The Peripheral Girl (Editing)

Chapter 23

The trip to Enzo's old Community was an uneventful one.  Because I was stuck in the bed of the truck with him and Madi with a tarp over us, the view was limited, and Madi made sure that I did not poke my head out and get us discovered.  I then hoped to just get some sleep considering that I never really got any last night.  After Enzo had fallen asleep , I stayed up reading for a few more hours; I had never realized that reading could be so fun.  Though it was embarrassing that I woke up to Madi standing over me and Enzo sleeping in my bed this morning this morning...

The truck jostled over a large bump, almost causing Madi to lose her breakfast.  I felt it veer off to the right, then slowly come to a stop.  The doors opened and shut and footsteps near the bed of the truck.

"You go on ahead," Clovis called over to Mark.  "I'll fill us up on gas now."

"You got it," Mark said, his footsteps crunching underneath the rocks as he walked away.  

Clovis pulled the tarp back and grinned.  "Is everyone okay?"

"I really hate cars," Madi mumbled as Clovis helped her out.  I clambered out and was eager to be back on solid ground and  Enzo climbed out after me, his face ashen.  He had been silent for most of the trip.  

"So what's the plan?" Madi asked.

I looked to Enzo.  "I guess we start at the place where they kept the other person like me?" He nodded slightly, averting his eyes.

"Okay," Clovis said.  "Enzo can take you there, Madi and I can kept on the lookout for Mark.  We'll want to make sure that you guys are back in the truck before he's done looking for supplies."

"Got it.  Ready?"  I asked Enzo.

He took in a deep breath.  "Yeah."

The truck was parked just outside the inner walls of the Community.  It was a bit different from mine in that fields lay in between two walls; the outer wall was thick stone, mirroring the inner wall.  Inside the inner wall there were dozens of brown buildings, ugly and sitting low to the ground.  They were mapped out evenly, like on a grid and there wasn't a tree in sight.  Doors and windows were open or smashed in with belongings strewn about.  Everything was so... empty. And lifeless.

"It's..." I fumbled for the right words.  The sight of everything left me unsettled.

"-Like a prison?" Enzo finished.  His gaze was stuck firmly on the ground.  

"What happened with all the bodies?" I asked quietly, afraid to know the answer.  Enzo shrugged.

"People started dying so quickly, they resorted to burning the bodies, rather than burying them."

"Oh..." My stomach twisted in knots.  "... We should hurry, huh?"  Enzo trudged forward, leading me through the streets.  He stopped at a building that looked no different from the others.  The door hung loosely on the hinges, swaying in the breeze.  It was too dark to see inside, and I suddenly was fearful to step inside.  

Okay... I can do this.  I glanced back at Enzo.  His face had somehow grown even paler since arriving at the building.  He looked fit to throw up.

"Do you want to go with me?"  He shook his head slightly and stepped back.  "O-okay... I'll be right out."  I took a few calming breaths before stepping into the building.  

Inside was a small room, empty apart from a few broken chairs and a damaged book on the floor.  I bent down and picked it up, brushing off the dust.  It was a handmade book, with the paper carefully pieced together and sewn with a cloth cover.  I opened it up, scanning the first few pages.  The handwriting was neat and delicate.