Mieli pondered Doc's parting words as she ascended the stairs. 'Speaking of, you should go get lunch.' Did he mean...? She frowned slightly. That was one way to survive. She reached the stairs and trudged up one, two floors. Her pale hand gripped the railing of the stairs to the second floor when Delia's voice stopped her.
"I HATE it when you do this. Patrick." Delia's angry shout was audible from within the captain' squatters. Mieli sighed, Delia was always shouting about this or that. Her put her tennis shoe clad foot on the next step, muscles tensing to climb the stairs, but Delia's next shout stopped her.
"She's just a kid, Patrick! She shouldn't have to deal with this bull crap!"
Mieli stopped. They were fighting about her? Why? Careful that her footsteps didn't make too much noise against the metal floor, she crept closer to the captain's quarter's. She pressed against the wall and put her ear to the crack where the door met the frame. She plugged her other ear with her index finger, so she could focus on what they were saying. Patrick was arguing calmly with the irate Delia.
"But she does. That's the world we live in, Del. besides, it was entrusted to her. It's not something we can just lift off her shoulders." His voice was even, cold almost.
"That's not fair!" Mieli winced at Delia's shout, noting that Delia's voice had become more pleading.
"We can't take this burden from her. But. We can support her when she needs it." His voice had become slightly warmer.
"She-she... Shouldn't have to. She doesn't understand the full impact of what she writes. Besides, she's trying so h-hard t--t-to be grown-up. And she's s-s-so little." Delia's voice was breaking. Was she crying? She heard muffled footsteps and hiccuping sobs. Then she heard the Captain shushing her gently. Mieli decided to head for the stairs, so she missed him say,
"Besides, if we took that away from her, what does she have left?"
YOU ARE READING
The World After
AventuraA terrorist plot has flooded the earth, forcing people to become salvagers, stealing parts and artifacts from the bottom of the ocean. Young Mieli Tully is one such salvager, searching for her sister and step mother in an ocean that now covers 99.96...
