The Sky Beneath Us (on hold)

EIGHT

The room was bright, everything lit up as Avery looked around him. There was a girl, pretty, maybe a teenager by her looks but at the same time could have been in her twenties. She was crying, sitting in a cold black wheelchair that contrasted the paleness of her skin. Her ache could be felt reverberating around the whole room, pulsating through Avery's being. He wanted to help her, comfort her in some way, but as he drew near, she screamed horrifically and deafeningly until his eardrums ruptured and his head exploded in a shower of...Darkness.

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Day 2. 03:38.

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Avery woke up suddenly, sweat covering his brow and neck. Mark's screams of pain echoed behind closed doors in another room. Wesley and Sadie were still getting the bullet fragments out.

Wesley had basic medical knowledge from his military service. Sadie had studied nursing for a year before dropping out and joining Avery's workplace. The pair had been working for hours, at least five, desperately trying to seal the wound and stem the blood flow.

Avery had fallen asleep waiting.

They were in the basement of an old supply warehouse for a major multinational. Avery checked his watch - 03:38am. A new day. The only light came from small glass windows on the ceiling-floor. It was still a deep blue out there, the same hue it had been for over twelve hours now. The sun never set, and nor would it rise.

Heck, did the sun even exist anymore?

Becca was also awake, sitting under a thin blanket between Pam and a drooling Sid. Noticing Avery's sudden kick start, she steadily got to her feet and wandered over. She nudged his shoulder gently with her fist before falling cross legged onto the ground before him. They locked eyes, some sort of mutual understanding coming between them.

"I still want you to lead us Avery", she whispered in the momentary silence.

"I know", he replied, "but it's hard Becca, first Tom, and then Paul..."

They had wrapped up Paul and cast him to the sky, Wesley praying with Christ's cross as the body fell. Pam was a Chinese Buddhist, and Sid a Turkish Muslim, but they didn't shy away from Wesley's preaching. Death spoke the same language after all, especially now.

Avery searched deep into Becca's big brown eyes, wanting to know what was running through her head. They glared back into his blue confidently, perhaps thinking the same thing.

"Mark will make it, trust me" she reassured him, placing her hand on his and squeezing tight.

"You know?"

"I know".

Avery smiled, not much of a smile, but there. She had driven away his doubts on the matter, just like that.

Mark let out another pained shout, but quieter this time.

"How do they sleep through that?" Avery asked surprised, indicating Pam and Sid. Not far away, Chad's legs hung out of an open crate - they discovered the blankets in there.

Becca smirked, "they found ear plugs a while back, but it was just a three-pack sadly", she replied.

They continued talking, discussing normal stuff like none of the terrible things around them were happening, or ever happened. It was a new day, and Avery could face his problems later. For now he was going to put his mind at ease, and finally settle his overcrowded conscience.

***

Day 2. 09:45.

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Avery was woken up by someone calling his name, not in panic, but gently, merely trying to wake him up. Head groggy, he attempted to sit up and found Becca's arm wrapped around his torso. Her face was buried in his shoulder - had they really fallen asleep beside each other?

She woke up at his movements, and her eyes darted towards Avery before she pulled her arm to her own chest abruptly. "Oh...oh, ehm...sorry" she blurted out as she jolted to her feet.

Avery followed suit, seeking out the source of the voice that was calling him. It was Sadie, standing at the door of the makeshift operation room. Avery expected to see a deep frown or a tear on her dark face, but was met instead by beaming teeth and a merry tone.

Sensing what came next, Avery followed her in to the room, past the barriers, and to the three crates they had pulled together as a sort of bed. It was blood soaked, a scary amount, and occupied by Mark, who turned his head to smile at Avery as he approached.

"You're one crazy son of a bitch, you know that?" Avery laughed as he pulled up a stool and planted himself beside his friend.

"Yeah well, you wouldn't move your ass so I did" he responded gruffly, a grin managing to penetrate through his scruffy beard. He had made it, just like Becca had said he would. Not everyone got shot and lived to tell about it.

"I'm glad you're okay, and it feels damn good to have you back in the land of the living", Avery smiled.

"I never left", Mark winked in return.

At that, Becca and the others swamped the room to offer him their relief at news of his wellbeing.

They'd spend another day here in the warehouse basement, let Mark get some vital bed time, get their priorities in order. Today was about rest, and trying to figure out the new world they'd been forced into. They needed food, water and medicine - and Avery knew exactly where they would head next.