Vestige | The Society

Five | Guns

Alex went around the supermarket, picking things off the shelves, but never taking everything. She took the minimum she could. Everyone needed these things. Everyone was panicking, running around like headless chickens and falling apart. It was chaos. An unorderly mess of teenagers trying to survive on their own.

As soon as she had the food she needed, she headed back to Grizz's house. He was out on the trip, looking for a way out. She put everything in the cupboards, before waiting, scared. She was alone. Usually, she'd find this peaceful, being completely, utterly alone with no one around. Now, it was worse than when she thought there was a monster in her bed.

Soon they were called to the church. Why? no one knew. Alex sat with her knees pulled to her chest, her head scanning everyone who was there. Her eyes landed on dark brown hair. A boy she'd never paid much attention too. 'How could I not know you?' She asked herself. She was a wallflower in the sense that she knew most people, even if they didn't know her. However, this boy was a mystery.

Everyone muttered amongst themselves. The boy turned around and gave her a small smile, as though he could read her. He got up and sat next to her. "I'm Sylver," He had a childish grin on his face which seemed contagious.

"Alexandrea," She greeted back.

"You know, staring at people isn't the best way to get their attention," He teased. She let out a small laugh, pacing her head in her hands. Her cheeks grew warm as she looked at him.

"Oh, haha, so funny,"

He laughed with her, making them receive a few confused looks, only making them laugh harder. "I should become a comedian," He stated. Alex shook her head.

"Please don't," They stopped laughing as Cassandra's voice rang out.

"Listen. Hey, listen up!" She called out, sitting so everyone could see her. "while we're all here, together, there are some things that we ought to figure out. Before we rip this place apart and maybe... you know, start hurting each other. I don't know what the hell is going on. Maybe Luke will come back with some good news,"

"Maybe? Of course, he will," Harry turned and grabbed Alex's hand, seeing the panic flash in her eyes. She cared a lot about Luke and Grizz. She was scared that one of them had gotten hurt.

"Yeah, why don't we just wait and see, Cassandra?" Harry asked. Sylver looked at Ale seeing her eyes looking distant as she stared at one spot and the tight grip she had on Harry's hand.

"Because I would rather prepare for the worst before the worst happens," Harry's eyes turned to a slit. Alex was shaking beside him, worried that her friends might be hurt and Cassandra was paying no attention.

"What does that mean, prepare?"

"I don't know specifically, but I think it means... we agree not to just take things when we want. Until all the food is gone and we starve," Everyone began talking between themselves again. Sylver turned to Alex, his heart was beating out of his chest. She looked like a scared child.

"It's okay," He told her. She looked at him with doubtful eyes but he just gave her a reassuring smile in response. She wanted to believe him, but her head always expected the worst to happen.

"Well, I'd agree to that," Allie added on.

"This is bullshit,"

"Harry,"

"Jesus man, what is your problem?" Will spoke over Alex who was trying to calm Harry down. Instead, making him more pissed off.

"No, Alex. What are we agreeing to, Cassandra? Which one of us gets to decide who gets what? Your friend?"

"It's called democracy," Rebecca butted in, obviously annoyed by him. It was late at night and everyone was tired. They didn't want to hear them arguing, again.

"I'm not a fucking idiot,"

"How do you want to decide things?" Cassandra asked Harry, "every person for themselves? Then we're back to where we started. Maybe you want to flip a coin to see who decides? You don't like democracy? How about random fucking chance?"

"This is going to end badly," Alex said shrinking into her chair. It was the bain of her existence, watching those two fight repetitively. They never got along.

"Call it, Harry. Call it," Cassandra ordered.

"I'm- I'm not going to do that,"

"Okay, okay. I'll call it for you. You get heads," Cassandra flipped the coin. The sound rang out in the silence of the church as everyone watched. "It's tails. Still, think it's unfair. Best two out of three," Them doing this continued for a while, each one being tails until it finally reached heads. Cassandra continued to give an inspirational speech as everyone listened. Soon enough, Harry was arguing with everyone again.

"I- don't have to listen to this. No-not any more," Alex stood up as well. Harry had offered her to stay at his until Grizz got back.

"Harry, this has nothing to do with you-" Gunshot. Alex fell to the ground with a scream, keeping her eyes shut. Memories flashed before her, making tears flow readily from her eyes. She didn't want to open her eyes, scared that she would see it all over again. Harry pulled her into his chest as she sobbed.

"It's okay," He whispered to her, trying to calm her down. She slowly opened her eyes and looked to see Campbell with a gun. A sense of relief and further fear washed over her. She was safe, it wasn't happening again. It wasn't happening again. She couldn't get the image out of her head. "It's okay, your not there, it's not happening, you're safe," Harry whispered to her.

"Well, fuck this. Harry's right," He walked down the aisle, stopping where Harry was and looked Alex. His proud face dropped as he saw her, realising what he triggered. "Sorry, Al. No one elected to you king, cousin. Did anybody vote for her? Did they? Anybody elect her to speak on your behalf? No?"

"I-I-I don't want to be king,"

"That's not what it looks like. Is it?"

"A. A. You're having a flashback, it is 2019, it's not happening anymore," Harry whispered to Alexandrea trying to get her out of her head. She was stuck. Stuck repeating the same scene over and over in her head.

"She's dead, she's dead... there's blood," She sobbed. She hated seeing it again. To her though, she was completely reliving the situation. It was occurring again and again.

"Hey, look at me, look at my eyes," She slowly turned her head to look at him. Looking at her made him go back tot hat day, just not in the same way. "Can I hold your hand," She nodded her head and held his hand as he held it in the middle of them. They went through the familiar action of squeezing and releasing, grounding her to the moment.

She seemed to calm down. Her breathing slowed but was still ragged with silent sobs. Harry pulled her into a hug, keeping her from looking at the things occurring and triggering herself again.

"Wanted to get everybody's attention," Campbell's voice itched her ears. "This meeting's obviously over. We'll be back when Luke gets here. Until then, if anybody else is tired of listening to her, you can follow me." Harry and Alex stood up. He had an arm wrapped around her as she was still shaking. Her eyes were trained on the floor. She felt weak and vulnerable. Two things she hated to feel.

"Hey, Kelly," He said as they shuffled over to her. She reluctantly stood up. "Let's go," They walked down the aisle. Harry kept on looking at Alex making sure she was okay. She smiled at him, but her hands quivered by her side.

I have done as much research as I can on PTSD but If I have written anything wrong or can improve it in any way, please tell me and I will improve/fix it.

Paiwaixx