The Apocalypse

Chapter 11

He's odd. Keeping me physically alive just to watch me mentally die or like slowly go go batshit crazy, whichever comes first.

I think it's the crazy, the fact that Im having a mental conversation with myself proves it.

Its just everything reminded me of what I've been working hard on forgetting these past 7 months.

Memories came and went.

My mind took me to my front lawn, pollen grains were flying everywhere and the sun had finally melted all snow away. Everything smelt fresh.

"It's perfectly safe little missy, you and you're boyfriend will make it back alive for your future wedding," my uncle teases, hitting the top of this rusty old maroon truck.

I lighlty punch his shoulder "stop it. It's embarrassing," I whine but the braces on my fifteen year old self made the words sound all weird.

"(Y/N) AND SEAN SITTING ON A TREE," my uncle, sings at the top of his lungs being the gigantic man-child he is, only stopping when my dad pops his head out the door.

There was a moment of silence between the two.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G," they finished the song together.

"Ugh, MUM!"

She comes out, looking as calm as ever, an apron still tied around her waist. "Stop teasing her you two, it's her first dance," waving a spatula at the both of them.

"You know, she looks just like you when you went to your first dance, even the braces," my uncle jokes.

She points the spatula at him "Clam it, you overstuffed squirrel. Do not bring up my past,"

Everyone was laughing except me, being the angsty teen I was. I was still fuming, back then that was the meanest thing I thought my uncle could do.

Give me a ride in a crappy car to the spring dance and make fun of my braces until of course, he murdered his own sister.

I scoffed.

The next place was entirely different it was dark and crammed and everything smelled like sweat and mold.

"(Y/N) you'll need to go first, go out through the exit A, take these first and stand guard at the door, these are our priority," my uncle shoved a drawstring bag into my arms. I didn't know what it contained.

"The remaining 4 of us will gather up the heavier stuff and meet you outside exit C,"

I shouldn't have left. I shouldn't have listened. Just like how I shouldn't have left them so carelessly.

Everytime I leave he manages to kill someone.

"We should slow down and help my mom and uncle," I yelled over at Sean while he was still running at full speed, pulling my hand along.

"They've got it under control, only a few feet behind," he shouts back.

The other guy didn't make it out according to them so uncle was carrying double the load.

Soon the gap grew.

I keep on turning back more frequently, a trick to also slow Sean and I down so that they could catch up.

"You keep running, I'll go help," he looked at me and jogged back to them.

I was still in my curled up position in the corner. My hands were pressed into the sides of my head.

"nononononono,"

But no matter how much I resisted, the memories wouldn't stop.

A gunshot and the blood-curdling scream of a woman pierced the air.

I stopped running and turned behind, where the sound came from

There my mother stood, barely, a  fresh gunshot wound right through her lower abdomen.

Blood stained her shirt, and she clutched the wound.

My uncle holding a gun in one hand and  sloppily slinging my mother bags over his shoulder as the hoard behind them drew dangerously close.

Sean also paused mid run, somewhere in between my position and my uncle and mums.

I took a step towards them. Still not fully processing everything that just went down.

"SEAN TAKE HER AND RUN," my uncle shouted.

Without any other words, I was slung over Sean's shoulder like a jacket. He wouldn't let me go.

My uncle, now with much less to carry as Sean was carrying his earlier load aw well as me soon caught up and ran straight past us to the truck.

I felt like crying after reminding myself of that horrible experience, a part of my past I worked so hard on forgetting.

But I was too drained to even cry.

Her scream just kept on replaying and replaying and replaying until I finally stopped trying to block it out and just let it play like a broken record, filling in the background.