Now We Live

8

Echo's POV:

After talking with Raven I thought things through a bit more. Right now Hope is still hanging around Gaia and I just sat in down in front of the fire. Hope is the kind of person that acts first and thinks later. Always running head first into danger without a plan. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. Tomorrow Hope and I are on fire wood duty, might as well start thinking of something to say to her now so we don't have to work in silence tomorrow.

            Just when I was going to get up and see if I could go help with dinner I heard someone come and sit down next to me. I looked up and saw Niylah sit down next to me with a bottle of alcohol in her hand. She raised her eyebrows and gave me a look before I grabbed the bottle from her and took a long sip.

            "You looked like you could use it." She said after I finished my sip and handed her back to the bottle.

            "Thanks" I said and sat down on the floor so I could lay back and look at the sky.

            "You want to talk about it?" Niylah asked.

            "Not particularly." I said and watched as the first hints of blue started to turn to navy.

            "Well I'm here if you want to." Niylah said and put her hand on my shoulder. I looked up at her and gave her a smile before it turned my attention back to the sky.

            We sat in silence for a while, trading the bottle of alcohol back and forth for a while until it was almost all gone and the blues of the sky were trade for purples and pinks. We talked lightly about small things, how Niylah is starting to brew some more alcohol and has started to get everything she needs to smoke and cure the meat we have been catching. Niylah ran her fingers over the halfmoon scars I carved into my face and told me about how her mother was from Azgeda.

            We ended up talking about Azgeda for a while. How her family would stick to the borders of the boundaries while I told Niylah about what happened to Echo, my friend Echo. How I think I want to be called my name again. It wasn't long after that story that Raven, Emori and Murphy come out from the bunker to join us. I tried to get up but decided against it when I felt the ground start to spin when I sat up. 

            Raven looked really happy hanging off of Emori's arm while Murphy just walked behind them. I'm guessing that Raven finally talked to them about her feelings. It made me smile to see them happy, Raven deserves all the happiness in the world.

            "You good there Echo?" I heard her ask a few minutes later.

            "I think I may have had too much." I said and laid back down to close my eyes.

            "Alright, let's get some food in you then get you off to bed." Raven said and patted my shoulder.

            I pushed her hand away when I heard her laugh. It wasn't long for everyone else to make their way to the fire as Gaia and Indra cooked tonight. They made some kind of soup tonight and Raven snuck me some pieces of meat to in her words, sober me up. It wasn't long before the food was gone and everyone started to make their way inside. Niylah's alcohol was gone half way through dinner and it was probably for the best.

            As I stood up I stumbled over a tree root and tripped. I would have ended up falling face first if it wasn't for a strong pair of arms pulling me up. When I looked up I saw Octavia holding my arms.

            "I think it's time for you to go sleep this off." She said and helped me into the bunker.

            "I think you're right." I mumbled and just followed along.