Rob
"So, my place then?" Charlie asks to break our silent walk.
"Hmm? Ohh, yeah, sure." I answer absentmindedly.
After we've returned our uniforms, we're returning home from the officer's headquarters. We walk the streets in our casual clothing.
We're the only two out in the afternoon. It struck me as odd as to how there was no in between of bustling life or dead empty during work hours.
"What's on your mind?" Charlie asks sincerely. She nudges me and knocks me off balance for a second. She giggles and stretches an arm over my shoulder.
"A large human settlement... What do you think that's like?"
"Chaotic and overcrowded. I can barely stand the crowds here for meals."
I accept her answer and nod to her. As for myself, I still couldn't one hundred percent fathom the thought of several thousand people in one place. Was there more than that? A million? Ten million?
I spent the night at Charlie's and we're both awakened by our alto-mitters.
Charlie ignores her alarm, letting it buzz on. I sit up watching her groan and smother her wrist with her pillow. Her head slightly dangles off the bed with her eyes glued back shut.
I yawn and stretch. My arm brushes her shoulder, causing her to shift in her attempt to sleep on. Now her wrist hangs off the bed. Her slender fingers dangle limply.
How do I feel about her?
How does she feel about me?
How on earth does she drool so much in her sleep?
I wonder if it was odd that her hair almost always escaped the bun or ponytail she makes and that it always wound up stuck to her face.
Our friendship seems like such an oddity. We slept in the same bed and cuddled often, yet did nothing more.
Charlie's wristband buzzed on, making a small, tinny sound in the silence of Charlie's bedroom.
I jumped up when she screams in surprise. The band had given her a small electrical shock.
She falls off the edge of the bed and flails with the blanket we shared wrapped around her waist and legs. Another second or so and I was sure she'd scream bloody murder.
Charlie calms herself, leaning her back against the bed, taking heaving breaths. I grab her shoulder to help ease her and she raises a sleepy hand up to mine. Her wrist twitches.
The sun's rich morning light peeks through the blinds.
I stand, feeling the bones in my ankles and knees pop. I stretch, yawning mightily.
I walk over and help Charlie off the ground. She grumbled as I wrap an arm around her waist and hoisted her to her feet. She slumps lazily.
"Shall we, then?" I ask.
She nods sleepily in return.
YOU ARE READING
Steel Ethereal
Science FictionAfter the world crumbles, a new sub species of humans arise. They band together founding a city, Promenade, which houses their kind as well as the dwindling human population. Rob, a young boy uprooted from his town and forced to wander the mid-west...
