FULL ECLIPSE (Book #2)

𝕿𝖍𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓

The swampy aroma hits my nostrils first before my other senses can come into use. I know I was gone for quite a bit, but here, to them, I was out for only a few minutes so I better act like it. Carmen is already back on track as if nothing happened. Either she's really good at acting or maybe she's right, that I never cared enough to notice her 'jumping' in the first place.

"Is it just me or has this cave gotten wider?" Jace looks from side to side.

"Definitely wider," I take a look around too.

"Alright, listen up," Dad huddles us all in. "Put on those dry clothes y'all packed back at Monty's, then we're going up that opening," he points at a pothole with some leaves poking through it. "We'll be in the middle of Black Eden's Hill and we'll have to mostly run it to the checkpoint."

Alrighty.

I find a space with Bray to change outta my clothes. It was only when Dad mentioned we needed to change did I realise how filthy we all were. My white tee is all splotchy with mud, sticking to my skin like papier mâché. Tbh, I don't see the point of changing outta these if we're gonna be in the middle of the forest and get dirty again.

"Which bag is the washcloth in?" I ask Bray after peeling my shirt off and tossing it to the side.

"That one," he points with one of them washcloths already resting around his neck.

I crouch to find it, and when I do, I also make the dumbest mistake of taking a glance to the other side. Carmen has her back to me, she's undressing and putting on some dry clothes. I can't help but watch her do it. She steps into some trousers and pulls them up her milky thighs gently. She puts on a shirt and when she pulls all her hair out from underneath it, it's not platinum, it's ink-black.

It's the ghost of her once again. Ghost of Elody. I didn't know I was homesick for that smile of hers until I saw it again. She turns around and gives me one of the softest smiles. I breathe out calmy, exhaling not too hard because I can't risk that hologram of hers bursting into a mist. I'm stunned, amazed, and falling in love all over again...

Then I close my eyes, tilting my head to the side and clenching my jaw. I have to focus. It's not Elody, snap out of it, Dean! Ella is just a girl who I should really give up on because she's dead here and treats me like I'm dead over in the other world. It's a crush. A crush that keeps me grounded though...

I open my eyes, and who stares back at me, isn't surprising at all. It's Carmen. She has an unfathomable expression playing on her face. She purses her lips like a forced smile an acquaintance gives you when going past you. Does she know? Does she know that Ella is haunting me vicariously through her?

Is that why she presses her body into mine a little harder or holds my hand a little tighter or kisses me in the dark a little firmer? No, it couldn't be. She wouldn't. She's not that smart. I never told her. I drag the washcloth down my skin which is filled with cuts, scars, and bruises. There's not even a patch of skin left untouched by the apocalypse.

"Damnn, bruv," Bray jests. "Look at them abs and them arms..."

"Shut up," I chuckle and toss the dirty used cloth at him.

"Mannn, you know what I miss?" he leans on the wall, shirtless, folding his arms and gazing into the distance.

"And what's that?" I put on a clean long-sleeved grey shirt.

"I miss those big Angus beef burgers from Maccas, I miss scoring some mean home runs, I miss school, man," he says it like it comes as a surprise to him too.

"Me too, man, me too."

I take another scan around to spot Jace because Bray missing school reminds me of baseball, and baseball reminds me of the boys. Instead of spotting him, I spot Amber, who has the back of her palm over her mouth and she's tryna not gag. Yeah, me too sis, this place reeks. I look back at Bray and almost bust out laughing.

"Bro, what size did you get?"

"Bro," he looks down at the XXXL large red shirt he's in, "is it that big?"

"Two people could fit in that."

"'Nough space for you, then," he jokes. "C'mere, boy."

"Fuck off," I chuckle.

❖

Upon exiting out of the tunnels, the scene that befalls us is just like how you'd imagine it but less... frightening. It's more of a sombre type of pretty. Thick and thin gangly trees disappear into the dark-grey sky above us with a tinge of navy in the mix of it. The ground is filled with leaves from orange to green to black. The breeze is soft, I can almost taste it, and if I could, it'd taste like a thousand lost summers turning to evening porch talks.

Dad was right, it's just a normal forest that was hyped up way too much with propaganda. I'm glad that once we get to the checkpoint, we won't have to run anymore. No more running, that's something to look forward to at least.

"Can we make it?" Carmen twists her hair into a spiral to get the last drops of swamp water outta it. "To the checkpoint?"

"Sure we can, sweetheart," Dad gives her an assuring smile. "Everyone, remain behind me like before. Let's get going," then he stops, before even starting.

Light ruffling comes from the trees ahead of us, followed by a few lurkers creeping out from behind them. They shuffle around like lost puppies who can't find a way out of this maze, except they aren't pups and we're running out of time. Bray grimaces sharply beside me.

"You okay?" I whisper.

"Fine, stepped on something shark, I think," and he gives his foot a lil shake.

"Soundly," is all Dad says at the sight of the lurkers before ushering us to follow him.

Jace still has the gun Dad gave him so he remains at the back of all of us just in case. Light jogging, stopping, running, ducking, pausing – it all came down to that. Dad wanted to fire only if our lives depended on it.

"I can't..." Amber's breathless voice comes from behind me. "I can't run anymore, Jace," and she puts her hand over her mouth again.

"Amber, we're nearly there, babe, don't stop now," he comforts her.

"No, Jace, seriously..." she aligns her eyes with his. "I can't. I feel..sick again."

"Bray, brb," I tell him, and I recede to the back. "What's up? We can't slow down."

Jace opens his mouth to answer when he is interrupted by a piercing gunshot coming right from Dad. Oh shitttt. It echoes through every inch of the forest, weaving between trees, under logs, and through shrubs. The birds from the highest points of the branches flutter away into a dimming sky that's barely in our view.

Silence.

The raucous erupts.