ᴄʀᴜᴍʙʟᴇᴅ

+2+

Morgan grabbed a towel and wiped all of the remaining dust, dirt, and grime on Michael. He finally got a better look at the innocent boy's face. A splatter of freckles went over his nose, his emerald green eyes shined in the sunlight, His thick, messy, dark hair that is constantly tangled but he always manages to make it look nice. Once he was all cleaned up, he looked into the cracked mirror and beamed, showing off his slightly crooked but ever so shiny, white teeth.

Morgan looked into the cracked mirror himself to gaze upon his own reflection. His sandy, dirty blond hair is in tangled knots, his light, tan, skin is covered in sawdust. His electric blue fierce eyes show signs of adrenaline. His teeth, not as bright as Michael's, are slightly yellow as well. He was very skinny and bony. He looked famished, but he really just recently had a very good meal of fresh bread, cheese, and grapes, that he found in an abandoned house. An apple, a water thermos, and some first aid are in his backpack. Along with other snacks and supplies. Most of his clothes are torn at the ends, but it's not the end of the world, oh wait... it is. Morgan looked over at the small boy and tried to analyze him some more.

Michael was a very small boy. He was very skinny and average, but he is very sensitive. Something triggers him into retreating when anything of anyone comes near him. From what he's seen while cleaning him up is that he was very hesitant when Morgan was reaching towards his face. And whenever the floorboards shake or the walls slightly crumble he would always jump away. He wanted to ask a few questions to get to know him.

"Hey... Michael" he tried to get the boy's attention. The child turned around and smiled at him.

"Yea? What do you want?" He asked sincerely.

"How old are you? I'm fourteen. I just turned fourteen around a month ago."

"I'm 10 I turned 10 a while ago but everyone thinks I'm like 8 or something" He obviously hates it when people think he's younger. He had an annoying pout as he crossed his arms. 

"Just as an icebreaker question, what were you doing when the breaking news just came on that the world is going to end and we are all going to slowly die a painful death?" He laughed lightly, trying to lift the awkward tension and the crying people outside.

"Well, when the news channel was already on and I was doing my homework. It said something about oil and climate change. I was like ew whatever news people are stupid. Then I looked out the window and saw a hill just collapse, like a Jenga tower it just fell over. I was so scared and confused. I barely slept that night. My phone was blowing up with messages and notifications all about how 'is it fake or not' or 'omg we r all going to die' I just couldn't deal" It seemed like the boy just could not stop talking. 

"My Mom died the next day when the complex fell," Morgan muttered and looked at his feet. Since that comment was apparently supposed to ease the tension in the situation. 

"Oh.." Michael didn't know what to do in this situation, so he continued with his story. 

"Erm.. I was at home with my babysitter. She doesn't really take care of me. She's 15 and basically sits on her phone and raids our fridge every time she's babysitting. I was in my room and reading my favorite book when I heard the door slam. I looked out my window to see her walking out with some guy again, so I went into the living room to turn on the tv because she never lets me watch it. Then I saw the breaking news. I ran and backed a small runaway bag just Incase I need to leave home. " Michael ran into his room and grabbed the bag. Excitedly showing it to Morgan. 

"I pack it with extra food every time the earthquakes get scarier..." he trailed off. The bag is a small brown tote, it can be slung over his shoulder, but also has an extra attachment so it can be carried as a purse. Michael avoided Morgan's gaze by looking through the broken bedroom window.

"We should go out there and look other people you can save" He told Morgan. The older boy face-palmed. He didn't want to look after Michael in the first place because he knew it was way easier to live on his own, but now he is being dragged to help other people.

"Sure," he replied sarcastically as the enthusiastic boy dragged him out the door. They stumbled into the bumpy street. They searched through houses and found some food that they started storing in their bags. This big mess wouldn't have started if it wasn't for those greedy oil hoggers. There are some places in the world that aren't falling apart completely, but they are already overpopulated and are soon to collapse. There are volcanos across the world and flooding on the coast. The Earth is extremely unbalanced with practically no hope. Scientists don't do shit so we are just waiting for our doom at this point.  Many people have died already, but this planet is already extremely crowded as it is. This "world ending" thing isn't really the entire world blowing up and everyone is dead, it's more of a kind of 'almost everyone is going to die and the Earth is just going to be a ball of mess. 

After 30 minutes of just wandering, Michael found a house that could actually be suitable for life. He climbed through the broken doorway with a bored, tired Morgan behind him, and saw a little boy sitting down reading a book. The boy looked around 11 or 12, his black hair covering his face. Completely ignoring everything around him. He was an average-sized boy and looked well fed. He looked up and revealed his hazel eyes, with small specks of sea green, floating around the pupil. He smirks and yells.  

"Hey, Ash! We got company!" and put his book down. The boy stood up, slightly shorter than Morgan, around 5'4. He shook the older boy's hand first.

"Nice to meet you, the name's Ethan." He had a very sassy and confident tone in his voice.

"Morgan" He replied. and grinned at the kid. Ethan then shook Michael's hand.

"M-Michael." he stuttered and avoided eye contact. The kid is probably shy around people.

"I'm going to call you Mike, it's easier." not even asking for his approval, he turned around and called out for this "Ash" person again. A girl with a lighter hair compared to Ethan stepped in a scoffed. She had a more pale skin tone and was a few inches taller than Ethan. She had cloudy blue eyes that matched the mood she was giving off. She glared at Ethan and put her hair into a messy bun. She bent down slightly low and put out her hand for Michael to shake.

"Hi, I'm Ashlyn, but my brother calls me Ash." She had a very sweet and soothing voice. Morgan was instantly reminded of his mother. She scoffed at his weird mood change and moved on. 

"Ethan here is my brother." She pointed to Ethan.

"He's 11." She punched him in the shoulder.

"I'm his sister and I'm 15." She smirked and shifted her weight.

"You're 14!" Ethan argued as Ash rolled her eyes. 

"Almost 15" she shoved him. 

"How did you weirdos get in?" They questioned in unison.