The 5th Wave | The Aftermath | ✔️

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Sammy

CASSIE'S GONE. CASSIE will never see him again. Cassie will never reach for him while he pulls away. Cassie will never touch him again. She will never say his prayers with him again.
     Already, his memory of her was fading; he began to forget all the times Cassie had taken him to the park in Ohio. He began to forget how her freckles would float above her flushed cheeks when she was angry. He began to forget how she washed him the winter-cold water, stained a light brown by the monthly dirt on his body back in the Silencer Safe House.
     He knew the memory of her was slipping from the grip of Zombie and Ringer as well. Soon, their memories of her will flee from their brain, leaving only a small part of her inside them. Her personality. Her flaw. Gone. Gone like his mother and father. Gone like all the things he took for granted.
     Warm water, gushing from the shiny water pipe, cascading to the bowel of the bath where he sat. No more shopping centres full of people and the nice lady at the register at Walmart on a Thursday. Gone. Faded. Swallowed.
     Swallowed by the dust. Cassie swallowed by the dust on the day he left Camp Ashpit. Swallowed by the dust that would be on Earth for millions and millions of years. Cassie with her fading face. Cassie with Bear. Like the small grains of dust, Cassie became one herself, when he saw her when he left on the big yellow buses which soldiers said they were perfectly safe.
     She became smaller and smaller behind the window steamed white by his breath. Gone.
    The day she killed herself and all the others, he cried. He cried for her, and his father that Cassie had failed to save, and his mother, who died saving people who would never live. He cried when they were walking back to the Caverns of West Liberty.
     Zombie said, "Hey, Soldier, don't cry. Soldiers don't cry, do they?"
     He sniffled and stared deep into Zombie's endless eyes and said, "I miss Cassie."
     Zombie didn't smile. He knew that Zombie missed her as well.
     Sam continued: "It'll never be the same! She's gone! She'll never come back and she'll never call me Sams or say my prayer with me! She's gone Zombie, and I didn't say goodbye!"
     Zombie then did something that he would only ever do from his previous life. He smiled a genuine smile. He kneeled down onto one knee, grunting from the pain that Ringer had given him when she shot him in the leg the night Evan Walker was taken by the helicopter, and placed a crippled hand on Sam's trembling shoulder.
     Evan Walker was carrying Megan who slept soundly in his arms; they stopped. Ringer stopped. They turned and watched.
     "Nugget . . . No, Sam . . ." Zombie corrected, "I can't change any of that . . . except one thing . . ." Everyone waited in anticipation for Zombie's finishing line, "I'm Ben." He grinned. And Sam punched him. He released all his emotions into the older boy's chest. Punching and slapping.
     Zombie didn't move. He also didn't stop Sam. He didn't grunt from pain. He waited for Sam to waste all of his energy. And when he did, he slumped into Zombie's chest and sobbed.
     Zombie pressed Sam's head into the chest that Sam hit and wrapped his legs around his waist. Then he lifted Sam and continued walking.
     The only sounds were Sam's cry, which was muffled by Zombie's (he was still Zombie to Sam) hoodie, the chilling wind, whistling through the severed reads and the soft pattering of three pairs of feet, Evan carrying Megan, Zombie carrying him, and Ringer toting a rifle.
     When they reached the caverns, Zombie carried him inside and sat him on a rock.
     "Sam—"
"—My name's Nugget. Sam's gone."
"No. One: You're Sam. Nugget is a name given by the others. So is Ringer, so is Poundcake, so is Dumbo, so is Flintstone, so is Tank, so is Oompa, so is Teacup, and so is Zombie! You're parents named you Sam, so you'll stay Sam. I'm Ben and Ringer is Marika." Sam pouted. "and two: Your sister saved us. And . . . as cringeworthy as it sounds, Cassie will always be here." Zombie pointed to Sam's chest.
     "But I didn't say goodbye." He murmured, brown eyes now murky, irises swimming in tears. He didn't care if Zombie saw him cry anymore, it was over. Crying was acceptable. Everything important he had was gone.
     Zombie smiled. "That's 'cause you don't need to say goodbye, Sam," he was tapping Sam's chest, referring to his heart, to Cassie, "You need to say hi."

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Hi again!
This is the second part!
I am so proud of what this story has become, but please, like, comment if you want, and just enjoy my stories!
I will be releasing every few days cos I've already written loads of the book, enjoy! :)
See you soon! Byyyyyyeeeeeeeeee!!!! :)

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