The Runaways

Chapter Sixteen - Warren and Cleveland's Last Tweleve Months

Cleveland

The sun had started to rise by the time we all decided to stop to rest. We had been running from the syndicates for hours halfway through the night and we were all exhausted. Remington was extremely hesitant about stopping but he agreed that we should catch up on our sleep.

"I don't want us all here for too long, only two hours, Syndicates can track people down faster than you think," Remington said in a half yawn as he set all his stuff into the ground, "Two hours then we keep going in another direction to throw them off for good—"

"No one cares." Elias said as he was laying down on his blanket using his backpack as a pillow.

I sat next to Warren who had just about fallen asleep the second he laid down. Despite being tired I was still pumped full of nervous energy. I say there with my legs pulled up to my chest while I tapped my thumbs together quickly.

"Is he like, your dad  or uncle or something?"

I glanced up to see Remington looking at me waiting for a response.

"Oh no we're not related," I said as I avoided eye contact and stared at the ground, "He was my neighbor when the bombs went off."

"Oh, that makes more sense now." Remington said.

I could still remember that day so vividly. I wish I didn't. Sometimes I can still feel that one last right hug my Mom gave me while we were hunkered down in my basement while my Dad tired to block us in with cushions. I can also still feel the blood dripping  down my shoulders from when a support beam shit right through her back. I can remember screaming and crying because I didn't know what was going on and the blast was so loud, we were covered in rubble and blood and I was so scared.

I was only ten. What else was I supposed to do.

After screaming loud enough I heard Warren and his wife trying to get all the rumble off of me. Warren's wife Olivia pulled me out the second I could see, and she forced me into a hug so I wouldn't be able to see my parents dead bodies. I'm glad she did that. Feeling my moms blood on me was traumatizing enough. As much as I wanted to turn around, she never let me. She just kept telling me everything would be okay. I miss Olivia sometimes, I know I shouldn't. I know I should be mad at her. She left me Warren and their daughter for no reason. Sure she and Warren had been fighting a lot up until then but, it was normal for couples to do that. I remember at first Warren had thought she had been taken, but he quickly put the pieces together. All her stuff went with her.

Even still, as much as I've heard Warrens rant sessions about what a horrible person she was for leaving him to take care of me and his daughter out of no where. I've cried a lot wondering if all those years she never actually cared about me, and she had been wanting to be rid of me the entire time. All those times she would hold me when I was crying, or when she would cut my hair, or when she would cook for me. Did she do all of that and hate it? I still can't understand, she always seemed happy, she would smile everyday and laugh with us. Why would she leave Warren to do all this by himself?

Does she know her daughter got kidnapped by syndicates seven months ago? Would she even care that for seven months me and Warren have traveled all the way to the Midwest just to get the six year old she up and left on?

Would she be proud of me?

But why should I care I'm supposed to hate her right? I'm supposed to be angry, but I still miss her, a lot. I can't pretend that I haven't notice how much Warren has changed since she left. I can't pretend that Warren wasn't struggling to take care of his daughter without her either. A single parent in the apocalypse isn't exactly a cake walk, especially when you've never gotten closure. When you've never even been given a reason. How are you supposed to make a five year old (at the time) understand when even you can't. How are you supposed to deal with knowing so much your entire life and being able to figure everything out and to think everything through. Warren was a college freshman at Harvard when he was thirteen. I can't imagine having all that normalcy come to a screeching halt just after one night. 

I feel bad for Warren so much, he's done so much to help me and get I can only help him when he falls asleep in an inconvenient place. He's tried so hard to protect me and his daughter. I worry he's getting hard on himself, I worry that this past year has made him think he's the issue. I wish I knew how to tell him in a way that would make him believe it.

I hope he knows I'm proud.