The Only Exception

Page #1

The Only Exception

Nai's P.O.V

I quiver in fear as the ground rumbles overhead. Most of our compound is underground since the people from the government announced a worldwide lockdown. The most i can do is whimper and hold onto Gareki tighter. Mitzi is trying to comfort me which doesn't help much. Gareki wraps me tighter in his embrace as the ground rumbles again. Debris flies around and we all go into a coughing fit.

"Gareki stay with Nai I'm going to get some water." Mitzi glares at Gareki before heading to the where the water rations are. The aftershocks of the meteor hit are getting weaker but still extremely powerful. After a final shake of the earth overhead I fall asleep in Gareki's warm embrace.

Boom! Clang! Crash!

Before i know it we are heading out of a giant door that goes up. Gareki is carrying me and Mitzi is walking not far behind. Her chocolate brown eyes glaring holes into the back of Gareki's head. She doesn't like him that much, she says he's a nuisance. Mitzi is the oldest so she makes the rules but Gareki never follows them, that's why she hates him so much. Gareki and I are both sixteen while she is nineteen. As we near the big door they give us doctor masks and weird anklets that we can't take off. Gareki hesitantly puts me down as we get outside. I've never been outside except for a couple times as a child. Everything is a wreck. The only thing that might work is a half beaten T.V. We turn it on and the whole compound goes into shock at what we hear.

I go into a state of pure defeat and loss. Only some parts of Italy where we live and the nordic states survived. I fall to my knees and bury my face in my hands. My father was in the war against america and my mother and sister went to Poland to help with the wounded in the polish war. The thought I've been fearing my whole life is a reality. "Nai, your family is......no longer with us." My neighbor Kaitlyn breaks the news but not the powerful straining silence. The next thing that happens I couldn't control. My fists hit the ground and I sob and scream until my voice starts cracking. Everyone around me backs away except for Gareki and Mitzi who try to comfort and calm me. As much as I tried I just couldn't control myself. I felt as if a part of me died right on the spot. And technically it did. I wish they had never gone away. The only thing running through my mind is how much I already miss them. After an hour of screaming, crying, and hitting the ground we are hurrying back in the bunker to prepare for the five o'clock aftershock.

I awake only to find that there are tears on my face, but they aren't mine. I look up and see Gareki silently letting tears escape his eyes and fall onto me. Before I can even think my hand reaches up to carefully wipe the tears away. He grabs my hand and holds it in place on his cheek as his crying turns to sobbing. I wrap my arms around him and pull him close. This is the only time I have ever seen Gareki cry. He's strong emotionally and physically. For the most part he's usually emotionless even in the worst situations. But it seems i am the only one who can see who he really is. The amazing, lovable, kind, caring, and the emotional wreck, that is who Gareki really is. I want to cry but i have to be here for him right now, i have to be strong for him.