Alone

Chapter 1

The sun has started to set and its powerful rays start to cast a subtle orange overlay on the large oak biome. Dead leaves fall slowly in front of Max and I. Max sighs. I know all she wants to do is cry out in frustation, but she wont. She's too smart. 

"Do you think its here?" Max asks me trying to sound as optimistic as possible.

"I really hope so" we are referring to a rare plant that could possibly carry the cure for this global pandameic . We shoud rest, its been a week since we entered this labrynth of a forest. 

"Rest?" I ask my best friend.

She nodds slowly as she sets her large rugsack on the damp soil. I watch her as she props herself up agaisnt a thin tree. She sighs loudly again, I see tears well up in her eyes. I have never seen her cry, I never want to. She's strong, any sort of comfort will make her worse right now. It will remind her of her family, her mum and dad.... gone.

"Ill get wood and anything that can burn" I say quietly "remain alert"

"I will" she sniffles as she grabs a knife from her bag and pushes herself up from the ground.

I nod and force a smile to my face as I leave her alone to get it back together. I want to comfort her, I want to be there for her. But in moments like these we cant waste time comforting and crying over the past. Its sounds morbid and sick but it has to be done and I hope she can understand that.

As I pick some berries from a wild bush I watch the gushing stream flow by quickly and I cant help but get distracted by it. I watch each wave quickly form and then get crushed by other waves. I chuckle as it reminds me of life in a way. Building up something you are proud of until something more powerful destroys it. I reflect on how much I need max with me as I have only been away from her for about 4 maybe 5 minutes and I miss her presence.

I head back to our "base" and shove some logs onto the ground. Max pulls a bit of flint and a stone from the bag. She works hard on the make shift fire and it reminds me of when we were in scouts. We would have been the worst at lighting fires at the start of the year but Max and I are workers. By the end of the year the flames of our fire was dancing higher than anyone elses.

Night slowly creeps its way into our world and diamonds appear one by one in the sky forming a sinister smile in the dark grey canvas and after a while the night has gained itself some pearly white friends. Max is asleep and I stare at her as she sleeps. Admiring her. She's beautiful. I drift off to sleep thinking about her..

                                                                           *        *        *

The house was grey, dull and smelt like smoke and used coal. It was my house, I was dreaming. Luckily I was a lucid dreamer and I could tell between reality and dreams. I've had this dream multiple times and I know there is no avoiding it. I stand in the hall of my house, my mother stands just ahead of me staring out at my father and my younger sister, Elise. I walk up to my mother who still faces away from me.

"Mum?" I ask, I know what will happen but there is no avoiding my fate. The dream wont end until I do what has to be done. She turns around slowly, her face is expressionless, grey, skinny and her eyes they are filled with blood and her mouth is wide open.This doesnt faze me, not anymore, im used to it...