The Land After Tomorrow (Completed)

Chapter 12: Fight to the Death

The sun began to creep out from behind the trees. Small chatters began to rise among the group and kids begged for more sleep. They started out again along the road. Their boots thumped against the abandoned payment with soldiers surrounding the civilians. Blair and Bane traveled at the back staring at the ground lying before them. Blair looked at the children, some tired, hungry, and some clinging onto their parents' hands. Some, stared at the world ahead of them with no one to hold onto. They carried their backpacks that drooped on their shoulders and dirt smeared across their faces.

Bane looked at Blair with curiosity as she stared into space, "What are you thinking about?"

She looked at him breaking from her trance, "Does it matter?"

Bane looked a little taken back and a little pain washed over his face, "I guess not if you don't want to tell me."

Silence broke out among them as they continued to stare back into the ground. "I'm sorry," Blair said.

"It's fine."

"I'm just tired and with Caleb gone, it's been kinda hard for me."

"I know, I understand."

Blair shook her head, "No, I don't think you do." Bane stopped in his tracks as Blair looked back at him. "What?"

Bane shook his head, "You just assume that I don't understand without even knowing anything about me."

Blair looked at the ground, "I'm sorry."

Bane continued walking again, "Yea, I bet you are."

They walked in silence for a while feeling the wind brush against their skin. The pollution began to pick up as a slight breathe wheezed into their lungs making them cough. They covered their mouths with scarves trying to limit the amount of pollution into their lungs. Blair looked at Bane who walked staring off into the distance.

She questioned herself if she should ask but the curiosity won over her. She looked at him and spoke above a quiet whisper but not loud enough to here, "How do you understand?"

Bane looked at her trying to process what she said, "What?"

"How do you understand?" she spoke louder.

"Understand what?"

"How I feel about Caleb leaving," she responded back.

Bane's face fell in a wash of memories that haunted him, "Oh." He stared at the ground watching the rock he was kicking inch closer back to his feet as he moved towards it. He felt the hard-rugged surface brush up against his boots and heard it clank across the ground over and over.

"Soooo?" Blair tried to pry.

Bane sighed and tried to breathe. "Give me a second." He looked up into the sky that was filled with fog and toxic mist that swayed along with the wind. "When everything was happening," he began. "The scorch I mean. Fires were flaring throughout the trees catching onto the trucks and buildings. I was young. My younger brother and I were watching from the window. My mother came in and grabbed him. When she turned back towards me, she told me she was sorry and left me in a burning building. I somehow wondered out of the building where I started to ball crying. A woman stopped and grabbed me by my arm pulling me away from the flames. Power lines were falling, buildings were crumbling, but somehow she got me out." Bane sighed trying desperately to not hold onto the memory for much longer.