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Fri Jun 29, 2012 4:42 am
eyeofthestorm says...



Chapter 1
Anthony

Six Years Ago
I stare at the screen carefully. Two dark little blips show up in the corner of my handmade screen.
"Um... Luce?"
Lucille looks up at me. "Yeah?"
"Come look at this."
She gives me a look. "Ant, you know I don't get all that technical stuff."
"Just... Just come here."
There must be something in my tone that makes her realize the urgency of my request, because she pushes herself up and stomps over.
"What?"
I point to the rapidly moving dots. "The only thinks that show up black are metal, usually planes or such. But these don't move like normal planes. They're too fast."
She leans a little closer and squints at the screen. "Those are really fast." Her long blonde hair swishes like a silky curtain as she straightens up and glances at me. "Why is this important?"
I study the dots for about thirty seconds more before turning to Lucille. "Can you drive?"
"Well, I could, but I'm eleven. Ant, what's wrong?"
"Just find a car. I think I can hot wire it, just take Aaron and go."
"Ant? Ant, what's wrong?"
"Just trust me, please. Go. Now!"
Luce hesitates for a moment, then runs off after Aaron. She takes his hand and tows him along as she runs for the line of parked cars. I shove my equipment into a bag and take off after them. I hear Aaron saying, "Weeee! Is this a game?" but Luce doesn't answer, she just keeps running, her hair streaming out behind her and bobbing in sync with her steps. I can feel the ground under my bare feet. I left my sandals back in the park.
I hear a car door slam and look up in time to see Luce sliding into the driver's side. She holds something small and metallic up as I reach the car. The keys, thank God. Luce pushes my door open, I slide into the passenger seat and the engine roars to life. She carefully switches into reverse and backs out.
"Turn left on 5th street," I say, double checking that all the doors are locked. Aaron has a weird habit of trying to open them while the car's moving.
"5th street? That's a dead end!"
I lift the small bag full of equipment into my lap and start sorting it as I reply. "The Peterson's live at the end of that street, and they have a yard clear enough to drive through. It'll be the fastest way out of town, and, in case you've forgotten, you're eleven and driving a stolen car. We need to get far away, fast."
Luce shoots me a glare and I hear the tires screech as she slams the brakes. Aaron screams and then giggles. It's good that we all had seat belts on. A kid through the windshield of the car he stole would look bad.
I wait a moment for my laptop to load my hacking program. It won't be the first time I've broken into something, just the first time I've attempted to break into a government program, and I'm the first to admit my computer skills aren't as high as, for example, my math skills.
"Approximately seven minutes to drop zone," my computer says. I feel a rush of pride with my panic; I've just completed the voice system on it, and I must say it sounds as human as I'd hoped.
"Seven minutes to drop zone?" Luce screeches. The pride dissipates and the panic takes a tighter hold.
We're heading for the dead end. I feel the car slow a little as she prepares to turn.
"Go into their driveway and turn into the yard." My fingers fly across the keys as the car flies through the yard. A red warning flashes on the screen. "Oh crap."
"What's wrong?" Luce says. I can hear in her voice that she's trying to sound like she isn't completely freaked out, but there's still strain.
"I can't do this!" I say, turning my laptop off and then restarting it. "I don't know enough about it, and I can't do it!"
"What can't you do, Anthony?" Aaron sticks his little five-year-old face up next to mine and looks at me curiously.
"Just get back there and keep your seat belt on."
There was a very long silence. I watched the trees shoot by. Whenever I could I'd tell her to speed up. We needed to move.
"Ant, what are you doing?"
"The only thing I can do. Watching them. We're about..." I glance at a sign. "About seventy miles from Seattle, right?"
"Well, yeah. We've been driving for about five minutes and we've already covered about seven miles, but Ant, what's--"
There is a sudden feeling in the ground, almost like a low bass throb, and a rumble, and the horizon behind us hides what I know is a terrible sight. The mushroom cloud, all the people dead from the impact alone, all the people trying to run that will die from the radiation...
"Luce."
"What?" she snaps. I can see her knuckles are white.
"That was a nuke. They just hit Seattle. That's the reason we haven't had any TV or radio. They're slowly hitting everywhere major, and Seattle... well, I don't know if they're going to hit it again, and either way we need to be far from here because the radiation will spread."
"Ant."
"Yeah?"
"Do you think... Do you think our families... "
I close my eyes tight and shake my head. "I don't know. I doubt it. They were shopping in Tacoma, weren't they?"
Luce slowly nods her head and bites her bottom lip.
"The initial blast might have killed them. I think it was a relatively small bomb, so they might be alive, but if they are they're probably injured and, if by some miracle they're not harmed, they'll be poisoned by the radiation and will probably die soon."
I can see the horror in her face at what has happened, and I can hear that my voice just sounds tired, like that of a doctor who has just lost a patient and has to tell the family.
"Luce..."
"I'll wake you up when I'm too tired to drive anymore. Just go to sleep or something, okay?"
I can see a few silent tears sliding down her cheeks. I know Luce well enough to realize when she needs privacy. I obediently turn my head and close my eyes.
When I'm almost asleep, I hear something I didn't ever expect to hear.
Lucille's quiet sobs.
Bilbo: What have I got in my pocket?
Gollum: Handsies!
Bilbo: Nope, guess again.
Gollum: A knife! No, no...
Bilbo: Wrong again.
Gollum: String! Or... Nothing!





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Sat Jun 30, 2012 1:52 am
tgirly says...



Chapter Two

Lucille

If Ant tells me to speed up without telling me what's going on one more time, I swear I'll-
The ground shakes as if we're standing on a giant drum.
"Luce?" Ant says.
"WHAT?" I snap.
"That was a nuke. It just hit Seattle." He keeps talking, but I'm so shocked I don't hear a word.
"Ant?" I ask.
"Yeah?" he says. I can barely get the words out. It feels like my heart didn't just drop, but nose-dived to the center of the earth.
"Do you think," I swallow, "do you think our families..." He closes his eyes and shakes his head.
"I don't know. I doubt it. They were shopping in Tacoma, weren't they?" Don't be a baby, I think to myself, be brave. Don't be a baby.
I nod, bighting down as hard as I can on my lip. All I can do is stare forward as he explains that they're probably dead.
"Luce..." he says, and I almost snap at him to shut up before I remind myself that he lost family to. Besides, I can't swear in front of Aaron.
"I'll wake you up when I'm too tired to drive anymore. Just go to sleep or something, okay?" I want to run into the deep forests of Washington and lose myself under the tall trees, stretching towards the sky like narrow buildings. I want to punch at the stearing wheel and rip the door open and scream the night. But I can't do that. I can't be weak. Not now. Not with someone watching.
Ant settles into a more comfortable position. I can barely see the road, not from the tears but from the faces that plague my vision. My mother, baking cookies for breakfast, her hair still in a mess. My father sitting in his favorite chair in the living room, letting me sit on his lap when I was younger, try on his spectacles, and pretend to read the paper. My younger brother playing basketball outside. My Aunt Nina who has a weird laugh and a long nose. The girl in my gym class who looked at me like I was crazy when I told her I was the one who gave Markus Foster a black eye. The boy who delivers our newspapers and waved at me yesterday. The lady who goes jogging with her evil dog. All of them, gone.
When I finally hear Aaron start to snore, I allow myself a few sobs, then brush my eyes. I wipe away their memory with each tear. If I'm going to survive in this new, messed-up world, I'm going to have to pretend the old one never existed.
When I can see in the mirror that the tell-tale signs of tears are gone, I pull over and pinch Ant.
"Your turn," I say.
In the passenger seat, I watch the sky. I've never seen so many stars in my life. I've always known that the stars were there, lurking in the background. I wish they'd stayed there, or waited for their own turn to shine as the earth turned round.
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
-Abraham Joshua Heschel





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Sat Jun 30, 2012 3:53 am
eyeofthestorm says...



Chapter 3
Anthony

I watch the sun rise as I drive us north east. This is a pretty new car, so I don't have to worry about gas; it's solar powered. Still, I suppose Aaron will be hungry and, though she won't admit it, Lucille will be as well.
I pull the car over to the side of the road and come to a stop, flipping into park and taking the keys out of the ignition.
"Luce." Luce snaps awake and looks over at me. I expected her eyes to be red-rimmed, but they're not. They're just her ordinary deep blue.
"Come on. We need to find some food soon or Aaron is probably going to throw a fit."
She rubs her eyes and stretches before sitting up and clicking off her seat belt.
"This is the middle of freaking nowhere, Ant. Where do you expect to find food? In the wilderness?" Her tone is practically dripping with sarcasm.
I laugh. "No, we're not far enough away yet. I was thinking we could search the car. Most people throw stuff in the back sometimes and forget about it."
Luce glances over at me, but I can't quite read her expression. Then we both turn to the back of the car and look at Aaron. He's asleep, a little puddle of drool forming on the seat under his head.
"Aaron," I say. When he doesn't stir, I turn to Luce and shrug before climbing into the backseat and shaking his shoulder. He starts awake and wipes a ribbon of spit from his cheek.
"Where are we going Ant? Are we going to see grandma in Montana? Why aren't mom and dad here? I'm hungry. Are they going to get food? Why is Luce sitting in the front?"
I interrupt him before he can fire off any more questions, because each one feels like something is punching me in the chest, knocking all the air out of me. For all I know, my parents are still alive, injured and wondering if Aaron and I are okay. They could be bleeding to death, or maybe they stopped through Seattle and are just flat out dead. Maybe they somehow made it back to our house in Spokane and they're wondering where we are.
"Aaron, they left us some snacks in the back of the car, but they hid them. It's like a game of hide-and-seek. Will you help us look for them?"
I look at Luce; the lie has spilled from my lips so easily I can't help but feel slightly ashamed and also exhilarated.
Aaron, meanwhile, has scrambled madly around, and now he holds up a plastic bag in triumph.
"Chips!" he declares.
Luce stifles a laugh and leans in to whisper to me. "Great. We can survive on expired junk food."
I shove her shoulder playfully and she grins back at me.
"I want some! Open it!" Aaron cries. Luce snatches the bag from his hands and opens it smoothly, passing him a handful.
"Can you drive for a while, Luce?"
She groans, but nods and scoots over to the driver's seat.
"Let's keep heading into the mountains," I say absently, biting down on one of our few potato chips and savoring the flavor while it lasts. Soon we'll be eating only what we can find.
She glares at me for a moment before snatching the keys from my hand and turning them in the ignition.
"Luce, what-"
She presses down hard on the gas. The engine roars as it accelerates faster than it would like to.
"If we're going to have to be living together, the three of us, then you need to quit being so stuck up. I don't care what the hell-" Aaron gasps in the typical way kids do when they hear a curse "-kind of private school you went to, because it's gone, and you're never going back. I mean, it's good that you're smart because we can use that to stay alive, but you can't just order me around, I just..." she takes a deep breath. "I've just lost everything, and I know you have too, but you can't act like you're automatically our leader or something, Ant. You just can't."
I sigh. "You're right. But there's a little kid here, and he doesn't understand what's going on, so can you keep it down?" I can tell she's about to fire of some angry retort, but I cut her off. "Please. He's my little brother, and now I guess it's my job to protect him, and he doesn't need the two of us lunging for each others' throats every three minutes."
Luce looks sulky, but she must realize I have a point because she doesn't argue.
Aaron sits in the back, fidgeting, and I lean in close to the screen of my laptop, trying to find some sort of signal, anything, whether it be internet or anything else, but there's nothing.
I turn on the radio, but there's not even static. There is no sound.
For now, it seems like the world is silent and empty, and there's no one to help us.
Bilbo: What have I got in my pocket?
Gollum: Handsies!
Bilbo: Nope, guess again.
Gollum: A knife! No, no...
Bilbo: Wrong again.
Gollum: String! Or... Nothing!





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Sun Jul 01, 2012 4:55 am
tgirly says...



Chapter Four
Lucille
The lie slips from his lips like oil over a frying pan. I glance at him, surprised and impressed. I didn't think he had it in him to lie like that, to his little brother no less.
"Can you drive for awhile, Luce?" he asks, and I hop into the driver's seat.
"Let's keep heading into the mountains," he says off-handedly, like he's the only one in the world with an opinion. I slam on the ignition.
"Luce, what-?" he asks, like I'm some crazy chic he's never met before and I'm speeding along with my cell phone out past a police station. I let him have it then.
"You're right he says," his voice infuriatingly calm, like I'm some three-year-old having a tanter tantrum, "but there's a little kid here and he doesn't understand what's going on so could you keep it down." I slow down and almost ask him to finish the conversation outside the vehicle, but I know we have to keep moving, we can't leave Aaron alone, and it would look bad when we came back to the car all bruised up, because it would come to blows.
"Please. He's my little brother, and now I guess it's my job to protect him, and he doesn't need the two of us lunging for each others' throats every three minutes." I'm at a loss for words as he jams a icy knife into my side. Because it was MY job to protect MY little brother and I let him down. I look at Aaron in the rearview mirror, looking scared and upset. I guess I have a new little brother now. I will not fail this time.
I slam on the breaks so I can turn. Ant almost falls off his seat.
"Sorry," I say sarcastically, "you should have buckled up." He gives me a look so dirty he doesn't have to swear and I give him a sour smile in response. I glance at Aaron again, sitting there, swinging his feet, thinking the car is gliding towards his parents and he'll be in their arms any moment. I miss ignorance. But we all lose it eventually, and when Aaron does, a harsh reality will be there to greet him, like a left hook to the jaw. I pray he'll keep his ignorance a bit longer. At this point, we can't handle a sobbing kid.
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
-Abraham Joshua Heschel





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Sun Jul 01, 2012 7:03 pm
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eyeofthestorm says...



Chapter 5
Anthony

The car ride continues in strained silence. Several times I'm certain it's about to be broken, that Luce is about to say something. Even that I'm going to say something, though I don't know what it would be. Aaron sits in the back, seemingly oblivious to it all, but he's a smart kid. He must know there's something wrong.
But maybe not, now that I think of it. The whole thing started to fall apart when I was six, a a year before he was born. He was raised his whole life in the chaos that was America in those last years.
It's not until the sun is almost directly overhead that the silence is really broken.
"I'm hungry," Aaron wails from the backseat. "And I'm thirsty! I want some juice!"
Luce looks over at me and raises her eyebrows. I can almost hear her thoughts. What now, genius?
"Stop the car for a minute," I say in a quiet voice. This time she doesn't slam on the brakes, she guides the car to the side and shifts into park.
"What do you want to do?"
"I guess we should get out, search the car again. This would be a good time to figure out what we have at our disposal."
Luce sighs and pulls the key from the ignition. "Whatever."
I unbuckle my seat belt (which I've started wearing since Luce slammed the brakes for the first time) and unlock the doors. Aaron squees in delight and his door flies open as he shoots out of the car.
"Nyah nyah, bet you can't catch me!" he yells as he runs around in circles. Luce smiles and chases him around, and when she catches him she lifts him up in the air and spins him around.
I wonder if she's bipolar of something.
"Come here for a second," I call over my shoulder.
The backseat is a clutter. I haven't really noticed it, which makes me think it wasn't this bad when we initially stole the car. Thanks Aaron.
I grab a stack of notebooks and move the front seat to read through them. Luce and Aaron have arrived.
"I'm looking for your snacks," she says to him.
"Yay!"
Luce climbs into the backseat.
"There's some books back here. Actually, there's a lot of them," she says.
"Read me the titles," I say absently.
"Well, there's a dictionary and-" Luce pauses for a moment. "This one says Thesaurus. Is that a dinosaur or something?"
I almost laugh, but I stifle it with a very fake cough. "No, it's a book that helps you find synonyms. Is that all?"
"No, there's way more." I hear rustling papers for a moment. "Here, there's a bunch of classics and stuff. Like, Lord of the Flies and all that."
"Yeah. I'm going to look through these."
"Whatever."
I flip open the first one in the stack and start reading.

The twins seem on edge today. They must be picking up on my own edginess. I've watched the government of what was once a great nation fall to new depths, and I can't help but wonder what's next.

That's all on the first page. I flip through them and skim, increasingly disturbed by the entries.

The rain today seemed bright compared to the news I've just received.


Emily is sick. Her ailment seems almost desirable to me. Death would almost be preferable to watching everything crumble.


The airports have been shut down. All ways out of this country are barred. Which begs the question, "Why?"


Emily is dead.


I saw Janine crying today. How hard to lose someone who is exactly like you, to, in essence, watch yourself get sicker and sicker until you die.


Janine has hanged herself in the closet. She was only eleven.


I have only my little Steven now. He's only three, and he believes his sisters are at grandma's. He hates grandma.


All exits barred. I've done my best, but I can't get Steven out. He's going to die in this hellhole of a country.


Last I heard the government is building a supply of nukes. The other countries are on edge.


The other countries can fall to pieces. Like this one.


Steven turns five today. I took him with me when I went to the graveyard yesterday. He still can't read, so he didn't recognize Janine's and Emily's names.


Our government is over.


The country is going to end. I don't know how or when, but it will be violent.
I'm writing about this so if anyone survives they will know what happened to our country.


If some new nation does rise from our ashes, don't follow our example.


"Ant?"
Luce's voice breaks me from my trance. I have been reading the tortured thoughts of someone who could possible have saved themselves, had we not taken her means of escape.
"Yes Luce?" My voice sounds tired, as though I have aged a thousand years reading these poisonous words.
"What do those even say? I called your name three times before you heard me."
I shake my head to clear it.
"Nothing." I've lied again, though this time it's not so convincing. Luce glares at me. I can tell she's mad that I'm not telling her what it says, maybe that it will even dissolve into a fight, when she's interrupted.
Aaron taps on the window.
"I'm hungry. Did you find the food?"
Luce opens the door for him and climbs up into the driver's seat, closing the door for him once he's inside.
"I found some treats," Luce says, holding a 12-pack of generic cream-filled chocolate cupcakes.
"Yay!" Aaron squeals. "I love chocolate!"
Luce opens the package and hands him one. It takes him a bit, but he gets it open and devours it.
"Yummy! Can I have another?"
Luce smiles. "No, not right now. Maybe later."
Aaron frowns. "I'm still thirsty."
"Well, I found some juice!"
Aaron claps as she holds up a box of generic fruit juice.
I can't help thinking that this isn't just some car anymore. This is the car Steven's mom owned, a woman who lost her twin girls and who couldn't afford brand-name snacks, a woman who knew something about what was coming.
How?
Bilbo: What have I got in my pocket?
Gollum: Handsies!
Bilbo: Nope, guess again.
Gollum: A knife! No, no...
Bilbo: Wrong again.
Gollum: String! Or... Nothing!





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Gender: Female
Points: 1147
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Sun Jul 01, 2012 10:35 pm
tgirly says...



Lucille
Chapter Six
Six Years Later...
I head to the river in the morning to fill my water bottle like I do, every morning. Ant walks next to me. It's funny that after all that's happened, in this new camp, we're still neighbors. Maybe we always will be.
"You know what today is?" I ask, holding my water bottle under water as it fills with the cold, fresh stream water.
"Your birthday?" he asks.
"No," I say, "why the heck would I tell you that. The only birthday we have time for is Aaron's and you know it's not that." Mr. Smarty-Pants scratches his ear, then shakes his head. He doesn't know.
"Do you know anything of value, or just stupid stuff?" I ask, "It's the day only EVERYTHING changed." Ant snaps.
"Nuke Day," he says, "Six years ago."
"Congratulations," I say, "you can count to six. Here's your prize." I dump my entire water bottle on his head. He splashes the freezing water of his milk jug at me. The situation slowly dissolves into an all-out splash war. By the time we fall onto the shore of the river, we're soaked head to toe, shivering violently, and laughing our heads off.
"Anthony. Lucille. What the heck are you two doing?" Ylla snaps. The cross, trim fifty-year-old marches up to us and puts her hands on her hips.
"You are going to catch cold and die," she says as seriously as a judge announcing a death sentence. I frown and try to look ashamed with myself, nodding at Ant. He snorts and I can't help but laugh too. Ylla, looking horrified, marches off.
"We should probably wake Aaron up before she does," I say, shivering again. Ant nods.
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
-Abraham Joshua Heschel





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Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:12 am
eyeofthestorm says...



Chapter 7
Anthony

I shiver as we head back to my "house," which is little more than a tent. Aaron is one of the heaviest sleepers I know, so it surprises me when I see him sitting at his desk, looking tired but awake.
"Hello Aaron," Luce calls, still laughing a little. I glare at her, but when I think of how ridiculous I must look soaking wet and shivering I can't hold the expression and end up laughing with her.
Aaron looks up at me and I can see the circles under his eyes.
"Did you stay up all night?"
Aaron nods.
"Why?" Luce asks, the smile twisting up into a curious face.
"Because of that question," Aaron groans.
"What?" Luce looks to me for an explanation.
"He asked for a question with a hard answer."
"Well, what the hell did you tell him to make him stay up all night?"
"I stayed up all night because I couldn't figure it out."
Luce twists up her eyebrows and stares at him like he's crazy.
"Aaron, I told you you couldn't do that anymore," I say.
"Well, what did you ask him anyways?"
"He asked-"
"What shape is the sky?" I say, cutting Aaron off. "It doesn't have an answer, Aaron. The sky is made of air particles that extend into space and gradually fade into nothingness. It has no shape."
Aaron moans. "I hate you, Ant. I'm going to sleep. Try to keep that old lady off my back for a while."
Luce and I laugh at his description of Ylla as he drags his fatigued body across the room to flop on the grass mat in the corner.
"Let's go," Luce whispers. Aaron's snores start to grow in volume as we walk out the door together.
We part ways soon, when we come to the end of the well-worn path. She goes out to the terraced fields where people are growing wild berries and such. I am going to the lab where we develop plants that can be grown at high altitudes.
*******************

It's dark. Aaron is still sleeping when I get home from the lab, and he'll sleep through the night without any trouble. I'm sweating and shivering. Every evening I run around our camp with a Geiger counter, a kind of border check to make sue radiation levels are safe.
I'm just laying down in bed under my blanket when Luce bursts in.
I sit straight up. "What the hell, Luce?"
She waves a stack of paper at me. "Look at these. And put a shirt on, freak."
It takes me a moment to realize what she's talking about, but then I realize I'm only wearing pajama shorts.
"Whatever. Just give me the papers," I say. It's been a long day and I'm tired, but when I start to look at the papers my mind clears up. I flip through them, reading my name and Luce's and Aaron's over and over, mixed in with the data. It's not just us, it's everyone in our camp.
"Where did you find these?" I ask, my voice strained.
"They were in Ylla's bag, you know, that obnoxious green one she takes everywhere. They fell out and I- No. I saw the corner and I took them because I wanted to know what was so important that she took it everywhere. I tried to read them, but I couldn't. You know..."
Yes. I know. Luce only has a sixth grade education, and she's very sensitive about it.
"Anyways, what are they?"
"These are genetic tests. They... I think they did some kind of genetic alteration on us, Luce. As far as I can tell, we're--" I flip back through the pages. "Immune to most radiation, stranger and faster than we used to be, with sharper senses. This is something they didn't want us to know, Luce. And if they were powerful enough to get these alterations done, then they're powerful enough to hunt us."
"What do you mean?" Luce must feel compelled to ask, she must want to make certain she's not wrong, but I can tell from how pale she is that she knows what I mean.
"It means," I say, flipping to a page with a bright red slash through it, "that they will terminate us."
Bilbo: What have I got in my pocket?
Gollum: Handsies!
Bilbo: Nope, guess again.
Gollum: A knife! No, no...
Bilbo: Wrong again.
Gollum: String! Or... Nothing!





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Points: 1147
Reviews: 374
Tue Jul 03, 2012 4:47 am
tgirly says...



Chapter Eight
Lucille
"It means," Ant says, "that they will terminate us." He doesn't seem to realize his own words.
I instinctively look at Aaron. He's not a tiny kid anymore, but a twelve year old. He turns to me, bravery and fear swirled in his hazel eyes. He looks exactly like Ant did at that age.
"You're wrong," I say to Aaron.
"What?" he says.
"We're not letting them terminate us."
"Luce," he says, tired, "some thing are innevitable."
"Yeah," I say, "it's innevitable I'm going to punch someone's face when I get angry. It's not over until the fat lady sings and fat ladies don't exist anymore. Now what do we do with these?" I shove the papers at him.
"Scatter them," Ant says, "make them look like they just fell out of her bag somewhere."
"We're leaving before the sun rises, so get ready." I stuff the papers into my pack and run-walk down the street to the end of the road. Looking around, I dump the contents out, letting the papers spill out.
"What're you doing, Lucille?" I hear someone say. Tensing, I turn to see Clive, the only person who would ever be awake at this time. Clive somehow became the care taker of the one infant on our little mountain village even though she's only thirteen. She clutches him in her arms, rocking back and forth quietly. Her darkened skin makes her lace-colored hair stand out even more. The baby's little hand reaches up. He's a miracle baby; surviving when his mother didn't and all odds seemed against us. I can't leave them.
"You have to come with us if you don't want to be terminated," I say. Clive coughs and clutches her heart, still rocking the baby on her hip. She gives a nervous, fluttering laugh.
"Are-are you joking?" she asks.
"No," I say, "be ready before morning." She ducks into her tent and I rush back to Ant's tent.
"We need food, water bottles filled, and a change of clothes. And any milk you can find; Clive and the baby are coming with us," I say.
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
-Abraham Joshua Heschel





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Mon Jul 30, 2012 9:11 pm
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eyeofthestorm says...



Chapter 9
Ant

"Clive and the baby are coming with us."
Luce turns around and disappears through the door.
"God! She is so impulsive sometimes," I say. I turn to Aaron.
"Pack your stuff. I think I know where we should go. Bring whatever you need to, but you'll be carrying it. And," I continue as I turn and start folding clothes and shoving them in a bag, "You should only bring things you can pack in a hurry if we have to..." I think for a moment to find the right word. "If we have to disappear. Fast."
Aaron nods and scurries outside with a few water bottles.
I pack and organize and sort my belongings into what I need and what I'll leave. For some reason cleaning always relaxes me. My brain works out a flurry of thoughts.
The poor kid. This is all he knows.
Why us? Why were we chosen? Was it at random?
Where are we going? Why not just stay and pretend?
Stupid Luce. There's no way we can travel as fast as we'll need to with Clive dragging along that baby. How is that the baby survived and the mother died? Where were they?

Then I realize a possibility.
Perhaps whoever is terminating people killed the baby's mother, and recently too. Is it possible that they were running away?
I hear Aaron's footsteps behind me. He hands me the water bottles, all five, and I put them in my bag.
"Anthony?"
I soften slightly at the timid note in his voice.
"Aaron."
"Why?"
The simplicity of his question strikes something in my head. My thoughts clear.
"Something was coming. And someone knew. It was all just a test."
I glance over my shoulder at Aaron. He has his eyes closed, and he's testing the words. He does that sometimes, just mouths the words. I've never really asked, but I think it's to feel how they fit together, how they flow over his teeth and how they sound, all strung together. If there hadn't been Nuke Day I think he would've been some kind of poet. A good on too.
"Something like the apocalypse? And they were testing this..."
I nod. "Yeah. To sell. To profit from the end of the world. And we were the lab rats. Six years they've been observing us."
"I don't remember ever being sick. When could they have altered our genes?"
"Maybe when we got vaccinations. One extra shot. I doubt anyone would ever have noticed."
Aaron nods. Now that I think about it, I really don't remember being sick either. Not a cold, nothing.
"Maybe immunity to illness is a side effect," Aaron says with a weak smile.
Luce bursts back through the door.
"Ant. Ant. Remember where we left the car?"
I nod slowly. "Yeah. I can find it, and that's our best bet of getting away, but it's risky. We can't be sure it's even still usable."
"Yeah, but what other ideas do you have?"
"I guess. I was thinking we should head that way."
"Oh, do you still have all the-" She blinks rapidly and then makes an odd gesture, as though-
Well. I'd forgotten about them.
I shake my head. "They were all in the car. When we get there we'll find them."
Luce nods and leaves again.
"The what?"
I turn towards Aaron. "Oh. Well, I found some extra solar panels in the trunk of the car. And I... Well, I don't know if I ever really got them to work right, but I could do it now. They we like guns. They focused solar energy and released it like a beam. But they had to be charged between each shot. I could make better ones if we had them."
Aaron recognizes the look in my eyes, that look when I get totally absorbed in a project or a concept. Usually he'll just leave me alone, but now he stomps on my foot.
"Ow, what?" I mutter angrily.
"We. Need. To. Go."
Aaron's little voice sounds so intense I almost can't believe it's him. Usually he's more quiet and laid-back.
"What-"
And then I notice it. A faint set of footsteps, steadily growing louder And it's not Luce, with her velvet tread.
"Get in bed," I hiss. Aaron sprawls on the ground in the corner. I hide the packs in a wooden chest and blow out the lantern.
"Stay here and pretend you're asleep," I whisper. I head out the door and tiptoe to Luce's tent.
"What? Aaron-"
"There's someone coming."
Luce takes in my expression and nods.
"Go. Pretend you're sleeping." She points to a corner and when I lay down she spreads a blanket over me. "I'll just say you were tired and crashed here."
"Luce-"
"Shh! We can't have anyone hear us, can we."
It's not a question, and I know Luce well enough to just do what she says.
The footsteps stop for a moment and then restart. I slow my breathing, which is difficult because my heart is pounding.
"Lucille? Are you still awake?"
It's Ylla's voice.
"Yes, sorry Ylla. I've just been making up another bed."
"You have company?"
"Yes."
"Well, who is it?"
I open my eyes a sliver just as Ylla comes in. I quickly close them again.
"Anthony? You know what people will say, Lucille. This is not a good-"
Luce cuts her off. "Please don't tell anyone. He was just really tired. It must be really hard to be so smart all the time, and plus we're getting married, and-"
I don't hear anything else she's saying as I'm busy fighting my lungs to keep my breathing steady. Married? Where did she get that from? My mind buzzes with a flurry of thought.
Luce shakes my shoulder. "Ant. Ant. She's gone."
I sit up and rub my eyes. "I'm so tired."
"Well get up, lazy bones. We've still got work to do."
I nod. "Just to give us a lead, let's try to cover our trail." Luce looks at me in confusion. "You know that stream? Let's go to there and work this all out. We've got to plan, and I'm too tired to think straight right now."
Luce snorts. "Oh, like you're the only one who can think."
I glare at her. "Sometimes I think I am. Are you ready to go?"
Luce shoots me a nasty look but nods. "So is Clive. Get Aaron and we'll leave."
I nod and sneak back out to my tent.
"Aaron. Let's go."
We take our packs from the chest and meet Luce and Clive in front of Clive's tent.
"Ready?" I say as I approach the rest.
They nod.
"Okay. Let's go."
And we leave the only home we've known in these six years.
Bilbo: What have I got in my pocket?
Gollum: Handsies!
Bilbo: Nope, guess again.
Gollum: A knife! No, no...
Bilbo: Wrong again.
Gollum: String! Or... Nothing!





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Thu Aug 09, 2012 3:09 am
tgirly says...



Chapter 10
Lucille-
I remember when I first moved into this stupid tent. I remember thinking this is it. This is where I'll live for the rest of my life. This is where I'll probably die. And now suddenly I'm leaving here forever. But I've never been very sentimental, and frankly, I hated it here. It's like beind locked up in a prison, no, it's like social-confinement. I would have prefered solitary confinement, since I've just never truly enjoyed being around people. The closest I've come to actually being friends with someone is Ant, and he's the most annoying person I've ever met. Ironic, how that is.
I don't even glance back as I leave.
We reach the river to "plan," which turns out to be staring at each other while Anthony's eyelids sink lower and lower.
"Ant-" I start, but he shushes me, which makes me want to scream and throw him in the stream. I contain myself though. Finally,the baby even gets fed up with Ant and starts crying. Clive quiets the baby, but it already seems to be getting on Anthony's nerves.
It's always seemed odd that the baby didn't have a name for so long; like everyone thought she'd be a waste of a name. No one gave her a chance. No one thought she'd survive. Hope's practically disappeared.
Maybe that's why, after a month of caring for the child, Clive finally named her Hope.
I couldn't stand this any longer. If Anthony wanted to macho it out and think up everything by himself, fine, but I'm not risking my life for his ego.
"Anthony, I know it's hard for you to multi-task like you are now; you know, breathing and thinking all at once, but maybe you could drop breathing since we've really got to get moving," I snap.
"Lucille, please. I've already figured out a plan and I just have to figure out what direction the car is," he says, pacing a bit. I scoff at him.
"Easy. It's that way," I say, "right past the giant tree with the knot that looks like the tree from pocahantos and the branches that look like a shark's mouth." He gives me a look so full of surprise, I want to slap him. Again, I control myself. I shake my head, I smile slipping past my lips.
"What?" Ant asks.
"The sheer will-power it takes for me to be around you," I say, "it's just astonishing. I pride myself on it, really I do." Apparently, Mr. Genius can't take a joke.
"Now," he says, continuing on and pretending I'm not here, "we have to make it looked like we drowned. Obviously, any smart person," his eyes flickered to me for just the teeniest second, "would find it suspicious that all four of us were drowned. So we're going to have to make it look really, really good."
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
-Abraham Joshua Heschel





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Sun Aug 12, 2012 11:32 pm
eyeofthestorm says...



Chapter 11
Ant

"You're crazy."
Luce stares at me. I've explained my plan.
This is actually a better response than I expected.
"Anthony, have you thought of the technology these people might have? They can do blood tests. Add to that the fact that-"
I shush Aaron.
"I read the reports. I have a better idea what's going on that you, Aaron."
Aaron glares at me but stays quiet.
"So you want to do this?" Luce says, turning to Clive. I know that's the only way she's going to say she thinks it could work.
"We need an animal."
Aaron rolls his eyes and stalks off into the woods.
"God, what are you testing on him?" Luce says in mock horror. "Antidepressants?"
I laugh sarcastically. "Give me you arm," I say to Clive. She silently obeys, holding out her arm and shifting Hope's weight. I cut a bit of fabric from her sleeve with a knife and pull at it's edges, fraying it.
Aaron throws a dead rabbit at my feet.
"Raiding the snares," he says with disdain. "That the best you can come up with, brain-boy?"
I shoot him a warning glance.
"Let's kill ourselves, then," he mutters, taking the scrap of cloth from my hands. He walks to the very edge of the creek and sticks his hand in. He withdraws it immediately, starting to curse until he catches sight of Clive and flushes, going silent. I look at Luce, who raises her eyebrows and makes a little heart with her hands. We laugh as Aaron's face goes even pinker.
Clive looks down at Hope and smiles slightly.
I pick up the dead animal gingerly. Seeing my face, Luce sighs and grabs it from my hands.
"What do I do with this stupid thing?"
"Rub its blood on the rocks," I say, handing her the knife. She proceeds to bloody the rocks, Aaron pointing out how to make it more realistic until she turns around and pushes him into the creek. He gets up, shivering, and I watch with bemusement as he makes his way back up to where we're standing. Clive hands me Hope wordlessly and sets down the small pack she's carrying, neatly extracting a blanket. She sits beside Aaron on the ground and drapes it around the both of them. I hear their voices humming from behind me.
Luce looks up at me and holds up the rabbit. "Hide it," I mutter, the fatigue washing over me in waves. It's been a long day, but we have to keep moving.
Luce kicks the poor animal into the bushes and comes to stand by me.
"Ready?" I say.
Luce nods and swings her bag up onto her shoulder.
***********************************
The sun peers over the horizon. Aaron's teeth have finally stopped chattering, Hope is quiet. though I doubt she's asleep.
"How much farther?" Clive murmurs. "I'd like to stop so Hope can rest a bit."
I'm about to answer when Luce says "Do you think she can manage a bit farther? There's a tight clump of trees in a little bit, see that dense spot?"
Clive nods. I look over at Luce. She notices.
"What?"
I shake my head. "Nothing."
We continue on in silence for a ways. Aaron's breathing is heavy behind us, but Luce and I don't dare slow our pace. Perhaps it is her drive for survival, or maybe she just wants to keep going away. She never liked that place.
The trees get thicker. Luce stops. "Okay. I'm going to take a look around."
With that she's vanishing in a tree, her blonde hair catching the light as she scrambles upwards.
"How does she do that?" Aaron wonders aloud. It's not the first time he's seen her do that, but he was young when she started climbing trees and it's been years.
Clive coos to Hop and speaks in the voice people always use with babies, that high pitched, soft tone.
Luce reappears.
"Who's going to keep watch first?" She looks around.
"Can't we just sleep?" Aaron moans.
"No. If we just sleep there's a chance we'll be caught. I don't know about you, but I'm not up for dying." Her words take effect immediately. "And since you're such a genius, I think you can have the first watch." She watches for my reaction, but I just stand up and walk over to sit by the tree.
"Go up," she says. "You'll see better. And the air will keep you awake."
I raise my eyebrows, but I don't know if she notices. She spreads a blanket on the ground and curls up under it, falling asleep immediately.
As I climb slowly, I feel a slight pang.
I look down. I can barely see her long, light hair through the tree branches, but when I close my eyes her face swims behind my eyelids.
I shake my head. It's early. I haven't slept. I'm just tired.
I stretch out and lean back against the tree trunk.
I wonder if they've noticed we're gone.
**********************************
I sit beside Luce on the ground.
"Nothing," I whisper, trying not to wake the others.
She nods and gets up. She has a hand on the first limb of the tree when I call out her name.
"What?" She looks at me for a moment.
"Nothing." She rolls her eyes and disappears into the trees.
"Nothing at all," I mutter. I turn around and see Clive sitting up right behind me, her brilliant azure eyes watching me curiously.
"What?" I say, looking around self-consciously.
"You're in love with her." It's not a question, but I answer anyways.
"No."
She smiles. "Yes you are." Without another word she's back under her blanket, her eyes closed lightly, her breathing slow and rhythmic.
I look up into the tree for a moment before closing my eyes.
Bilbo: What have I got in my pocket?
Gollum: Handsies!
Bilbo: Nope, guess again.
Gollum: A knife! No, no...
Bilbo: Wrong again.
Gollum: String! Or... Nothing!





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Mon Aug 13, 2012 12:18 am
tgirly says...



Chapter 12
Lucille
I make Ant take the first watch. He raises his eyebrows at me. A shiver runs down my side, but is easily soncealed under my sweatshirt that does nothing to keep the awful chill out. Maybe camp wasn't so bad. Atleast there was a tent to block out the wind. Atleast there was the mask of safety. But honestly, if I'm not safe, I'd rather someone just say so to my face instead of lulling me some false sense of security crap.
Half way through the night, Ant wakes me up to switch positions. For about the billionth time, I'm thankful Ylla failed when she tried to enforce girls wearing skirts.
I pause for a moment before I've reached the top to avoid a bird's nest.
"You're in love with her," I hear Clive say. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. My throat turns to cotton with revulsion at the thought. Ant and me? Seriously?
"No," he says, not too vehemently or embarrasedly. Like it's a fact of life that someone as smart as him could never fall for an idiot like me. I'm more relieve than annoyed. We have an abundence of stupid stuff we have to worry about right now; I don't have time to find a nice way to tell a goo-goo eyed Ant that I hate his guts.
Something feels off. I run my fingers through my hair. It's too long. I take out my pocket knife and hack away.
I don't fall asleep in the tree. That's a quick way to lose a leg or the connectiveness of your head. I stay awake until the distance horizon turns and dark grey-violet, then half slide, half climb down the tree and wake everyone up.
Aaron is not a morning person. Neither is Hope apparently, because as soon as Clive starts shifting positions, Hope starts shifting octaves in her screams, which earns me death-glares from both Aaron and Ant.
Clive pulls out some crushed berries and attempts to feed Hope. Hope is not amused. We finish breakfast and Hope's still going strong at a key that would make lesser men weap. Or pound there heads into trees, as Aaron does.
"She's teething," Clive says by form of apology.
"It's alright," I say, taking the baby from her, "you eat breakfast and I'll watch little Hope, oh yes I will, oh yes I will!" Ant and Clive head into the woods to take care of business, leaving me with Aaron.
"Why," Aaron says, "did you have to bring the baby? She's going to get us all killed." I hold Hope out and look at her small face.
"Because," I say, "it was impossible to save anyone but ourselves when the bombs went off. If we can't keep the few that are left breathing, then we didn't deserve to survive." That shuts Aaron up.
Finally, Hope stops crying and decided to suck on my thumb instead.
"Triumph!" I yell.
Apparently, one shouldn't yell around babies.
Bark is peeling from the trees by the time Clive and Ant get back. Clive takes Hope again and calms her. And we're off again, straight to the car.
Which is half-buried in vegetation and refuses to start.
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
-Abraham Joshua Heschel





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Mon Aug 13, 2012 2:21 am
eyeofthestorm says...



Chapter 13
Ant

I kick a tree and sink to the ground in frustration. This was our best chance of getting away alive, and it's ruined.
"We'll be okay," Clive murmurs. I look up at her. She's watching me carefully, as though afraid I'm going to fly into a tantrum or something. I take a deep breath and compose myself.
"Can you fix it?" Luce doesn't look at me. She's sitting on the roof of the car, cutting at the vines and various other plants covering the black metal.
"I don't know. I seriously doubt it." I shake my head. "I never worked with this kind of thing. It would be safer to just forget it."
Luce shakes her head. It's odd, not seeing the swish of her hair, but it fits her.
I stand up cautiously and close my eyes for a moment. I can't lose focus right now.
"We should just leave it."
Luce looks up, her gaze meeting mine. "What about those little gun things you made?"
Aaron holds up a twisted bit of metal. "Rusted away. Useless." He tosses one at a tree. It breaks in half.
"Great. Well, we should take a minute and then go."
Clive sits Hope down to sleep for a bit longer while she can. Her and Aaron fall into light conversation, the both of them timidly laughing every now and then.
"Hey," Luce says quietly. I look over to her. "Let's just go figure out where to go."
I sigh. "I was really hoping-" What? That we'd get away easy? That this wouldn't be the hardest life to ever go back to?
"I know." She shifts uncomfortably and looks like she's thinking hard. Then she's ten feet above me in the nearest tree. I shake my head and follow her.
"Where do you want to go?" I ask.
She looks around before seeming satisfied that we're completely alone.
"To tell you the truth, I don't really know. That's not saying you get to make all the decisions, Mister Genius-Child-Prodigy."
She watches me for a moment. I notice the depth of her eyes and then look down. Not now, I think to myself.
"Hello? Earth to Ant?" Luce says, tapping me on the head.
"Hm, what?" I look back at Luce.
She opens her mouth to say something.
"Lucille! Anthony!" Clive's call cuts through the slight awkwardness of the moment. I climb down at about half the speed Luce does, but she waits for a moment at the bottom of the tree before darting away through the trees.
I follow at a slower pace, reaching the camp in time to see Luce hit the ground silently.
"See anything?" I say.
"We're safe for a while, but I want to go. I want to put some serious distance between us and the camp as soon as we can."
I nod in agreement.
"Let's go."
********************************
I sit in a different tree, but I watch for the same people tonight. I don't know what I'm expecting to see, exactly. Just that I hope I never see it.
A rustle below me startles me. I look down to see Clive climbing up. She finds a branch near mine and watches me in silence for a while.
"She's not stupid, you know."
I glance over at Clive and find her staring at me intently, her eyes glimmering.
"What?"
"She's going to figure it out."
"What is she going to figure out?"
"That you love her."
"I don't-"
"Save the excuses. I see right through them, and anyways, I think it's sweet."
She silently starts to climb down. I watch her tiny figure disappear and think about what she said.
The chill of the air cuts through my thoughts. I shiver.
*******************************
"Let's find water."
Aaron's comment brings us all to a more conscious level of interaction.
"Good plan. Any particular ideas, young Einstein?"
I climb upwards, followed and passed by Luce.
We both sit near the top of the tree.
"Where?"
I look over at Luce and then back at the landscape. I am painfully aware of her sitting right beside me.
I point to a place where a few deciduous trees are growing. Luce nods and slides down the tree. I follow after a moment.
"Let's go," she's saying to Aaron and Clive.
Periodically she'll scramble up a tree, adjust our direction slightly, and then we'll keep moving.
The sun is nearly through the sky when the sound of running water reaches our ears. A creek soon comes into view.
"You two fill the water bottles. Genius boy and I will look for a good place to set up camp for the night." Luce dumps out all the empty water bottles on the ground before we head off into the trees.
Silence surrounds us for a while, aside from Hope's distant screaming.
"Ant, I think this is good."
I stop and look around. The ground is flat, and there's a perfect clearing.
I nod. We set down the bags. I pull out blankets and set them in a pile on the ground. There's is a moment of silence while we spread them out on the ground.
I stand up. "Luce?" She looks over at me.
"What?"
I shake my head. "Nothing. We should probably get back."
"Nah, let's give those two a little time on their own. Besides, they can find us."
We stand side-by-side for a moment.
"Actually, let's just go," Luce says. I look over at her and straight into her eyes. She shifts, as though just about to start walking.
"Wait," I say. She stops and turns around.
"What?" She looks at me with a mixture of curiosity and slight irritation.
"Nothing." I silently curse myself for being too nervous to say anything.
Luce keeps walking.
****************************
"Tell her."
I'm used to Clive appearing while I'm on watch. She moves like a wraith sometimes, so silent it's frightening at times.
"Someday."
It's been days since we found this creek, and we should probably start moving again. We can't just stay here forever, but nine days have passed without incident, so I think we're safe for a while longer.
"Soon," she whispers.
I smile at Clive. She's got more innocence that Aaron. I always thought of her as a sister more than anything else.
Clive looks me in the eyes.
"You switch watch in an hour or so," she says. She disappears down the tree.
I spend the time lost in thoughts about Luce.
My feet hit the ground.
"My turn."
I didn't expect to see Luce sitting at the base of the tree. Consequently, I start violently. She laughs.
"I woke up a bit ago," she explains.
"Oh. Well."
"Good night, Ant." She stands up and is about to launch herself upward when I catch her arm.
"What?"
I lean in quickly, before I can lose my nerve, and press my lips against hers.
Bilbo: What have I got in my pocket?
Gollum: Handsies!
Bilbo: Nope, guess again.
Gollum: A knife! No, no...
Bilbo: Wrong again.
Gollum: String! Or... Nothing!





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Mon Aug 13, 2012 4:04 am
tgirly says...



Chapter 14
Lucille
Ant has been acting strange for days. He keeps acting like he's going to tell me something and then chickens out. I've decided he can't stand me anymore but is too much of a wimp to tell it to my face. He'll probably sneak off some day with Aaron, leaving me alone with Clive and the baby. That's the only answer I can think of.
I wake up early and wait by the tree until he hops down. To my satisfaction, I make him jump. After exchanging a few words, I turn to the tree, but he grabs my arm before I can.
"What?" I ask, barely getting the word out before his face is smashed against mine.
At first I think he fell, but then I realize HIS LIPS ARE STILL THERE! I go by instinct, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back.
"Ow, ow, ow," he says, "Luce!" I release his arm.
"What the hephalump was that?" I yell at him. Now Clive and Aaron are waking up, and Hope's starting to whimper.
"Luce," Ant swallows, "Luce, I love you." My cheeks burn. What does this guy think he's doing?
"Do you really believe I'm that stupid?" I yell and slap his face, leaving a reddened handprint on his cheek and not really caring, "get out. Get out of here." I climb up the tree, tears trying to escape my eyes. I loathe Ant. What kind of sick joke is he pulling? Does he think I don't know when someone's making fun of me? I have a brain, I've taken enough crap to get what's happening. And in front of the entire free population of America too! I hope I never see him again. I'd be perfectly content if I never saw his bright, hazel eyes again, never felt his warm, soft lips on mine again, never felt the uncomfortable, strange electricity bursting through my arm's vein when he reached for it...
If that weasel has any brains, he'll know not to come back here. No one messes with Lucille Washington.
Atleast not, anymore.
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
-Abraham Joshua Heschel





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Mon Aug 13, 2012 4:42 am
eyeofthestorm says...



Chapter 15
Ant

She's gone.
Clive looks up at me. She almost looks like she's going to stand up, but Hope is starting to cry and she's smart enough to see I want to be alone.
I start out running slow, but the world soon grows into a blur around me. I concentrate on pouring every bit of energy into this running, and not letting any other part of my brain function.
But eventually I have to go back.
The sky is lighting but the sun is still nowhere to be seen when I get back to camp.
"She's still up there," Clive says, nodding toward the tree.
"What did you do, anyways?" Aaron says, looking up at me tiredly. Clive elbows him in the ribs. Probably really hard, from the sound and face he makes.
She mouths "He deserved it" to me. I try to smile, but I think it comes out as more of a grimace.
"I thought I told you to get away," Luce yells from the top of the tree.
"If you go up she'll murder you," Clive warns me. "Seriously. She thought I was you and she actually took a swing with her pocket knife."
Luce slides into view a few moments later, her eyes red-rimmed.
"Go away, Anthony."
"Luce, I-"
"What kind of sick jerk does that? I mean, you can't just do that. You can't just pretend you love someone for giggles. That is so twisted!"
"Luce, I'm not leaving. I really do-"
"Fine! I'll leave!"
She moves to grab her bag, but Clive blocks her way.
"You're not leaving me behind."
Aaron looks over at Clive. "Well, I'm not letting Clive leave without me."
"And I can't let Aaron just wander off. So I guess you're stuck with me," I say bitterly. Luce doesn't look all that happy about it either.
"No trying to kill him," Clive says, eyeing the pocket knife Luce holds so tightly her knuckles are white. Clive holds out her hand and Luce hands it over rather reluctantly.
I watch Luce glare at me.
No. No no no no no. I say it to myself over and over.
Doesn't stop me thinking of her.
Bilbo: What have I got in my pocket?
Gollum: Handsies!
Bilbo: Nope, guess again.
Gollum: A knife! No, no...
Bilbo: Wrong again.
Gollum: String! Or... Nothing!








I wondered why we put villains in our stories when we have plenty of them in real life; then I realized that maybe we wanted stories where the good guy wins.
— nogutsnoglory