After Fate Fell

40 • SIX

Exams are over! I'm exhausted but I think I did good on them so that's good. Glad to get back to writing!
-Braden

1 year, 3 months, and 17 days after it all
•SIX•

The day started in a slew of emotions from everyone. Anger from Adam, mostly at himself. He thinks the fact that we're out here with no sign of the others or the river or the ocean is his fault. He kept driving through a good portion of the night, desperate to find the others and to keep the car above the sand that would engulf us if we stopped. Nine has been acting like a victim, like somehow we've all started a conspiracy against him and everything he does. Sam is the only one who's showing signs of hope, he's more focused than the others, as soon as we woke up, he seemed ready to go, to find the others. He volunteered to drive first.

"Of course we didn't bring a compass," Nine mutters from the backseat, where he's been banished.

It's true, of all the things we would need for a trek out into the desert, a compass should have been one of the first things we should've packed. It would help us orient ourselves, and we would be able to go back south toward the river or west toward the Atlantic. Instead, we're just driving in a direction we all decided on together, all hoping that this is the right choice to at least make it to one or the other.

We've been going for probably almost an hour at a steady pace of around 20 miles an hour. I can tell Sam is a little frustrated, but he's trying not to show it. I can see it though, I know him better than either of the others. The sky has gotten progressively brighter throughout the short time we've been going, the sun a hazy dot in a psychadelic-looking painting lying out before us. There isn't any color other than the blue of the sky, tainted by the tan of the sand, and the hills of tan on the ground, but the way everything is moving gives a trippy experience, I get lost in it.

Somehwere within my daze, an idea comes to me.

"The clouds," I say.

"What?" Sam asks next to me. I must've mumbled it. I have a bad habit of doing that sometimes.

"The clouds," I repeat. "We're in a desert. The only place there would be moisture here would be the ocean. Those clouds," I say, pointing through the windshield, getting Adam and Nine's attention as well. "They have to be over the ocean."

I can see Sam think about this, and before anybody even says anything, he's made the turn toward the clouds. It's not that sharp of a turn, so we would've made it to the ocean eventually, but it would've taken a lot longer than if he wouldn't have made this turn.

With this newfound directional awareness, I am able to orient us better. We were travelling southwest, so that was basically the right direction. We would've hit the ocean or the river at some point, possibly finding the others. The issue is, I don't know how far off-track we ended up last night in the chaos. I'm just glad to know we aren't completely lost.

A few miles later, and Sam's the one to say the word I've been waiting so long to hear.

"Ocean!" He's more excited than I've ever seen him, probably because he thought we were going to die lost in the desert.

And it's beautiful. Far off as it is, I take in all of it's beauty. It's not even that I love the ocean, it's just the change in scenery combined with the obvious fact that seeing it means that we are no longer aimlessly wandering and lost. As we near closer, the sharp contrast between the desert and the sea becomes striking and fills my view.

I look back to see a just-as-excited Adam and Nine, all relieved at how quickly we were able to navigate out of the sea of sand that was looking to claim all of our lives if we hadn't found our way.

I look to the south as we rise up to a hill, looking for the river we crossed just yesterday, where we lost the others. I see nothing but coastline, no sign of them or the river.

We near the coast, and Sam slows as we come to a sand-cliff overlooking a steep descent to the ocean below. I'm glad Nine isn't driving at this point. All I can see happening in that situation is him speeding up and trying to do a trick jump off the edge...in a car. Sam backs up a few feet, a good precaution, since sand isn't exactly known for being sturdy. Being near the edge would not be a good choice.

Once he puts the car into park, we all open our doors and step out eagerly. We may be in an unpleasant and honestly scary situation, separated from the others, this is a moment where we all forget that, as briefly as it may be. I can see in the boys' eyes that they want to slide down this hill and step into the cold water below.

"Go ahead," I say, and not even a full second later, they're on their way down. I watch from the top, looking out at the endlessness of the water, replacing the endlessness of sand. Adam, Nine, and Sam reach the bottom in a heap of bodies, wrestling each other in the warm sand. They run to the water, racing presumably. I'm honestly a little surprised at how quickly they've been able to put away all their other emotions, all the drama from yesterday, and just enjoy a moment. In a time that isn't looking the greatest, they find time for excitement and joy.

I look out over the horizon stretching out before me, and try to take that same feeling to heart. Excitement, joy, hope...but all I can think of is the others, and I just hope that I'll see them again alive.