The Land After Tomorrow (Completed)

Chapter 5: Inner Turmoil

The following morning, Ryder and Drew still laid outside. The sun had begun to peek through the tree line coming from the west facing towards the backside of the house. The house began to stir with movement with kids running in and out of the house laughing at one another in a game of tag. Through the backside window, a small face peered out looming over the dozens of tents that surrounded the house. Small camp fires laid scattered around between the tents as survivors huddled around the fires receiving small samples of soup holding out their cans or bowls. For such a catastrophe they had all been living, it was joyful, there was hope. That small face that stared out of the window saw the joy and smiles among their faces giving it hope.

"Jasmine why you are staring out the window?" Drew asked as he came in with Ryder awoken from the rustling of the land and bustle of people running back and forth.

"I like watching," she responded turning back to the window.

"Jasmine do you know where the others are?" Ryder asked.

"In the kitchen with Jake talkin' bout stuff."

Drew sat down on the chair Ian had been sitting on the night before, "There's nothing to watch. Their just people."

She continued staring and smiled as the kids ran around the house screaming and yelling at one another. She turned back to Drew, "I like watching them smile."

"Why?" He pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and flicked for the flame to come on. He stared at the fire for a short bit before putting the bud into the fire.

"Because I don't see dad smiling. I don't see you smiling. Nobody does, it's just sadness...."

"I can come over there and tickle you if you want to smile," his right-hand fingers waved in a tickling motion while he held the cigarette in the other blowing out smoke.

"No!" she screamed but smiling at the same time remembering when her brother would carry her, read her stories, and tickle her when she annoyed him. She looked at her brother once again, "You shouldn't be smoking. Dad will kill you if he saw."

"He's not here now is he." Jasmine looked at him and then looked back at the window saying nothing. Drew blew smoke in Jasmine's direction making Jasmine cough.

"Stop," she tried to say coughing out the smoke in her lungs. Drew blew another breathe towards her. "Drew. Stop," battling through the breaths. Drew continued to blow smoke not paying any attention to Jasmine's battling breaths. Jasmine turned and left, coughing. She walked down the hallway leaping over bodies and blankets. She coughed trying to take in air while it screamed in pain. She stumbled into the kitchen where Jake, Ryder and Ian sat at the table while Blair, Caleb and two other random people stood around them. Jasmine sat down in a small blue chair next to the counter behind Ian's seat.

"We are running out of resources. I don't know how long we can last here, we can barely maintain ourselves now not much so in a couple weeks," Jake informed while Jasmine coughed interrupting. Cough cough. "We need to act now or die from starvation."

cough cough. "I can take the kids and head to North Carolina, where a supposed survivor group settled. Come back to you if we find it," Ian suggested.

Ryder put his head on his forehead shaking his head, "We can't risk the entirety of this group off a fairy tale." Cough cough wheeze

"I don't see anybody else having any better ideas. Anybody?" Ian asked.

"And what if there aren't survivors. What then?" Ryder asked.