Chapter 2

A Chapter by HighExpectations

Chapter 2

I wonder if my father is in Heaven or Hell. I guess Hell wouldn’t be much different then what we are going through. He killed his self so he wouldn’t suffer seeing his loved ones become infected. Or, maybe he killed his self not wanting to become infected. He didn’t want to live forever in a state where he does not control his actions, as in harming us.

I wonder how my father knew about it. How come we didn’t? How did he know and the Vigilante did not? That’s a question that will never be answered.

I look at the village’s clock; 5:42. I better start walking to the East Gate, it’s about a 10 minute walk from where I stand.

As I walk on the path towards the gate, I hear the moaning. I search for my brother’s face, his dark and empty eyes. I can’t find him within the horde. The moans are long and low. But, with so many Walkers behind the fence, the moaning is like loud chorus. It’s as if they are singing a song to me, to us. I place by forefingers in my ears, wishing the sound would go away. It doesn’t.

I’ve arrived at the gate, and there stands Jae. Along with Hannah, Julian, Braxton, and Tessa.

“Hey, Layne!” they say simultaneously.

I guess Jae can tell that I’m still iffy on the idea of going to the circus grounds because he comes beside me, placing his arm around my shoulder.

“It’s fine, Layne. I got you.” he says, comforting me by very little.

You would think the gate would be locked by the Vigilante, but it wasn’t. It was hard to open at first, but a few pushes did the trick. I wanted to run back to my house, to stand beside my mother who’s ill in bed. I want to place a cold rag across her forehead, and to tell her that she’s getting better, even though she’s not.

My mother fell ill a week or so after she found out the Vigilante wouldn’t allow James to enter. My mother is so weak and fragile, I’m afraid of the illness overpowering her.

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As I step through the gate, I remember coming here as a kid. I remember seeing the Ferris Wheel illuminating the night sky with vibrant colors, colors of joy. Now, it’s gray and rusted with no life. Just like the rest of my village. I wish I could smell the hotdogs and the cotton candy again, but all I smell is the pungent stench of blood and aged flesh.

The others make their way to the booth where you knock down a pyramid of jars with a ball. We used to always play that. I still have the stuffed pony my father had won from that booth. He knocked the jars so hard, it interfered with the other pyramid beside it! I thought my father was a superhero with super strength. He could have been a hero, but no one listened. Not even my mother. Not even me.

Me and Jae make our way down the path that goes around the circus. We talk about how we came here as kids, how much life this circus used to have and how now it’s an elephant’s graveyard. Suddenly, I step on something that gives a crunch sound. I look down at my feet and notice that I’ve stepped on a dandelion. A dandelion. A bright, yellow and white flower. Probably as much life as this circus gets. I bend down to touch the wrinkled petals, and I feel Jae’s hand touching mine. I start to cry. I’ve stepped on many flowers before, but this flower is different. This flower is all that’s left here, the only life that’s left, and the colors that this circus will ever have. Everything has faded. The circus tent, the village, the world. I wonder, if I took a spaceship into outer space and looked at Earth would it be green and blue? Or would it all just be gray.

I stand back up and I fall into Jae’s arms, crying. He takes my cheeks with his two hands and wipes my tears with his thumbs.

“Everything will be okay, Layne. The world may be at it’s worst right now, but we got to keep living. We got to see what’s good right now, and what I’m seeing is that I still have you.” he says, still holding my cheeks.

“But, wha-” I’m cut off.

Jae leans in close to my face, “But, nothing.” he replies. He presses his lips onto mine, and it’s as if the circus becomes alive again. The Ferris Wheel is spinning, displaying the color spectrum with it’s lights. I can smell the cotton candy, the hot dogs, and I can sense joy. There’s not a faded color in the circus, or in the world. There’s no such thing as violence, rage, and there’s no such thing as Walkers.

As if it was to good to be true, our kiss was interrupted by a piercing noise. A scream. I recognize the scream from when we all played together as kids. It was Tessa’s.

Jae parts his lips from mine and I can see the fear in his eyes.

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