Kids Never Die

Chapter 9: When Night Draws Near

Once I arrived with the others, I stuck the cross I had made in the ground and patted it down with my foot. I wrote on it with the permanent marker, the date. November 31, 2013. I had everyone gather in a circle and we closed our eyes. I held my hands together in a tight grip and spoke from my heart. 

"On this day," I began, "Many innocent people have lost their lives. Friends, relatives, good people. We ask ourselvs why we remain, but I insist the oposite. Why must we die? We will find a way out of this, and we will survive another day. Why? Because we're kids, and kids never die. For those of us who have fallen, only their bodies have perished, but they live on inside of each of us. Lets take a moment of silence." 

We all bowed our heads and remained quiet for nearly a minute. But it was the same deafening silence that rung as we searched through the rumage. You could hear the screams of the thousands that died, yet their was no sound, not even the faintest cry. There was an energy, a feeling of discomfort near the school and the scent of rotten and burnt flesh soiled the air.. I rose my head to see everyone grieving, but all together. Not one person stood out because we all stayed together. I couldn't help but smile. Though my family was most likely dead or missing, these fine boys and girls were my family now.

I broke the silence and cleared my throat. "I'll give you time to pay your respects, but Nick and I are going to start a fire." The sun was beginning to drown across the horizon. The sky was the color of fire, and there was not a cloud to be seen. Just ripples across the sky of burning ember. I felt at peace. 

I helped Nick stammer to his feet and we headed towards the road. Angela called to us that she was going to begin to work on a shelter for the night. Nick and I crossed the road and into the field where the car had burned a few hours earlier. I told Nick to gather crops that we could burn, informing him to take only the tops because they were dry.

Once we had gathered nearly one hundred different crops, we made our way back to the street. There was a semi turned on its side. Nick and I placed the plants behind the back end. We pulled open the cargo crate and began to rummage through. Most of it was just book bags, empty water bottles, and empty card board boxes. I called Angela over, devising that she could use some of the materials. 

"Nick," I began "Take these water bottles and fill them with gasoline from the engine." He nodded and ran to the front of the semi. Night was drawing nearer and nearer as the sky fires were put out. I began to move more frantically. I was looking for something to start a fire with. I searched left and right scanning my surroundings. I found a small rock on the ground, and hoped to spot another, then I remembered the rifle Morgan had. 

I stood up and looked to the once stammering school, I was scanning the grounds looking for Morgan. Once I eyeballed him, I gestured for him to come over and pointed at the gun. He jumped to his feet and threw the rifle over his shoulder. As he sprinted to me, I gripped the small rock tightly. When he got to me, I tore the gun from his arm and began to strike the metal part of the rifle. Sparks were flying but no fire arose. 

Morgan saw what I was attempting and ran back to the school. When he came back, he had a small pocket lighter. 

"Where the hell did you get this?" I asked. 

"Andrew and I were gonna light a blunt after school." He handed me the lighter.

"I never thought I'd say this," I shook my head, "But thank god for weed," the two of us smirked at each other. I snapped at the lighter with my thumb until it lit, and I wafted it around the wheat. Nick sprinted around with three bottles full of warm, golden gasoline. I instructed him to pour it over the fire and the flames kissed the sky which had now faded to black. 

I chuckled and saw what we had done. I looked over and saw that Angela had made a small tent out of scrap wood, cardboard and canvas. It was large enough to hold about fifteen people, with little moving room. The flames reached high and appeared to hold up the sky. 

We all gathered around the fire. Nate and Nick sat back to back and Miranda, Katie, Kyra, Emily and Emilee circled around them. Nick was doing small magic tricks with a deck of cards he had.  Nate was pointing out stars and constellations in the vast sky above. Each one he explained in great detail with the stories and legends behind the names. He spoke in such a way as to paint the black sky with beautiful colors, dancing in formation. All of the sorrows and sadness melted away and made room for wonder and mystery.

Morgan and Gavin we close together. Morgan was plucking at an acoustic guitar that Angela had found and he sung different notes and songs. I smiled to see that everyone had been so calm. I knew we would get through this together. Morgan began to play a real slow country song with a kick of blues. 

"I was sitting on a bar stool in a barbecue joint in Tennessee," He began to sing Backwards by Rascal Flatts. As he got to the bridge of the song, all the girls stood and began exotic dancing. I smiled. Sam spun over in front of me and looked down. She threw out her arms. "Dance with me!" she excalimed.

I waved my hand and chuckled "No no, I don't dance." I shook my head. She grabbed my hands and dragged my to my feet. She pushed herself away from me and spun around, using my hand as an axis like a top. She looked at me and said "Your turn."

I tried to replicate what she had done but instead, tripped over my feet and fell on my face. I laughed as I hit the ground, then stumbled to my feet to try once more, this time almost falling into the fire. It was an amazing, serene and playful night. I knew together, we would survive, but to do that, we deserved a long rest.