When All The Adults Were Gone

Chapter 17 - Darkness and Stars

Tom and I strolled hand in hand through the door and through the entrance hall where we stopped to watch everyone go down the street. Being January and England it was raining, but not rain, that annoying drizzle that gets you soaked but doesn't feel as if it's raining. It was pitch black outside, even though it was only just after seven and to my surprise the street lamps were on, lighting the way home for us.

The dark streets were bathed in a warm yellow glow and you could clearly see the stars peeking through the cold, black sky. The night made everything seem normal; the streets were deserted as they usually were at night and it was quiet as usual. The darkness was concealing the abnormality of the world. Casting a shadow so we couldn't see the issues the world now faced. To be honest, that's why I like the night, but Tom says that scares him... He can't see what he should be hiding from.

Anyway, enough with the deep stuff... We stood in the doorway and watched the large group of children disperse into small cliques and disappear into the dark. Tom and I followed after the last small group and made our way down the road at the back of the procession. I thought about locking the gates but I didn't. No one was going to break into a school, especially as none of the equipment worked and it would be pitch black because there was no electricity. Plus, if some of the children wanted to get to the school early, it would be ready for them.

Tom and I strolled hand in hand through the drizzle getting more and more soaked as we walked. I heard a car's wheels behind us and there was a bright flash of lights. I let go of Tom's hand and  turned to blink into the bright headlights of a small, white fiat. The door to the car opened and Sam stepped out, he looked quite pleased with himself. "Just doing a run of the perimeter and monitoring the streets. Make sure everyone is safe and sound." He said sounding quite smug. He put a hand on top of the fiat, "Nice car... Very feminine" I giggled. Fiats in my opinion were a girls car, they were small and looked really cute. No idea why, must be a girl thing. "Ha ha very funny. This one had the keys in the ignition. So I just started it up..." He patted the top of the car and started to get in. "Any problems so far?" I called just as he went to close the door. "Nope not yet. I've been teaching the lads how to fight and defend themselves. You know, in case we ever get attacked or something." I saw him wave from behind the windscreen and he slammed the door shut. Revving the engine so we would move out of the way, we drove down the road and turned left.

"Well... That was odd..." Tom laughed. I laughed too, I have to admit that it was rather odd. I knew Sam had gotten into fights but I never knew he knew how to fight! That would come in handy some day, I could tell. Tom and I walked back to our street which was the longest on the base for houses. For the rest of the way we took the opportunity to get to know each other a bit better. I was surprised that we had so much in common. We liked the same music, the same programmes, the same films. We even had similar interests at school. We were both English nerds and we both quite liked science but he liked physics, yuck, and I liked biology.

Tom walked me to my door and I looked up at the stars. "There's something that will never change. Those stars will never know problems, they'll never know pain or disappointment." I whispered as I craned my neck to see every star in the sky. "Yeah... Some day they'll just die out and another star will take its place." Tom replied also craning his neck so he could look with me. He took my hands in his and we both stared at the stars together, it was quite peaceful and romantic, just standing there gazing at the stars, just being with each other.

We stood there for about two minutes when a thin, bright white flash of light streaked across the sky. We both gasped and looked at each other. "Make a wish" I whispered putting my forehead to his. "I wish..." He began but I put a finger to his lips and told him to shush. "It won't come true if I hear it!" I whispered gently. "Fine, but my wish has already come true" and he kissed me. Not hot and steamy, but soft and gentle. When he pulled away he kissed my cheek and we said goodnight. I opened my front door and watched Tom go into his house across the road. When he finally waved goodnight and shut his door, I did the same.

I turned around in the dark hallway, I took a torch from by the front door and turned it on. To tell you the least, I had just about the biggest heart attack in my life. When I turned the torch on, I could finally see what I was doing. In front of me, appeared with the light of the torch, Jamie holding Darcy's hand, both of them looking very smug. "So..."Darcy began, breaking out into a wide, smug smile.