check to see if she was okay but every time I looked up at the sun sphere I felt my stomach drop. I sat on the broken concrete playing in the dirt until I heard a huge crash. I jumped up. Large burst of dust filled the air. Come on Zoe we got to get back! I screamed in my head. Without thinking I started walking up the steps.
About half way up I stopped, "What am I doing!" I screamed into the wind. I looked over the railing and saw the huge gab from my feet and the safe ground. "Ah!" I grabbed the railing listening to my self conscience I climbed higher. My goal was to get to Zoe. Only a few more steps. I silently thought. I got to the top where a door said viewing room. I burst through the door to see something I never thought in a million years see. Zoe was up against the wall with a guy kissing each other like there was no tomorrow! The boy I presumed to be Joseph. Zoe opened her eyes and when she saw me she pushed Joseph back.
"Rachel! It's not what you think!" She came over to me. I was in shock partly because of what I just now saw and partly because I was up so high. My head spun and I felt dizzy this was defiantly from the heights though. "Rachel look at me! Please don't tell Zach! Do you know what he would do if he found out?!"
"How is Zach?" Joseph said. Zoe looked over her shoulder and sarcastically said, "He threw a rock at a bee, Zach is fine." I stood there dumbfounded. Why did I come up here anyway? Then it hit me. The wall...the big crash.
"Zoe, it's fine I won't tell Zach, but we got to go. There was a big crash near the wall..." I was interrupted by Zoe.
"The wall!" She ran to the window and looked out I shivered at the thought of the window breaking open and me falling through. "We have to go one of the other groups might have broke through. Joseph want to come with us? If it's nothing you can come back here."
"Sure, but we better get going." I watched Zoe walk over to an empty elevator shaft. She reached out and grabbed a rope. "We don't have to go down that do we?" I asked feeling my body turn cold.
"It's not that bad." Zoe said then the room started shaking. Uh oh! I fell to the floor watching things fall down with me. Zoe grabbed the rope and was holding on dangling over the edge. I couldn't find Joseph. "We have to. Go! Come on!" I laid there watching Zoe call for us to follow her. I watched her slide down the rope then I felt someone pick me up. Joseph had me wrapped in his arms running over to the elevator. He sat me down saying something, but everything was muffled. All I could hear was my heavy breathing. The world was a blur, but I reached my hand out to grab the rope.
"Go! Go!" A voice in the background yelled at me. I let my body fall forward holding the rope as if my life depended on it. At the moment it did if I let go I would fall to my death. I slowly inched myself down. What felt like forever latter I jumped off the end landing on the concrete ground with a thud. Zoe met me there.
"I'm so proud of you Rachel, but we have to go now!" She grabbed my hand and started to run. Everything can back to normal now that I was on the ground. I saw how everything was shaking violently. My legs acted like jelly shaking while trying to move forward. Zoe dragged me behind her. We got to the wall only a few minutes later. Everything was still now. Joseph came up behind us panting.
"The wall." Zoe said. It was no longer a wall only a pile of junk and ruins. It hadn't been an attacking group like we thought it was. An earthquake had completely destroyed the street. Tears burned in my eyes then his name caught in my throat. No. No. No! Where was he?!
I scrambled up the pile of junk that used to be our protection into the street. "Christopher! Chris! Where are you? Christopher!" My fourteen year old brother didn't respond. I saw what used to be the house we stayed in. It was just the two of us since both of our parents died. The house was broken and parts were falling apart. He wouldn't have stayed in there if it were falling I reassured myself. My legs started running towards the broken house.
