In the Willows

Chapter Fourteen: Ghosts of the Past Pt.1

Boston, ten years ago. Kyan's POV

You sit with your brother on roof of the apartment complex.

"You think this'll ever end?" asks your brother Martin.

"What will?"

"The virus."

"One day it will."

"You think the Fireflies will help us?"

"They have been already, they got us more food for us to eat remember?"

He nods, "Yeah, I guess."

"Everything ok buddy?"

He turns and looks at you, "Are you coming with us tomorrow?"

"To see Uncle Mitch? Of course I am."

He looks down, "You and mom got into it again. Why do you make her mad all the time Kyan?"

You scoff, "She doesn't like me out on my own so much, wants me to stay inside the house."

"Do you hate us? Is that why you always are gone?"

You put a hand on his shoulder, "I don't hate you, or mom. One day, when you're older, you'll understand why I'm gone so much."

"Martin! Where are you honey!" calls your mom.

"Time for you to leave, I'll meet you at the gate tomorrow."

"We're leaving at ten o'clock." he said getting up and heading to the fire escape stairs.

"I'll be there."

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You wake up to a slap in the face from a rag. You sit up to look for the culprit.  

"Whatcha think Marlene has planned for us Kyan?"

You look up at your friend who's leaning on the kitchen bar counter.

"I don't know Donovan, probably another recon or getting more ration cards. Small shit like usual."

"I heard different this time."

You raise an eyebrow, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, somethin big."

"You said that the last time you idiot." you say leaning back onto the couch.

"I'm serious this time!"

You look at your watch, it's 10:06 am.

"Oh shit I'm late." you say standing up and heading to the door.

"Tell Martin I said what's up!" he says as you exit the apartment.

You run down the stairs and head out into the somewhat empty street of the Boston quarantine zone.

A FEDRA guard is standing in front of a police barricade.

He adjusts his rifle as you approach, "Keep walking."

You eye the man and don't respond. You walk by a couple civilians being checked for the virus. You reach the gate and pull out your documentation.

"State your business." says the guard holding out his hand to stop you.

"Gonna see some family. It's my day off."

He nods and opens the gate. You exit the quarantine zone and jog down the road. You make a right and see your mom and younger brother walking ahead of you in the distance.

"Mom! I'm sorry I lost track of time!" you call out while jogging over to them.

She turns around to face you. A military cargo truck passes them on the street. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, a deafening explosion sends you flying backwards.

"Fireflies! Lock the gate down!" yells a guard.

Bullets start flying around the area.

You cough some sitting up, "Mom? Martin?"

You look to where the explosion happened, where your family was standing. Nothing. You slowly stand up and limp towards the scene. You finally reach where your mom and brother were once standing and see a lone tennis shoe. You reach down and pick it up.

"M-Martin?"

You look around frantically trying to find any trace of them. The only thing left is the tennis shoe that once belonged to Martin.

You drop to your knees clutching the shoe. The gunfire around you slowly drowns out leaving an eerie silence.

You clutch the shoe close to you, trying to comprehend what just happened when a hand grabs onto you.

"Kyan, c'mon we have to move!"

You throw the hand off you, "Get your hands off of me!"

A loud ringing infiltrates your ears. You choke back tears as you hold your ears trying to stop the ringing.

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Present

Y/N pauses before heading inside the building, "Everything ok?"

You sniff, still looking up at the sky holding back tears, "Yeah."

Y/N nods, "I- I'll see you later."

Y/N turns and walks inside the building.

You punch the wall behind you, "Goddammit not now."

You sit back onto the wall rubbing your eyes, pushing the memories far back into your mind. You don't want to remember those times. Your brother is dead, there's no going back to save him. But maybe if......

You slam another fist into the wall behind you.

"No, get over it Kyan. Y/N needs you now." you whisper to yourself.

You hang your head low and let out a shaky breath, "I wasn't there for Martin, but I'll be there for you Y/N."

Hey! I apologize for the long wait for posting a chapter. There WILL be a longer chapter posted today. Work just kicked back into full effect so I was busy getting burnt outside this week. How's everyone? I heard school started for some people.

Also hello to the 15% of people from the United Kingdom and the 5% from Egypt! I didn't expect readers above the age of 45 to read my story but I appreciate it!

I've been going through the statistics part thing on the website and its pretty cool. Hopefully me talking about this doesn't bore you. But anyway, if anyone has ideas or thoughts PLEASE let me know. I'd love to hear some new ideas and thoughts on what you guys want to see.

1102 reads and 119 votes! Thank you!

Also thank you herbalmite97 and coolcian04 for following!

Ok ok, you probably don't want me rambling on any further, but thank you all for the support on this story.

Anyways, have a good day.

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