I consider our options carefully, we've been doing OK me and Shae, better than I ever thought we would. We're hungry, but we're
strong. Its weird, we hardly eat or sleep but we keep going. It kind of feels like despite all of this we are somehow getting stronger. We don't need anyone else, do we? Truth is I'm scared of whats out there. What if its a trap?
"Its not a trap" Shae looks up and me, I'm startled.
"Since when were you a mind reader?"
"You don't want to know"
I cringe inwardly, just how much does he know? The thought cuts through me like a knife and i'm flooded with guilt. He must know how angry I've been, how resentful I am that he followed me.
"It's ok" he looks at me and I know he means it, "I am kind of annoying"
He's right, he is but he's my little brother and that's the rule isn't it. They're supposed to be annoying.
It stings, he's supposed to be annoying and I'm supposed to keep him safe, yet here we are barely surviving. Out here, on our own, or not as the case may be.
The sky is vivid, the angry purple glow cast shadows that I know hide unimaginable horrors. They hide us too, and I'm not ready to step out into the dawn just yet. My eyes have adjusted to the darkness, my senses alert, I feel electric, and I don't know if I'm imagining it but the silver sheen we cast illuminates the path ahead.
"Trust me" his voice is warm, at odds with the bleak chill of the evening. "I'm not a kid anymore" and I know deep down he's not. None of us are, not anymore. No one is going to save us, we have to save ourselves.
"OK" my racing heart betrays my attempt to be calm, to be in control. Who am I kidding, we both know I'm no good at this.
Shae, 5 years younger than me with a wisdom beyond both our years. I sense he knows more than he's letting on, but what choice do we have.
"We can't hide in the shadows forever"
YOU ARE READING
Neon Dawn
Teen FictionThe Neon Dawn exploded and took with it the most basic elements of humanity. Only a few survived the explosions, fewer still the mutations and those who did were the privileged few. Undeserving, greedy and corrupt, they created more devastation than...
