How I See It

Chapter 5 - Unexpected Rebirth

It's been 2 days now. 2 whole days since that van exploded. I'm still shocked. That woman... She... She helped us. I couldn't recognize her face. My vision was blurry after I hit my head.

All I can remember was an officer shouting to hold on. We obeyed and suddenly the van rolled over and off a cliff. How I survived will always be a mystery. Next thing I know was that I was outside the van with two other guys lying on the ground, still unconscious. The van exploded seconds after.

I could feel the heat rising and getting closer and closer to my face that was bruised. Luckily we were a few meters away from the van.

My mind was confused. I searched around with the sight of my eyes and all I could see was burning flames, a cliff, the two other guys still passed out and tress behind me. I tried to push myself to get up but I was still so weak.

A deepen cough got released a few meters away from me. I turned my head quickly and saw that one of the inmates have woken up. I push myself again to get up and this time I manage to get on my knees.

I look at my hands and rest my face in them. "Hey..." he says with a weak voice. I lift my head and look at him. He looks older than me. Probably 17 or 18.

"Hey" I answer back. "What the hell happened, man?"
I look back at the van. "That happened. Some girl carried us out before it exploded. Didn't see her face clearly." There's silence and the only sound that I could hear was the flames calming down a bit. "We gotta get out of here. I don't know where we're gonna go, but we can't go back to Hazardville. We just... We can't. Not unless we wanna get locked up again." The inmate stares at me and nods.

He tilts his head and sees the other inmate still asleep. He moves closer and frowns. He stares at the inmate and slowly presses his ear against his chest. I look at him while my hands start to shake. His eyes meet mine. He lifts his head up. He swallows hardly. "He's dead."

I cover my mouth with my hands and try not to scream. My eyes slowly meet his closed eyes. I take my hands away and look back at the inmate. "We have to go. Now." The inmate stands up and he groans in pain. He looks at me and offers his hand to me. I take it and he helps me up. "Thanks."

We look at the scene one last time and we start walking into the woods. "Hey, I didn't quite catch your name. I'm Noah." He looks at me and hold his hand out. "Gray. Gray Peterson." We shake hands. "Nice to meet you Gray." "Likewise."

"So tell me, how'd you end up in juvie?" He looks at the sky and closes his eyes. His takes a deep breath and exhales. He opens his eyes and looks forward again.

"My mom had cancer. I couldn't stand her struggling. She was busy dying while we could have the time of our life's. So, I wanted to... help her. One night me and my friends got drunk and walked passed the bank. We saw that no one was looking and we umm... you know... robbed it. I took half of the money because of my mom and I wanted to pay for her chemo. But the next morning the cops came and arrested me. I found out the day after that my mother passed away."

I look at him with pity. "I... I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry, Gray." "Yeah. Thanks." He wipes off some tears and start acting normal again.
"So how bout you? How'd you end up in juvie?"

I lift my eyebrows and sigh. "To keep the story short, I got framed for one of my 'used-to be friend's' murder. They found me guilty because they found my fingerprints on him the day they found him hanging in front of his house. People thought that it was suicide but they found stabbing wounds on his neck. He was last seen at my house."

He looks at me and his mouth is wide open. " That's bullshit man. That's the only evidence they found?" I look at him and lift my eyebrows again. "Yep. Messed up thing was that I was about to get to know the girl of my dreams. Literally. But now that won't happen. And my mom and sister... Oh shit, what have I done?"

I rest my head in my hands. I feel a hand on my shoulder and I lift my head. "Hey, you said you were innocent and I believe you. You couldn't have done anything. Just believe that everything will be just fine." I smirk. "Thanks, Gray."

We locate a cave and decide to take shelter before it gets dark. The only food we have to eat are cockroaches and lizards. I try not to think the worst. I manage to catch a cockroach and kill it. I look at it and swallow loudly. I open my mouth and I put it on my tongue. I feel barf coming up and I close my nose and chew quickly. I swallow and suddenly get goosebumps.

Gray laughs at me and does the same thing I just did. We kept on talking for about 10 more minutes before we both fell asleep. All I could think about was what my mother and sister must be going through right now. I was thinking about if my mother had told my father. She probably did. I mean, he's still my father. I can't wrap it around my head.

Everybody thinks I'm dead. But then my mind clicked. What if I could stay dead? I could run off to a new country and take my mom and sister with me. Hell, even my father too. I could just change their minds about each other. We could be a happy family again.

But then reality hits me. I don't know why I just thought about that. I mean it would be fun and all, but unfortunately I can't change the past. I just need to accept that.