Chapter Two: February 1, 2013

Chapter Two

Chapter 2: February 1^st, 2013

A month had passed since we had gotten together to rebuild the world. We even had a name for our little ragtag group now.”Leftovers” we called ourselves, because essentially, that’s what we were. Leftovers of a world long past. We had accomplished little to nothing in terms rebuilding. To be honest, we didn’t have a clue where to start. We were barely getting by on the food we had foraged. Water was nearly impossible to find. Most of the natural water we had found was contaminated by the impact. We had to rely on what we could forage. Be it ground water, or the occasional bottle we found lying about. What I had decided was to find more people before we began to plot how we could fix the world. Repopulation would be a problem, and we only had a vague idea of where to search.  Strike that, we actually had no idea where to search. In a world where the sites of your everyday routine look as though they have been swept up by twister, you could find something unexpected just about anywhere; case in point, the mysterious newcomer who called herself Riley Fisher. She had come from out of nowhere, and had made a very, very odd first impression. The second and third weren’t very good either.

She came off as your average loony. She would run around with us as we searched aimlessly for something to help us rebuild, and it was as if she was totally oblivious to the destruction that had just happened. She was as happy as a two year old would be if they had just been given the largest lollipop they had ever seen. The thing that bugged me the most was her attachment to me. She would hover around me, constantly asking me questions. If I asked her to stop, for about five seconds, she would. After that, she would start right up again. I could tell she was wearing on the rest of the group, so I pulled her aside and spoke to her.

“Riley, what are you doing?

“What do you mean?” She asked smiling sweetly.

“Well, why are you acting so crazy? Second, why are you asking me so many questions?”

Riley stared blankly at me for what seemed like hours when she spoke.

“Crazy? I’m not crazy. I just like to look on the bright side of things.”

I blinked.

“You look on the bright side of things? What bright side? The world has been destroyed! What could you possibly have to look forward to?” I said in a sharp tone. She only had one thing to say in reply.

“Well, I can look forward to spending time with you…” She said shyly.

I stared back with an expression of amazement on my face.

Is this chick for real? I thought.

“Riley, you just met me. Let me remind you, you haven’t exactly made me the happiest person to have you around. Let’s put it this way, if we can get through this I’ll-“ I stopped short as Adam came running over to us.

“Hey! You have to come back! It’s Brooke! She just collapsed!”

I looked at Riley one last time before darting after Adam. It took no time at all to reach Brooke at the rate the both of us ran. John and Godfrey were knelt down by her, with concern on their faces.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

John and Godfrey exchanged glances before looking back at me. Godfrey spoke up.

“We were just waiting. We knew you were talking to that crazy chick, so we just stood here talking. Out of nowhere she just collapsed. We have no idea what happened. She seems to be breathing, but her pulse doesn’t feel right. It’s beating at weird paces.”

I sighed and knelt down to her. I placed my hand on her forehead.

“Brooke…I hate to see it end this way, but none of us know what to do. We aren’t doctors. Don’t you worry, we’ll rebuild the world. We’ll make sure we dedicate some of it to you.”

Adam’s eyes widened as he stared at me. “That’s it? You’re not even going to try and help her? Who the hell do you think you are, writing her off as dead so quick? We might still be able to save her!”

“Adam, you know as well as I do that none of us know anything about caring for a person. Hell, we barely know what happened to her!” I argued back.

“Are you hearing yourself? She’s our friend! Are you just going to let her rot out here without so much as a try?” He snapped.

We were so involved in our argument, that we didn’t notice Riley next to us.

“Excuse me! I think I might be able to help. I’m just going to need you to close your eyes.”

I turned to her. “What can you do? You’re the same age as us, how could you possibly be able to help?”

“Why, Erik. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you are trying to make your friend die. Now, if you want her to live, then step aside, and close your damn eyes.” She said coldly.

Everyone shut their eyes tightly as Riley knelt next to Brooke.  We heard nothing, but a command to open our eyes. When we did, we saw Brooke sitting upright, her eyes open, as if nothing had happened in the first place.

“Riley? What…Did you do?” I asked surprised.

“That’s something I can’t say. You’ll find out in due time.”

I looked down to find Brooke staring at me with an ice cold gaze.

“I trusted you Erik. To think you would give up on me without helping me. I thought better of you. I could hear everything. I heard you give your little speech. You were planning to let me die. If it weren’t for Riley, I would be dead. Erik, you are a cold hearted b*****d.”

I looked at Brooke, my expression unchanging. Inside though, I was dying. To hear her say such vicious things…It broke my heart in two. Then again, I probably deserved it. As if reading my mind,  Riley put a hand on my shoulder.

“It’s okay. You had no idea what to do.” She said reassuringly.

“No…She’s right. I shouldn’t have been spared. I am a horrible person who should have died!” I said tears now streaming down my face. I began to run.