Long Run

Chapter 7: What Now?

The chill of the evening breeze grazed their skins but unfortunately no one winced or perhaps no one felt it. They had been too carried away, staring in the void of their town.

Vel City, which was originally loud and bustling, is now so quiet like a graveyard. Coincidentally, it actually became one as more than fifty thousand people all died before the end of the day, leaving behind seven scrawny little teenagers in their stead to clean up the mess.

"You promised!" A feeble person knelt beside a huge pile of sand as she punched heavily into it. The tears in her eyes kept falling like rain.

"You said we'd go on a vacation together! Not like this!" Ana cried, she refused to believe that he had died and wouldn't be returning. No one comforted her, the rest of them also lost someone or more. They were also immersed in their net of sadness, especially Nova.

"Mum, did you already guess this will happen? So you didn't let me come with you?" Unlike Ana, she was smiling but on a second look, there was a glimmering line of tears on her face and at the corner of her eyes. She was forbidden to attend the event so she ended up safe but she didn't know if it was a good thing or not.

Her mother had died instead. She may be very nagging at most but she was a caring mother who had raised her single-handedly. Even when she got mocked or teased for not having a father, at least her mother was always there for her with her soothing words.

"At least, you're not an orphan." She'd say or most times, she'd hug her and say. "They are just jealous that I will always love you more than anything in the world." And sure enough her mother did love her so much.

Nova thought and buried her face into her palms, hot tears sipping through her fingers.

Usually, Elias would always be by her side, patting her back ever so softly but today, he wasn't. He'd lost so much too, perhaps even more.

His mother, father and his younger sister, Hadley. Their graves were piled up before him and he still refused to accept the fact. He was always stone-cold and aside from his family and Nova, no one could influence his emotions, not even his best friends, Ben and Ana. Although Nova sees him as a friend, he doesn't see her quite the same. He didn't have the time to hate himself for not being there for Nova when he too found his family lifeless. Of everything, what he couldn't understand was how Natalie escaped the accident—Yeah, they called it the accident since they could not point out what exactly happened—when she'd gone with Hadley.

Beside him were Ben and Carson. They never attended the event because they were too busy preparing for an inter-science competition between a few neighbouring cities.

Only Lucas seemed out of place. Since his brother was not found, everyone assumed he'd escape just like Natalie had said she'd escape the feat. "I went to the restroom and when I came out, they'd all become like this." She had said.

Standing at the back of the wailing squad, Spiky nudged at Lucas's feet. His paws waved in Ana's direction. Unwilling, Lucas slowly approached Ana. He stammered. "It will be alright​—"

"Don't go around meddling in others' business when you don't know what it's like?" Ana said, turning her head swiftly with a sharp gaze."

"I just wanted to help."

"It's not helping. It's causing more pain than it already is," Ana added. "If that's how you help, I don't need it."

"Ana, he meant well." Natalie butted in. "You aren't going through this alone, you know. I lost my parents and best friend too. Nova lost someone. Elias, Carson and Ben too." She said, pointing frantically at the others as she spoke. Her blonde hair looked out of place on her head as they stood disheveled like lost sheep.

"You still your friends, and a puppy too. Although Lucas may not have suffered a heavy loss,they all love you but who's there to love me?" She sobbed. "I know for a fact how much you all despise me. And I actually deserved it." She whispered the last part in a hoarse voice. She felt choked and her sobs became heavier.

They all grew silent as their ears absorbed the loud noise of Natalie's cry. The tears they'd tried hard to suppress, surfaced again and they wailed while sharing the emotional bond they shared. Their loss. A tremendous one too.

Several hours later, the seven of them stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the hill as they took in the beautiful view of their city. They'd done the same some days ago but with so many of their friends.

"So what now?" Ben asked, he pulled his hood up to prevent the wind from blowing his hair into his face. Lucas and Elias both looked at Ana. They'd been there when her father insisted that they all leave for Sephora where her aunt lives but Ana hadn't said a word about it till now.

"I don't know," Nova started. "You can stay here and live like nothing ever happened but as far as I'm concerned, I don't think I can do that." She lowered her head, picked up a stone and threw it into the distance. "I want to leave here. Go somewhere far and never return—" because I don't want to be reminded of this place. That was all she wanted to say but she felt like the words were too heavy to spit out. She was afraid she may lose her mind in this enclosed place.

"I don't want to stay either." Natalie said, glancing briefly at Nova. "I'll leave too." Lucas said and Elias threw him a surprised look. Struggling, he added. "My brother isn't here and my parents are away. If I leave now, who knows, I might bump into them somewhere in Weston, right?" He faced Ana but she paid him no attention. She kept staring straight ahead. "Do whatever you like. I'm leaving. Even if I wanted to, will my dad's last wish let me?" Her face lit up and her lips cut out a faint smile. "What if I stay? Will he wake up and nag me like always?" Her smile changed abruptly into a solemn one and from the corner of her eyes, tiny droplets of tears rolled down.

"There is nothing here anyway, we can just leave and go to another city. Start a new life and try to be happy." Carson tucked his hands into his jeans back pocket as he sucked in deep breaths.

"Since no one is willing to stay, we can as well go to Sephora. I heard it's nice and beautiful there and there are barely any mountains but lovely lakes and fruitful fields. Why don't we give it a try?" Elias advised and Ana's face relaxed a bit.

"I'm heading there after this. It's the only place my dad wants me to be. Perhaps, Carson is right." She faced them, watching their expressions change. "We can start over and live happily."

Both Nova and Ben nodded, showing their approval of the decision. Although there wasn't much difference in Natalie's expression, she still showed her approval as well.

"Alright then. It's been decided, we leave for Sephora tomorrow." Lucas smiled, his teeth flashing with his eyes shining brightly that everyone wondered how he could still smile at such a time. Elias smiled, for some weird reason, he saw hope in Luca's eyes.

"When do we leave? And what are the needed materials?"

"What else? Just grab some clothes, toiletries and food."

"What if someone gets injured?" Nova asked.

Lucas shrugged. "Then bring first aid too."

"How do we get down the hill tomorrow? The path out of the city is closed. What do we do?" Carson said, frowning at the thought that they might have to spend another extra day to clear the way.

It was only then they realised that they had so much to worry about.

"Besides that, what of our transportation? The train station is pretty much useless and we don't have a vehicle." Natalie also added and their faces fell.

Ana faced Elias, "you have a car, right? We're only seven. We can fit in the car, right?"

"I'm not so sure. The back seat can only accommodate four people and the front two. So who's not going to sit?"

"Only six people can sit? That's going to be a big issue." Lucas shook his head in worry.

"How big is the trunk?" Ben spoke up and Elias arched a brow. "Why?"

Ben explained, "because if it's wide enough—"

"Someone can sit there!" Lucas interrupted.

"That's true." Nova nodded.

Elias then patted Ben's back. "Great idea, Ben."

With cheeks flushed slightly pink, Ben smiled. "I just did what I could to help."

Seeing how well they managed to settle everything, Ana bent down to pick the jumping Spiky. "I'll go home now, to get some rest." She said and left under their heavy gaze.

"Let's get some rest too." Elias said, as he patted Lucas' and Carson's shoulder before stroking away. "Hmm." Nova mumbled, walking away with loud yawns.