The World We Once Knew

Chapter Five

Logan

We ride for about six hours and then take a break. Grandpa Mason scouts ahead while Grandpa Shane makes sure we weren't followed. The rest of us sit down and wait for Grandma Ginny to make a quick fire, then we cook some of the meat for lunch. We decide to relax for two hours. Dad sits down and starts writing in his journal, Grandpa Shane and Grandpa Mason eat, Grandma Ginny tends to the fire, and Grandma Regan just sits there like the lump she is. I go over to some trees and sit down in their shade. I try to picture what this place must have looked like before, when there were people who constantly lived here. What all the cities must have looked like. Now the buildings are crumbling and being overtaken by vegetation, the roads are all cracked up. It must have been nice to have paved roads, tall buildings that shimmered in the sunlight. I wish I had been born in a world like that. In a world where people trusted other people, where you didn't sleep in a tent every night, where a 16 year old didn't have to carry around a bunch of weapons.

I hear a noise and my reaction is to pull a knife, but when I turn around I only find that it's my Grandpa Mason. "Nice reflexes there kiddo." he says as he sits down beside me. I look at him and then I look back out at the forest I was just staring at. I can feel my grandfather's eyes on me and then I don't; "What are you thinking about?" he asks.

 I sigh; "I'm thinkin' about what it would've been like to live here when the world wasn't so fucked up. This is ridiculous that at sixteen years old I'm pretty much carryin' around an arsenal of weapons like it's no big deal. That in order for me to survive I have to always watch my six. I want to know what it's like to live in a house, to know what it feels like to have an actual bed with an actual mattress. And most importantly . . . to have a mom." I don't look at him, I just sit there and I feel the tears down my face. 

I feel him pull me close and hug me. "I'm so sorry you will never be able to experience that sweetheart. I truly am."

We sit like that until it's time to go. We get up and brush the dirt off us and walk towards our bikes. Grandma Ginny has everything all packed up. Grandma Regan is attempting to make it look like we weren't here at all but she is doing a shitty job like usual. Someone always has to clean up after her. She is really just a nuisance, I really don't know why they decided to bring her along. Technically her and Grandpa Mason are divorced, so they didn't have to bring her along when shit hit the fan, but that was their stupid fault, not mine.

So I go over her tracks and cover what she missed. I decide that I want to ride next to Grandpa Mason so I kick her to my spot. We take off for another six hour drive. This is what sucks the most; all the driving. I'm used to it but still it's tedious at some points. Grandpa Shane looks back every once in a while to make sure that everyone is keeping pace. I look around at the camera's that are everywhere. I know they don't work anymore but still it's kind of creepy having them around.

We pull over into the cover of darkness and turn our bikes off. We hide them as quickly as possible and then hide ourselves. I don't think anyone was hit, but I'm not positive. The shots were so close. Grandpa Mason is off to my right and dad is off to my left, I have no idea where the rest of them are. I stay perfectly still and silent. I hear footsteps approaching, coming from my North-West. Then it stops. "Ah Sal, we lost 'em!" 

"I told you not to fire at them you idiot! This is all your fault!" a male voice, who I'm assuming is Sal shouts.

 "Whatever let's just move on, they're gone and I'm not searching this damn forest for some chumps!" the other male says.

We wait for some time, probably about a half hour. Then I hear my dad's voice, "Logan? Logan it's alright, come on out." 

So I get up and dust myself off. I look around; 1,2,3,4,5... where's number 6? I look around again, count and recount, yes there are only 5 of us. Dad, Grandpa Shane, Grandpa Mason, Grandma Ginny, and myself; where the hell is Grandma Regan? I turn to my dad; "Where the hell..."; and then I see Grandpa Mason kneeling on the ground. Is he crying? He can't be, he wouldn't cry. I slowly walk over to him, "Grandpa?". He doesn't even move. I come around and look at his face. Then I look down at his arms. Blood. A lifeless body. A face. Number 6. Nobody really liked her but it's still so surreal. I mean this can't really be happening; can it? I just kneel down on the other side of the body.

Finally dad comes over and picks me up. He sets me down just a few feet away from the pyre. Then he picks up Grandma Regan's body. He puts her on the pyre and pours gasoline over her to help her body burn. Grandpa Mason comes and stands next to me. Dad lights a stick and looks at Grandpa Mason, who nods his head, and dad sets fire to all four sides and then throws the stick on top. Dad looks at me and doesn't say anything. I know she is, no was, Catholic. She taught me the prayer to say once someone dies. So I stand up and make the sign of the cross. Then I say it so everyone can hear over the roar of the fire:

God our Father,
Your power brings us to birth,
Your providence guides our lives
And by Your command we return to dust.
Lord, those who die still live in Your presence,
Their lives change but do not end.
I pray in hope for my family, relatives, and friends,
And for all the dead known to You alone.
In company with Christ,
Who died and now lives,
May they rejoice in Your kingdom
Where all our tears are wiped away.
Unite us together again in one family,
To sing Your praise forever and ever.
Amen