Secret Meanings and Different Worlds

Hidden Memories and Orange Smoke

The morning came quickly along with packing the small number of things we needed. "Has anyone seen the medkit? I left it on the table I thought?" "Travis, you used the last of it on Carson last week. Remember? He fell while running from those beasts." Travis' face was filled with nothing other than confusion at the thought of having no medical supplies. 'So…no band-aids? I guess it can't be helped.' "We'll have to found some later on. Right now, we have to go…unless y'all want me to leave without y'all. I'm not becoming food for them."

By now, everyone is awake mostly due to Jess and Travis' yelling. 'It kind of makes it hard to sleep, though most of us didn't get a wink of it last night anyways.' "Does everyone have everything? Emily, do you have your clothes?" "Yes, I have all two pairs. Though I'm wearing one of them." Jess shoots me the "stop being a smartass" look. "Travis, make sure Carson has his little toy. We don't need him worrying about it while we're out and about." Nodding he walks over towards the youngest member who's sitting near the bed. It wasn't long until we were ready to leave. 'Saying goodbye to another home.' A sad sigh escapes as I close the door of our short-lived home for the last time.

The bright sun slowly burning each of us as we crunch chunks of dirt under our feet. Most of the Unknowns left before the sun raised, falling back into the dust of ash that haunts the ground. 'Though we still have to be careful of the few who are still awake, wandering around the dry wasteland.' Our pace was nothing short of a dash as we hunt for a better home. 'Hopefully, this one will have fewer Unknowns…at least for a little time.'

All around us held traces of the once beautiful city, broken buildings surrounded by cracks and fallen concrete. "This is awful. So much is gone." My voice leaves everyone in shock even though it's what they are thinking too. 'All the buildings are gone. It doesn't look like the big city I once knew. It's hard to imagine that it's only been five years.' "That's what happens when you're in an apocalypse, Emily." "But there's so much gone. The lights, the people, the crazy atmosphere…it's all gone." "Emily, we know. You say this every time we leave. It's our world now. There's not much we can do but try and survive." Travis grunts afterward and my voice dies with it. All that follows is dead silence as no one knows how to respond.

  There's plenty of hidden glass shards mixed throughout the chaos of destruction and the sandy dirt. 'This place could easily be described as a wasteland with its lack of useable water and any kind of greenery. We're lucky that this place used to be urban or else finding water would have been an even harder task. Just look for exposed pipes.'

Shaking my head I refocus on the task at hand – finding a new home. 'Wait don't we need to find supplies for the medkit?" "Shouldn't we be looking for supplies? For the medkit? Didn't we use all of it?" Travis slams his hand towards his face…classic facepalm while Jess sighs with exhaustion. "How could I forget? Yeah, guess we will have to go to that place again." 'She doesn't mean the leftover remains of the mall…right?' "We have to head towards the heavier part of town. To the middle of it." 'I knew it. That place is covered in Ashy monsters. It took forever to find a way out last time, but I was alone then.' "We should find a place first and then two of us will go get supplies. Let's head closer, maybe we'll get lucky." "Hopefully, we will Jess," Travis says with a look of hopefulness but with a hint of uneasy. "Knock on wood…we can only hope." Were the words that came from my mouth as we continued the search for a new place.

It wasn't until hours later when we found a new place. It was hidden underground. It is what remains of a house…well the basement part of it anyway. Perfect for a group of people hiding from something. The walls were covered in chipped grey paint and smothered in cobwebs. Dead bugs were scattered throughout the floor; the floor wasn't special just mostly concrete with what looks like pieces of ripped-up carpet laying here or there. 'Nothing much is here.' The space was bare. 'Unless you count dead bugs and spiders.' "Is th..is o..ur n..e.w h.ho..me?" "It's a bit rundown but better than what we could have settled with.

We start unpacking the bundle of sheets and blankets, placing them in the nicest looking corner of the room. The light from the sun was fading as it falls behind the rubble. "This day went by fast." "Yes, it certainly has. Let's prepare for the next day." "Jess, we just got here. Let's take a break. The youngins are pretendin' they're dyin'." A heavy sigh leaves Jess. "Alright. But first thing tomorrow will be cleaning up this place. I will not be living in such dirt. It's unforgivable." Travis just nods with a slight smile while looking at the two younger members of the group gasping, rolling around on the floor. "Y'all can get up now." Awws could be heard along with a few laughs as the two stand up. "Now, you two are dirty. Well, it can't be helped." "Jess, tomorrow Emily and I are heading to get more supplies. You stay with Carson. Sound good?" "Alright, that would be a decent plan."