Days of Oblivion

To Find Her.

The moon took on the night sooner than I thought it would, “Ethan, do you need help with that?” I wipe the cloth across my forehead, “I’m good thanks,”

But Jed persisted to take the ax from me and continue chopping the tree stump, “How long have you been living here?” He stops glancing at me in a sigh, “25 years,” I nod toward him, chopping again, “Long time…”

He lifts peering at me, “Yeah… even if we had the opportunity, they won’t move… ever,” “Have you tried talking to them?”

He chops a few times again and lifts, wiping his head, “Yeah… they don’t want to, I guess we’re stuck here until something happens, hey, Ethan… you can go take a nap, I’ll finish here, need the distraction,”

I pat his shoulder, “Thanks, man,”

*

The hard mattress hits my back, I wonder if Issabella ever made it? I miss her friendship…

*

Music hits the speakers softly as we drove down the lonely road, she keeps glancing at me, grinning, “I love this driving,” I nod toward her beauty, I’ve always liked her, I just don’t know how to tell her.

“Me too,” She turns to the road, scanning every tree we drive by, “My parents always said, that every tree has a life of its own… t-that every tree represents nature in some form of way, I remember this one time, we drove to the forest, nature training…”

She turns to me, smiling mainly in her own thoughts, “Dad touched the tree and started praying in Hawaiian, something about mother nature being good to us… I-I know they have a different belief, but… I still believe in God, I still believe He is there, no matter what they taught me.”

I glance at her, looking at me for assurance, “Of course, Bells, God is always there, even if we don’t always see it… sometimes I too get lost along the way, but He is always there,”

She nods along… “Ethan…” I glance at her, gawking at me for a few minutes, and then her attention turns away from me, “Everything all right, Bells?” “Yeah…”

“Bells, I-I…” She turns to me again, waiting upon my words, but I struck… I don’t know what’s going on with me… “You’re a wonderful friend, Ethan, always there when I need someone, thank you,”

Yeah… that’s what we’re always, I swallow the knot in my throat, “No problem,” She chuckles to herself, “Are We There Yet?” I scan the surrounding area, “Yeah, yeah, right up ahead,”

I park the car and I exit and open the door for her, “Why, thank you,” I laugh along with her whilst she follows me to the boot… “I was thinking we can have a picnic?” “Sounds wonderful,”

We walk to the secluded spot, surrounded by trees and a magnificent waterfall shimmering in the sun’s rays.

“This is beautiful…” I look at her, staring in awe, “I come here when I need time to think, I’ve brought no one here before,” She glances at me, shying her smile away, “Wow… I’m the first?”

“Yeah…” I open the blanket for us and she sits down keeping her focus on the view, “Bells, I-I… I have something to tell you,” She turns to me broad smile, I can never get enough of it, “Y-yes? What’s wrong?”

Her smile fades a little, “No, nothing, everything’s all right,” She tilts in a nod, “Come on, Ethan, you know better than that,” I chuckle shifting my weight on the blanket, “No, really, I’m fine,”

“If you say so,” Why can’t I just tell her? What’s wrong with me? She makes me nervous, I’m comfortable as a friend, but once I try being more, I struck…

“Ethan…” My snapping turns to her view, her bronze skin simmers in the sunlight, her bikini fits her figure so perfectly, “Swim with me,” I pull my top over my head and follow her to the water, “I don’t know how safe this water is,”

She pulls my hand, “It doesn’t matter…” We jump into the water and she wipes her face, I wipe my hair out of my face, “You’re so unpredictable,” She laughs splashing me, “I know…” I pull her closer to me and tickle her.

“No, Ethan… I’m going to drown,” Her laughter fills the air, “I won’t allow that, Bells… I’ll always protect you…” I stop tickling her as soon as he turns to me, her wet bronze skin flutters me, she pants before me, chuckling here and there.

“Bells, I-I…” Without warning… her cherry lips collide with mine, I pick up her petite figure, her skin against mine overwhelms me…

Pressure underneath… she pulls away leaving me wanting more, she splashes me with water and she laughs…

I can’t help my panting… am I ever going to get over this? Over her?

*

The morning sun shines brightly through my eyelids, I open them thinking deeply about my dream… I have to make sure she’s alive…

I glance at the door, at Lixa knocking softly, “Hey, what’s wrong?” “Can I come in?” I nod, shifting upward. She slightly closes the door and takes a seat on the wooden chair, “I-I just want to thank you for helping us,”

“It’s no problem, Lixa,” She smiles mainly, focusing on the wall, “Father talked today… about moving,” I peer at her, “Moving? To where?” She shifts her attention to me, “I don’t know, he didn’t say… he just said that he’s thinking about it. Ethan, if we move, we might not make it as a group, I-I don’t know…”

“I know where we can go, I was arranging these plans with my family, but I need to make sure that they’re still alive,”

She tilts, “I thought you didn’t have family?” I rub my skin, exhausted, “No, I don’t… I’m unsure about my uncle,” “Oh… so, where are they?”

“On the west side, I need to leave immediately, I will be back, once I discover their location and once, I have the plan in order, the dome is the only haven I know of now, it was-is my plan…”

She gawks at me, lips slightly parched, “I promise I’ll come back for you and your family, Lixa, I just need to make sure it’s safe,” “No, I believe you, it’s just… how will I know you’ll make it?” I shift forward, swinging my legs off the bed.

“I never break a promise, Lixa,” She takes her stand, “I’m going to fetch father, just hold on,” She disappears and returns a few minutes later.

“What’s wrong, boy?” I gargle my throat, “I have a safe area where we can go, I just have to leave tomorrow morning to make sure it’s still in order,”

He glances at her and at me again, “Where is this… safe area?” “About a year back, I was arranging plans with my uncle and his friend. The dome was the only haven we know of that no one found,”

He takes a seat and so do I, “The dome… it sounds familiar, and you're sure about this?” I nod. “Yes, Sir,” “All right, you can take the truck, we will start packing what we can and meet you here in a few days?”

I nod taking my stand, “Yes Sir, I’ll meet you here once I have the plans in order,” He pats my naked back, “All right son, be safe out there,” “Yes, Sir,”

*

I stop before her house… I grab my handgun and twist the silencer on the barrel, I exit the truck and bolt up the stairs toward a broken front door… “s**t, what happened?”

I peek inside at the messy house… “s**t… Issabella? Are you here?” I hear nothing but my breathing, I slowly wander inside… blood piles rest everywhere, two zombies rest apart from each other.

I glance upward at the broken door, I bolt the stairs and turn to the broken door, “Bathroom…” I jog to her room aiming the barrel before me, I push the door open and my viewing lands on the zombie on the floor.

I jog to the other room, I jog the door open and peek inside, “A broken window, she’s not here…” At least I know she didn’t die here, but where could she be?

I jog back to my truck and take notice of the broken garage door, “s**t…” If she’s not here, where could she be? “Wait… the base, it’s the one place I know where she would go,”

I hope she’s there… Bells can’t be dead… she would never give in like this.

I hope I find her there…