2080

Chapter 7

• June 7th, 2080 •

Two days had past after the mall. Dawn came fast and the three of them were so tired. Harper could not stop coughing through the night, she was severely getting worser by the second. They continued to walk on.

Harper said that by the end of the day they should be there, it would be a long journey, but it would be worth it to live the rest of our lives in an area where we could be freely who we wanted. Harper looked up from the map in the dirt and looked for an expression. She hated these helmets because she couldn't see them and they had just found out the communication system.

They both gradually shook their head and grabbed their bags. Harper kicked the dirt over the lines making it invisible to anyone tracking or following them.

Harper trailed behind to be beside Addilyn.

"Hey, remember that theory I told you about one night." She said, breathlessly. They were gradually heading uphill now.

"Yeah, the one about beyond the mountain range?" Addilyn held Harper's gloved hand.

"Yeah. About only being able to make the journey once because of the amount of radiation." What Harper said made Addilyn stop in her tracks as Jerome walked on.

"Was that real?" Addilyn said. She feared for the worst, Harper had made this kind of journey before.

"I might not make it, Addilyn." Harper squeezed her hand. Addilyn stood there weakly. She felt faint. Harper was willing to risk her life for them to get out and be safe somewhere free. Addilyn was speechless. "And if something happens to me," she stops to cough. Nobody could tell besides through her body motions and the audio from inside her helmet. "I need you to keep going. Do you understand me?"

Addilyn shook her head, "yes..." she answered sheepishly.

They continued to walk up the mountain range, this would take about until sunset to reach the top of the ranges in order to see the wall, if there even was a wall.

Addilyn looking back, she couldn't really see anything past the sand storm in the distance, but somehow all she could remember in this moment of going up the mountain side, was when she was back inside her room staring at the mountains everyday. Who knew they a wall could be on the other side of it. Every single day she watched the sun set and the sun rise and those mountains called to her from the distance, she had a gut instinct there could be more, but she never knew she would luckily be able to find out herself.

The three of them trekked up the mountain side, they breathed heavily as they climbed up them, being stuck in a community so small, there was no uphill climbing they did at all, Addilyn hardly remembered when she did Cross Country in 6th grade and her theory to it all, but it was one of the worst things she had ever done to her body and mind. Cross country took a lot of discipline, just like what they were doing now, but there wasn't a ribbon to run through at the end of this race against time, it was possibly the rest of the world surrounded by a wall to keep the bad things out.

The audio was turned off, Addilyn laughed silently to herself, she didn't want to listen to everyone breath for a whole day, but that was the only thing keeping them alive was the breathing part. She was deeply worried about Harper, the mountain only got steeper and steeper. Addilyn was having a hard time breathing, she didn't know what Harper was going through. She grabbed her arm and pulled her along again after she had stopped to have a coughing fit, raising her helmet piece to vomit, Addilyn could see her face starting to look heavily sunburnt.

The sand storm had caught up with them as well and they were nearly to the top of the mountain. The sun escaped them on the other side, so she couldn't tell if it was in the process of setting or just hiding behind the mountain range.