After Fate Fell

6 • JOHN

1 year, 3 months, and 12 days after it all
•JOHN•

It looks like it's four or five hours 'till sunset. When you've been off grid living on a mountain for months and months, you start to take in all details around you, including learning the exact position of the sun and what time that coincides with. I've gotten it down almost to perfection. When the sun rises above the small boulder to the east, it's about 10 am. When it is straight up in the sky, it's about 1 pm. When it sets below the big rock that looks like it's from Stonehenge, it's almost 7 pm. I have it all down.

I hear footsteps on the rocky ground somewhere close. I look up. It's Six grabbing her bag. This is her evening ritual. She always goes on an evening hike. I don't know where she goes, I'm guessing everywhere, considering the fact that I swear she has gone in every single one of the 360 degrees of directions. I haven't really ever asked her about her hikes. None of us really talk much about anything now. We just all live together on this mountain, without really actually interacting with each other. The reason we're together is because we all know we should be, considering we're the only ones of our kind, and we know that we should stick together. We all know that we should do something other than stay on this god damned mountain, but we just haven't figured out what.

Except Ella, that is. She seems to have found a purpose in this seemingly purposeful-less world. I guess you really can't blame the rest of  us, the only thing we've known our whole lives is running, staying in hiding, and war. So now that there is no need for any of those, we all just feel...empty. It's weird. I thought that after winning this war, I would feel completely fulfilled and we could all go onto so great things...but now that it's over, I just don't know what to do with myself. None of us do.

I worry about Ella though. Even though she left less than 24 hours ago, I still worry. I guess it's my job. But why am I worrying? She's the first one to leave this mountain in months, other than the hikes we've all done, which we end up coming back up after a few hours, but this time, Ella has left the mountain, and I know that even though she may return, she will be different, and I'm guessing that she'll tell us that she wants to go somewhere else and do something new and exciting with her life. So I'm happy for her. Because none of the rest of us have any types of aspirations. We just wander aimlessly around the mountain, hurl rocks, and carve shit into stones. And sleep. And eat and repeat.

Six is going east this time, she's already a quarter mile away, but all of a sudden I have an urge to go with her, even though I have asked her many times before, as have the others, all to no avail. She wants to be alone. But I yell anyways.

"Six!" I almost scream.

She turns around, she looks confused, probably because we barely speak to each other, let alone yell at each other. She doesn't say anything, just looks up expectantly, waiting for me to continue.

"I know that you always want to go by yourself, and I understand. But just this once, would you consider letting me make the hike with you? Six, we need to talk. We really need to talk," I say, desperately. I don't know what has caused this sudden outburst by me, but I'm glad for it, because we really should talk, and something really does have to change.

She looks past me, into the endless sea of mountains, her eyes sad but also hopeful.

"Sure I guess," she says.

I am so shocked that I don't even move from the spot I've been standing for a good ten seconds before everything processes in my brain. "Yes," my mind tells me. "She said yes."

And so I walk out to where she's waiting for me.

I put my hand on her shoulder, and she finally breaks her death stare with the mountains behind me.

"Things have to change," I tell her firmly.

"I know," she says. "I know."

And so we start walking off to wherever we're going, and my brain is telling me that things are already starting to get better. Things are already starting to change.
After a short silence, she looks at me with those same eyes I know so well, and she tells me

"we have to leave the mountain."