Eyes

Letting Go

September 2nd

Week 6 of isolation

                 The first three weeks of isolation were quite easy, we had no where to go and nothing to do. We played lots of board games together and watched a lot of movies. When week four started, mom got really sick. She isolated herself in her bedroom. Dad had to sleep on the couch, and stay away from her. That was the hardest part for him. He didn't want her to be alone when she died. We knew she would eventually, we just didn't know when. On Wednesday afternoon, she called to us to the door. She wanted us to know how much she loved us. She said she was just too tired to fight anymore. Dad couldn't handle himself. He went in and closed the door, and held her until the next morning. It was so hard to let her go, but I knew she was going to be okay.

              I woke up the next morning and figured I would make my dad and I some breakfast. I called for my dad but all I could hear was loud pain filled moans filling the house. I called again but the noise only got louder. I followed the noise curiously to see if my dad was okay. I found he sounds to be coming from the bathroom, there my dad was leaning over the toilet , violently heaving . He looked over at me and I knew just by looking into his eyes. He was sick too. I stepped back trying to keep my distance as he sat down on the cold tile of the bathroom. "I'm so sorry Ash, I shouldn't have gone in there, but I just couldn't let her go alone." My heart shattered. Choking back a sob I tried my best to stay strong for him. "It's okay dad, we'll get through this, you just need some rest." I slowly backed away to allow him the space to move through the  narrow doorway of the bathroom. He went to the guest bedroom and laid down. I put his breakfast by the door and quietly closed it.

              By Monday morning dad was worse than mom had been. He couldn't eat and he could barely sleep. His eyes were so blood-shot that I could barely see the once happy, and kind brown eyes. By Tuesday, he knew it was time for him to go, he called me to the door and said goodbye. "I love you Ashley." After those last four words, the house fell silent. I could barely handle the fact that I had already lost both of my parents. The rest of week 5 was full of tears and very intense cleaning. I was determined to make my parents proud after they had gone in such a terrible way. I knew I would be able to push through this.

              Week six. I had fallen asleep on the couch waiting for the news update when I was awoken by the sound of footsteps. I jumped up off the couch and ran to the corner of the family room, squatting down behind the couch so the intruder couldn't see me. The front door slowly creaked open and a man stepped in. I looked very closely at the actions of this man and watched as he took off the mask he wore, flipped on the light and turned in my direction. I was quite shocked when I realized it was the boy from the diner. "Hello?" he faintly called out to see if anyone was here. I slowly rose from the floor into his view. He looked at me with a panicked look on his face when he saw me. "I am so sorry, I thought this house was abandoned, I thought there would be some food here I could take back-" 

"Take back where?" I questioned curiously.

"To the orphanage" He stated shyly.

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly.

"I'm fine, are you okay?" He asked sweetly.

"No, my parents are gone" I mumbled.

"I'm so sorry" He said sympathetically. 

"It's not your fault" I said sadly.

He walked father into the house with a cautious gaze plastered to his face. He slowly took in his surroundings. Then he looked at me, and his eyes lit up "You're the girl from the diner! Ashley isn't it?"

"That's me. How do you know my name?" I said quizzically .

"I overheard your parents talking to you before you had left." He stated.

"Oh. Whats your name?" I questioned.

"I'm Jake" He said kindly.

"Well i'ts nice to formally meet you Josh." I said.

"Nice to meet you too  Ashley."

The rest of the night we talked. We talked about the virus and how Jake thinks the government made the virus to knock out some of the population. He told me about his sister named Tessa, was ten. I told him about my parents and what happened. He told me about how his parents died in a car crash when he was ten. He and his sister have been living in the orphanage, and that's why he was looking for supplies. It was just before sunrise when he realized that he needed to get back to looking for supplies. He said the orphanage relied on him, because he was the oldest one there. 

"Why don't you come back with me?" He asked.

"I can't leave, I'll get caught" I said.

"Not if you're with me" He said honestly.

"Are you sure?" I asked worriedly.

"I promise" He said genuinely.

"Okay, let me go pack a bag and we'll take back some supplies for the orphanage."I said.

I quickly walked to my room and packed my necessities. Clothes, toothbrush, hair brush, and a pair of shoes. I stuffed all of that into a backpack and closed my bedroom door. When I got back to the family room, Josh sat on the couch waiting. I led him to the kitchen and we grabbed a few old bags and began to pack what was left.  Once we had all that we could carry, we went through the front door.

"If you see people wearing sunglasses, run"