Second part to "Virus" (make sure to read it first)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Wh--What is this?” Josh stuttered.
We weren’t greeted by what we thought we’d be greeted by. Our feet were soaked in green grass, an indigo sky stared at us. Off in the distance fuzzy yellow lights were visible.
“Where do we go?” I swallowed my fear and stood tall.
“Toward those lights I guess...” He squeezed my hand.
“Then let’s go,” I held back tears, not used to the fresh air.
But neither of us moved. We stood still, taking in the vast space. The open fields were nothing like we’d ever seen or dreamed about.
“Josh..” I started, not sure how to ask this.
“Yeah, Phoebe?” He looked at me, waiting for me to finish my sentence.
“Do you remember when we first m-- when you were put in the box next to the one I was in?” I rethought my question halfway through. We never had the choice of meeting each other.
“What about it?” He didn’t get where I was going with this question.
“You told me about the city. How much you loved it.” I repeated the facts, the facts that had been going through my mind since day one.
“Well, yeah, but those lights.. They couldn’t be..” He thought aloud.
“But they might be.” I looked at him.
“It just doesn’t feel the same,” He blinked.
Now I was in no position to judge. I had never been to the city and I had no idea what it was like. Right now I needed to trust his judgement.
“Please take me away from here” - Owl City
“C’mon,” I pulled his hand as I took our first steps into this new world. “We have to keep moving, they’ll find us if we stay here.”
Which is true, if I hadn’t been so soaked up in our little world I would’ve noticed the red lights flashing and the blaring sirens. But Josh stood still, aware of the sirens and lights.
“Phoebe, whatever we face out here in this new place.. I promise I’ll protect you,” He looked at me, completely serious.
“Okay,” I nodded slightly, not used to Josh being this real. “Now c’mon, we really should get out of here.”
“Okay,” He laced his fingers through mine and stepped along with me.
As we walked the sirens buzz faded, but the fuzzy yellow lights stayed at a far distance. The building we had just exited was fading, we knew that without even turning around. We knew if we’d turn around we’d just get a good look at the hell we left. That’s not something we want burned into our retinas forever.
“You do know why they kept us in there, right?” Josh asked as we walked up to a river.
“Yeah,” I looked into the water, wondering what freshwater felt like.
“We were put in there for a reason, so what happens now?” He thought aloud.
“We’ve gotta adjust to this environment,” I shrugged, kneeling next to the river. “And we’ve gotta keep going. No matter what.”
“You think we made the right choice?” He kneeled down next to me.
“Anything’s better than that place.” I shook my head.
“But what if this world’s worse?” He asked.
“Nothing is going to be worse than that.” I slowly put my feet into the cold water.
“But it.. Okay..” He sighed, not going to fight it.
“You don’t have to agree with me, you can have your own opinion. I just don’t think that anything can get worse than that hell hole,” I shrugged, displacing the pebbles that had settled so peacefully in the bottom of the river.
“So what? You're another person, so of course you look different. What do you need to be ashamed for? Besides, I'm free to be with whoever I want. No one has the right to say anything about it.” – Ciel Phantomhive
“Well, I.. I guess we haven’t really been able to have our own opinions so.. I’m just not used to it yet I guess..” He followed me into the water.
“But now we get to run our lives,” I smiled at him.
“You make a point,” He smiled and looked down at the clear water.
“How far do you think we’ve gone?” I bent down closer to the water, looking at the minnows swimming by.
“Not far, at least..” Josh looked behind him. “Woah..”
“What?” I asked as I scooped up one of the smaller minnows, making a bowl with my hands so it could swim around.
“I can’t see it anymore..” He looked around, some sign that we hadn’t walked that far.
“Wait, what?” I stood up, still holding the minnow.
“It’s gone,” He twisted his head around, looking.
“Gone..” I whispered. “We’ve left it now.”
“A dead fish?” He looked at me and the little thing in my hands.
“What do you mea--” I looked down at my hands, none of the water had escaped, but the fish had floated to the top and wasn’t moving.
Instantly I dropped it.
“That means nothing,” Josh shook his head, denying any answer to what just happened.
“The truth never set me free” – Paramore
“Let’s go...” I stepped out of the river.
Josh followed me, trying to think of a logical explanation for what just happened. For a while we just walked in silence, but after awhile we ran into a field with just dirt.
“What’s that?” Josh looked over at the trees that had popped up.
“What do you mean?” I looked at him.
“There’s a house.” He pointed at something.
“Can I help you?” Someone behind us asked.
As I turned around I realized how closely this girl resembled my sister.
“Ashi?” I asked, knowing the answer, but wanting to ask anyway.
“No.” She shook her head. “Karen.”
“Oh.. You just.. My little sister.. You guys look a lot alike,” I stuttered.
“Ah, well, I can’t say that I look unique,” She laughed, a thick country accent presenting itself.
“Do you live there?” Josh asked.
“Yeah, my brother’s family lives there too,” She stated this like everyone knew it. “You’re not from around here.. Are you?”
“No,” I shook my head.
“And you came from that direction,” She pointed the way we had come. “And there’s nothing that way except for...”
Her eyes widened, her mouth hung open.
“What..?” Josh looked at me, unsure.
“You’re escape-ees,” She looked at us like we were some freak animal.
“So?” Josh asked.
“You’re dangerous people,” She shifted slightly, thinking.
“You don’t know what it’s like there,” I looked her in the eyes, hoping she wouldn’t turn us in or something.
“You’re safe here, don’t worry,” She laughed comfortingly.
“Oh thank god..” I whispered.
“C’mon in, they’re probably lookin for you right now..” She ushered us into a two story wooden home.
“Karen, where--” A boy who could’ve been her twin started. “You brought fugitives in?”
“They’re not bad people,” She shrugged.
“They’re fugitives. The police are lookin for them.” He also had a thick accent.
“We can hear you, you know.” I looked at him.
“Never said you couldn’t.” He snapped.
“We’re not dangerous. We just--” I started.
“You are too dangerous. You were put in that place for a reason. You would’ve been put to good use if you had stayed there.” His face started getting red as he yelled.
“You don’t know what it’s like,” My voice cracked as I defended my decision.
“Stop, Phoebe.” Josh put his hand on my shoulder.
“All we need is a little help,” I begged.
No comments:
Post a Comment