The dark days

In the jungle

  Some hours had passed by, but I still felt like I had just witnessed the event; the event which lead to the deaths of all four of those bandits.

  I felt numb and..scared. My stomach growled fiercely, and I clutched it tightly, trying to lessen the pain. How long had it been since I had last ate? Definitely well over half a day, and I was starving. I looked over at Lucy and she looked like she wasn't faring much better either. This was only made worse by the fact that nature had decided to call, and I felt like my insides might burst soon if I didn't answer.

  We should have moved a long time ago, but I didn't want to make Lucy go through a possible repeat of everything again. The poor girl was traumatized, and needed to recover because..well this wouldn't be the last horrific experience we would come across.

  I couldn't lie though, I was stalling because I was scared too. After all, how many more times could I get lucky? So far I'd survived, but it was all luck, and I couldn't put Lucy in danger. We'd only known each other for a day or two, but I felt responsible for her; sort of like an.. older brother to her.

"Zack?" asked Lucy, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yeah? What is it Lucy?" I replied, looking at her with my grayish green eyes

"H..how did you survive for so long in s..such a horrible world?" she asked.

"I didn't, at least not consciously" I answered, which brought some surprise to Lucy's face.

"What do you mean?" she inquired, her curiosity increasing.

  "Well, I know this sounds crazy, but I've been in a coma for around a year, and I only regained consciousness the day before I met you" I explained to her, feeling more and more sheepish with every word because of how ridiculous it sounded.

  "Oh wow" she looked at me in amazement like a kid who just met their superhero, "How did you manage to do that?"

I chuckled, "What can I say, I'm a sleep lover, though I think I really regret getting out of bed"

She giggled at my reply, "No I mean, how did you get in to the coma?"

  "Oh that!" I said, smiling, "I just got involved in an accident, but it doesn't matter because I came out alright." I kept my smile but inside I felt that mix of emotions again; the very combination which I had experienced before. Did my friend make it out alright? Was he still alive? And dare I say it, was my family still alive? I had all these burning questions in the back of my head, but I just couldn't find any answers.

"Zack, are you alright?" Lucy asked in a concerned manner, hugging me.

  "Sorry I was just..thinking of something" I answered, before putting a question to her, "Oh and since you asked me, how did you manage to survive so long in such horrid conditions?"

  "Well..i didn't manage to on my own. Caroline and the others found me after a while and I don't know why they kept me with them but..yeah. I hated them but I definitely wouldn't have survived without them" Lucy told me, looking down and sighing, pushing strands of her long blonde hair out of the way. "Them and my doll.." she stopped and tightened her fists, trying not to cry.

  Seeing her about to cry I put my arms around her and pat her back gently to console her. I decided to change the subject for now to get her mind off of her doll, and I looked up at the sky.

"The stars do look pretty, don't they?" I murmured.

  "They do" Lucy agreed, looking up at the perfect blend of orange and purple that was the sky. It was in one of it's final moments before turning to a pristine black color, lit up by hundreds and hundreds of stars scattered across it. "I loved learning about the stars but..i've forgotten it all I suppose, I'm sorry."