The Plague

Chapter fifteen

Another round of silence followed. The thought of leaving Brad alone, with strangers, was frightening. They could only hope he was okay.

The ride was long and boring again. The bare road moved by, as dead trees were seen at the distance.

At least, they were slower than before. Ruby seemed more relaxed but distant.

Lucy stared, out the window, at nothing in particular. She missed having people around. Eventhough a lot of people could be mean, selfish, cruel, and the likes. A world without them was no better.

Tyler was asleep beside her. His head rolled left and right as the car hit bumps.

The windows were down and the air seemed chillier than before. They must be getting close.

Something caught Lucy's eyes from a far. She couldn't really make it out, until she strained her eyes.

"Ruby!" She hit her, knocking her out of oblivion .

"What?" Her voice didn't sound angry or annoyed, it was more of disbelief.

"It's a park. An amusement park" she said, full of delight. Tyler groaned, waking up.

"Can you keep it down" she frowned at him and turned back to Ruby.

"Can we please go there?" She pleaded. Ruby didn't answer at first. She kept on driving, then slowly turned left into a dirt road.

The amusement park grew bigger, as they drove towards it. The rollercoaster towering over everything else.

"Wake up" Lucy tapped Tyler. He sat up and gave her a quizzical look. She pointed ahead. He followed her finger to the front gate of the amusement park.

He placed his hand on his face and mumbled something about girls.

The car stopped at the front gate as she practically jumped out of the car, and sprinted to it.

She pushed it open, letting out a loud creaking sound. They both, slowly stepped out of the car. She skipped about and grabbed Tyler's hand.

"Come" she dragged him as he almost tripped and tried to keep up with her.

Something in Ruby squeezed, she was hurt. Was it her conscience? Was it her dark heart? She felt left out, alone.

She walked into the park, slowly. Different memories of the others flooding her mind. She was ... depressed?

Her mum's voice rang out to her.
Smile
But how could she? With everything happening. With all she had done.

She looked around. The stand, to buy tickets, was broken and looked ancient. The various decorations littered the floor. The colours were faded.

She dug her hands into her front pockets. She felt something, she couldn't remember putting anything there.

She brought it out, to see a white crucifix and a letter.

This is for you. You might not need it now, but use it to know you aren't alone.

She crunched up the paper and her face in the process. Stopping tears threatening to spill.

She breathed in and held the crucifix to her chest.

***

"Look" Lucy squealed as she ran towards a swing. " my brother and I used to compete with this. Who ever got to the highest point first would pick what we'd have for dinner. "

She dusted the seat of the swing and sat in it

"Since I was taller, I had an advantage. So we had to start from it being vertical. Wanna play?"