wasteland - dreamnotfound

Chapter Two

~|George|~

The bow feels perfect in my hands. One of my eyes are closed- A bad habit when it comes to archery, yes, but it helps. I feel the string become taut underneath my fingertips, the arrow beginning to quiver from the strain. 

I let go.

The arrow flies from my hand, but I don't notice, firing another two arrows in rapid succession with perfect aim. Each lands almost exactly on the makeshift target, the only thing keeping them perfectly on target the first arrow, which landed directly in the middle. 

"Yes! Let's go!" I exclaim, pumping my fist into the air and struggling to keep myself from hopping up and down. 

"Pog, George, you did it in under ten!" 

I spin around at the click of a stopwatch, smiling at the sight of my best friend. He brushes his raven hair out of his eyes, adjusting his white headband with a smile. I laugh lightly at the fact that he's wearing his 'signature' flame tee-shirt. 

"Ha! I told you I could do it, Sapnap." I grin, walking over to the target and pulling the arrows off briskly. 

"I never said you couldn't," Sapnap protests, "Just that it would be hard." 

I scoff softly, sliding the arrows into their quiver and slinging my bow over to my back. "That so? Because I specifically recall you saying-" I mock his American accent, "'You'll never beat your record, Gogy!'" 

Sapnap rolls his eyes, crossing his arms. "Yeah, well, that was the past. Now is now, and you did it. I'm proud of you." 

I smile, more genuine this time. "Thanks, Sap, I'm glad to have you. I'd probably be dead by now if it weren't for your axe skills." 

"Yeah, you would." 

"Dammit. Thought I could get away with that.." 

Sapnap just laughs softly, making me smile.

We walk into the old, run down cottage we'd been staying in, still giggling a little. It had a large hole in the roof, but neither of us minded too much anyway.  

I slump into an old chair that creaks eerily, dumping my stuff on the table.

"Sap, have you got a rock or something? I gotta sharpen this new knife for you." 

Sapnap hums softly, digging through their backpack for a heartbeat before revealing a small grey object. "Heads up." He tosses the stone to me, and I catch it with a small smile.

"Thank you." I run the tip of a slightly old kitchen knife over the rock with a soft, thoughtful hum, biting my lip as I focused. 

"Are we still planning to dip soon?" Sapnap asked, sitting across from me. I look up from the blade.

"Yeah. There's a rumour that they're south, so we're headed that way." I say, putting the knife down.

Sapnap blinks. "What? Shouldn't we be going in the other direction?" 

I grin. "When have you ever heard of a rumour nowadays that's true?" 

He sighs, leaning back in his chair. "Touché." I laugh lightly.

The room falls silent as I resume sharpening the knife. As crude as it may sound, the activity is smooth and relaxing, allowing me to get lost in my thoughts.

Of course, most of my thoughts consist of the bomb.

We'd been evacuated underground when it happened. I can remember the screams of terror from the people who didn't make it all too vividly. Some people didn't believe it was true, so they refused to leave their homes.

They're zombies now.

Most of the survivors were dead in the first week, whether it be from starvation or dehydration, or being killed, by humans or by zombies. The world split into small groups, who fought for what they needed to survive, and only the strongest made it through. 

I wouldn't have made it if it weren't for Sapnap. 

'The strongest of the strong' are probably Technoblade and Dream. Everyone knows their names around here, because they're talked about all the time on the radio. That, however, is because they're with the 'sad excuse for the government' as Sapnap would say. They're the ones who usually control what goes on the radio. Technoblade's the best fighter in the world, and Dream is the smartest. 

Sometimes I wonder if I hadn't got myself into the mess I'm in, would I be famous too? I mean, Sapnap says my skills with a bow and arrow are better than he's ever seen- Although, I can't say I've seen anyone with a bow who can even compare, because they don't know how to use one. So, maybe that's not saying much.

No one knows most of anyone else's identities unless they're in the same group. For example, I haven't got a clue what Dream nor Techno's real names are, but I know Sapnap's.

I wish I could know other's names, though. Maybe it would bring me one step closer to finding my best frie-

"-eorge! What the hell? You totally zoned out, jeez."

"Sorry, Sap, what were you saying?" I glance down at the knife, which is sharper now, and smile lightly. 

"When are we leaving? I want to be packed." He says, picking up the knife and looking at it curiously. 

"Tomorrow night, I don't need any groups on our tails while we travel." I yawn, more out of boredom than fatigue. 

"What about zombies?"

"Who cares? We've dealt with them before." I cross my arms, looking at him and slumping back in my chair with a soft huff. 

Sapnap sighs. "Yeah, no shit, but we haven't in a while." He sighs, leaning his shoulder heavily against the doorframe. 

I bite my lip. "We're going to have to deal with it, I just don't have a good feeling about staying here any longer than we need to." 

The other seems to hesitate before nodding. "Yeah, okay, but if I die I'm going to haunt the hell out of you." 

I laugh. "You do that." 

~||~ 

It's almost dawn. Like, before the sun creeps up over the horizon kind of almost dawn. So darkness still takes over the world, the haze in the sky giving it an eerie effect. 

But, from my place outside, I can see it's an oddly clear night. One where I can just barely recall the nights before, when the stars were truly visible, and beautiful galaxies and other worlds were there, allowing your imagination to wander. The kind of night where if things were still normal, fireflies would've danced in the cool fresh air, giving off soft light and seeming like stars themselves, magical beings. 

But of course, this is no normal night, so replacing the soft, evening song of crickets or the early morning orchestra of songbirds, there are growls of monstrous beings and distant howls of spirits that have long disappeared. 

Yet, after five years, my memory is beginning to fail me, and the long, tranquil nights where clear rain fell in swift droplets down the glass windows, or the mornings where weak sunlight would blanket my room in honey golden light are hazy in my mind, just out of reach. 

~||~

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Word count: 1181

pack it up Katniss everdeen

lmao jokes aside this was a fun one to write, especially that last bit! I hope the world in the story is beginning to become clearer, if you have any questions about it please ask and I'll answer it the best I can! :]

Have a wonderful day! <3

-Melli-