My back slid down the wall behind me. At this point, my head was on my knees. Alex looked down to realize this, and asked if I was ok.
I look up at her and I go "Yeah, yeah. I just need to take a walk and breathe and take time to think. Do me a favor? "
"Yeah, yeah, sure, anything. "
"If he doesn't follow me out that door, and I'm not back in 2 hours, tell him I went back home and he needs to meet me there? "
"Yeah, ok."
Little did I know that would be the last time I would talk to her in 3 days. I walked up front and walked out the door and no one followed. I took a shortcut through the woods, and eventually came across a fold up lawn chair. I stood there and stared, not particularly at anything, but when I looked up I realized that I had been crying. I needed to get out. Before all of this, the woods was one of the few places I could think. After? Not so much. I needed to get out now. Besides, the sun was already starting to set.
It was almost dark when I got to my house-or, again--what was left of it. I look around only to find basically rubble... and Adam. Half sitting/ half laying on a towel eating a bag of chips. Alex didn't wait 2 hours. Typical. I walk up to stand beside him, and by the way he looked, he knew that I knew what he and his team went through before Alex found them. He starts to explain, only I cut him off with a "No need."
"You basically went through Hell, Adam. Why relive it?"
"Because you need to know. Because you're the reason I'm alive."
