The Last Ones Left

Chapter Three

"Just--tell me what happened!" I beg Sarah, but she won't budge.

"No." a small, defiant tear creeps down her cheek.

"Don't you think I should know-"

"Just-- just no, okay?"

I don't push her any furthur. I guess I will know in due time.  

Caleb walks in, hair still wet from his shower. I can tell he knows we were figthing, but he doesn't bring it up.

"Hey, Caleb," Sarah says weakly. He nods absently. 

"What's up?" I ask. He's obviously grumpy-- usually he's talkative.

"Nothing. Just thinking about this."

"Any solutions?" Sarah asks.

"No. Well, none that don't involve us dying, or going back to the past-- which is impossible."

Nobody says anything, and I'm terrified that we will be stuck here, alone, for the rest of time. "Wait," I begin the contradiction, "I thought we couldn't die? How else would we be here?"

 "It's... not that simple," Caleb says.

"What do you mean?" Nobody responds. "Hello? I just woke up a couple of days ago. You can't expect me to know everything."

"Christina, immortality doesn't mean you can't die. It means you're smart enough not to." He stands up, angrily. "We don't know any more than you do. Just because you don't know doesn't mean we do." Caleb storms out of the room.

"What was that about?" I ask Sarah.

"He doesn't like talking about... this. It reminds him of Gaia."

"What happened to Gaia? You said that she was an Immortal, too, but then you said we were the last ones alive."

"There was... an accident. A fire, around ten years after the world ended. She was blinded, and she... Died. We don't know why-- something to do with her eyes. The power comes from there. You lose your eyes, you lose your life." her eyes begin to water.

"Oh, my God, I'm sorry," I say. "Where was the fire? And- and how did I survive it if I was asleep?"

"It was in our old warehouse. Some embers from a burned down city... Caleb was in your room, and he dragged you out just in time. I was with Gaia... I couldn't help her. It all happened so quickly. I felt so bad."

"Sarah, I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," she snaps.

"I guess so, but if I weren't asleep, I'd be able to help her, and Caleb would, too."

"It's not your fault," she says, more forcefully. I give up on convincing her that, in some distant way, I was responsible.

---

I keep pestering my siblings to tell me the whole story; who I am, what happened to me, what happened to Gaia, but they refuse.

"You'll know when you need to," Caleb snaps.

"Time will reveal everything," Sarah says sadly.

I nod, though I am still upset on the inside. Everyone should know where they came from, shouldn't they? Isn't it a right of theirs to know the whole story?

My siblings disagree. They seem to want to forget what happened. It's almost funny. I long to know, and they plead for ignorance.

Sarah flings a bag around her shoulder and ties her boots tight. "I'm going into town," she says.

I stand hesitantly. "Can-- can I come? I want to help, however I can." I feel useless. All I've been doing for the past few days is dragging them down, and I don't want to deter them from getting what needs to be done.

 "No," Caleb says quickly.

"Yes," Sarah says stubbornly, giving Caleb a glare. "She didn't wake up just so she could lay in bed all day. She needs to help. You know that."

"But it's risky--"

"She's coming with me, with your permission or without."

He sighs. "Fine."

"Right answer." Sarah throws me a backpack, which I fail to catch. It falls to the ground, and I lean over to pick it up, embarrassed. I feel so clumsy.

 "Be ready in five minutes," Sarah commands. I nod.

 Sarah walks into the kitchen, getting something to eat, and I go into my room to get dressed. I try to dress in an outfit similar to Sarah's.

I sigh, throwing the last shirt in frustration. All of my shirts are too tight, too short, or too revealing. Did I grow while I was asleep? Or did I just have terrible taste in clothes as a kid?

"Sarah?" I call tentatively. I don't remember my childhood, but I can tell that I've never been comfortable talking about things like clothes.

"Yeah?" she says, stepping into my room.

"There's... a problem. None of my clothes fit," I gesture to the piles of shirts on the ground. 

She laughs. "Well, of course. It's been a few years... Come to my room. Maybe some of mine will fit."

"Okay," I say doubtfully. I follow her into her room and she opens the door to her closet.

"Wow," is all I can say.

Her closet is huge. It's bigger than my room. We walk inside, and I see hundreds of outfits, hundreds of shoes, nearly endless ammounts of purses and bags.

"I like clothes," she says, laughing.

"Yeah," I say, walking over to her shirts. "I- well- I didn't even know this house was big enough to fit a room this size."

She looks at me. Her eyes are glowing golden, and they are shimmering, sparkling. "Anything is possible," she says seriously. I nod.

Her eyes return to normal, and she begins digging through her shirts. "Hmm.. well... Maybe... No. What about-- no..."

Finally, she pulls out a shirt almost identical to the one she's wearing-- fitting, but comfortable-looking; it looks perfect for what we're about to do. It has lots of pockets, which is good for looting, it won't be too tight and make me uncomfortable, but it won't be too loose and get in the way.

"Here." she throws me the shirt. "Keep it."

I smile. "Thanks. Now... do you have any pants?"

"Of course!" she says, pulling out a pair of pants. "Try these."

"Got it." Then, I think of something, and I blush. I lean in, and say as a whisper, "Um... what about... underclothes?"

"Yeah, I have some undershirts right here--"

"No, not undershirts," I say, blushing even more, "underwear."

She laughs loudly. "I knew you'd ask about that." She walks over to a drawer and pulls out a packet of the desired clothing item. "This packet is unopened," she says, throwing it to me, "and..." she opens another drawer, "these are unused." She throws me a bra.

"Um, thanks," I say, leaving the closet.

"Just ask if you need any more clothes.

"Will do." I go back into my room and get dressed.

I walk out a few minutes later and grab something to eat. "Ready?" Sarah asks.

I nod.