Step.
Step.
Step.
The girl stepped softly, her shoes making little tip-tap noises as her heels connected with the road. She gasped at the sight of the destroyed town that was her home and as her eyes widened, tears began to form and stream down her cheeks. Slowly, she took in everything around her.
New York, as it was once called, was completely destroyed. Rubble and debris of buildings and houses covered the ground, while some shelters still smelled of ash and fire. Almost like it hadn't been so long ago, smokey fog took over the air and clouded it with grey. Windows were smashed, cars were torn apart, and the rail on the highway was smashed into tiny pieces, making it look like something crashed through and into the ocean below.
As if she was stuck in slow motion, she walked over to the broken rail and stared down at the calm lake. It was almost like as if it was mocking her, silently asking her, 'are you happy you left? Are you happy all your friends and family are dead?'
She hated it.
She hated it, and she hated herself.
If she hadn't been so selfish, she could've been with them.
Sure, she wouldn't have been with them living, but she'd still be with them. They'd still be a family if it wasn't for her selfishness. She just had to run away to England and for what? A stupid internship at Angela Marie's Fashion Academy?
What a waste life was.
What good was living if she didn't have her family and friends by her side?
"How does it feel? To know that everyone you love is gone?"
The girl gasped and as she turned on her heels, she caught a glimpse at the stranger behind her. His piercingly blue eyes matched the mood of the world around them and his hair was covered in mud and dirt. His clothes were mostly black and grey and his jacket had a slight tear on the shoulder, surrounded by a tiny puddle of a crimson red liquid seeping through underneath, which matched the fresh scars on his face and added effect to his pale skin. To keep herself from gasping again, she bit her lip and stared down at the ground—at his shoes—where her eyes widened with relief and shock in what she saw.
The signature. She recognized the signature on the shoes immediately. She'd recognize that signature anywhere, covered in mud and dust or not.
"Farkle," She breathed as she went to wrap him in her arms. "Oh my gosh, you have no idea how much I've—"
Farkle stepped back, making her freeze in place, shocked. The Farkle she knew would never reject one of her hugs.
"Don't you start," He snapped. "Don't you even freaking start, Riley."
The brunette blinked back her tears, closing her mouth and opening it once again, as if she wanted to say something but didn't know what. So, instead, she decided to settle for two simple words.
"What's wrong?"
"Like you don't know."
"I don't."
"You liar."
"Farkle, tell me what I did!" The brunette begged. She couldn't stand to see her friend mad at her. "Please!" She pleaded, "Please, just. . . tell me what I did wrong. I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry for whatever it is I did."
"You want to know what you did?!" He snapped. If people were around, she was sure they would've stopped and stared to look at them by now.
"Yes!" She yelled as she took multiple steps back. He was slowly backing her into the broken rail of the highway. "Please!"
"You took that stupid internship, Riley! You gave up on your family and friends and ran away to another country when we needed you the most! When they came and took over, Riley, we were hoping and praying you would show up, telling us everything would be okay and that we were gonna be learning about Beligium 1831 tomorrow in History, just like I always wished we were!"
But all that never happened. Instead, everybody got killed—Lucas, Zay and I even had to stand up and fight! And not like fist fights either or rap battles, but actually fight with weapons to protect our home!"
Riley closed her eyes gently and shook her head, not knowing what to say. "I'm sorry," she spoke softly.
He narrowed his eyes. "You can be sorry all you want. 'Sorry' doesn't fix things, does it? We shot people, Riley, we shot people, we killed people and we fought for our home—all while you were off living in England working for some stupid internship. I actually participated in physical violence; I actually caused harm to somebody else, to another human being, something I've never done in my entire life as a person."
Riley blinked back tears, to no avail. She took a glance around the town and took notice of the fact nobody else was there with them. Not even a single body was in sight—dead or alive. "What happened to everyone?" She asked, her voice cracking slightly, "W-What happened to you? W-Why are you still alive?"
"Because I played the game, Riley. I played the game and won. Lucas—well, it only took a while for him to crack. He turned into Texas Lucas, went up against somebody he wouldn't stand a chance with and got himself killed in the field."
Riley buried her head in her hands, sobbing. She couldn't believe her, now former, boyfriend was dead. "And Zay?" She asked timidly.
"Dead as well. It wasn't his protectiveness that got him killed, rather than his clumsiness. Him and I were planning an attack with a few other guys from the army we formed. We sent him out as a distraction and long story short, he didn't last long when one of the guys killed him off when he wasn't looking."
"Maya?"
"Penelope—"
"What?"
"Penelope; that's what she goes by now. She was one of the many who fled, or at the very least, tried to. She wanted to escape the chaos and head towards that art school she dreamed of going to—Emily Carr, I think it was. Her plane was shot down just minutes after it took off. Crashed into a lake, they said."
Riley sniffed. "Parents." She stated, "Auggie, Uncle Shawn and Josh."
"I don't know much about your parents, other than they stayed here, saying 'they weren't going to lose the place their kids and soon, grandkids, would grow up in.' I heard Shawn took Auggie and Josh away with him to Philadelphia, but no one's heard from them or been in contact with them since."
"I-Is anyone still alive?" She cried, "Has everyone been taken from me?!"
Farkle looked down at his shoes, avoiding eye contact. "Smackle," He said, "She saved my life, Riley. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be standing here right now."
"Everyone," She cried again, "Everyone—Everyone's gone. Everyone's been taken, haven't they?!"
"Everyone," He agreed as he looked up and stepped closer towards the girl. He slowly took her hands in his and gave her a slight smile. "But we still have us."
Riley looked up and smiled, her chocolate brown eyes twinkling with the smallest amount of happiness. "Yes," She agreed, "We still have us."
And done! I bet I confused you with the story a bit, huh? Don't worry though, I'll start explaining.
So, the story takes place when the Riley, Farkle, Lucas, Maya and Zay are in the middle of grade twelve. During this time, everyone's looking for colleges and Riley scores a six-month internship to a fashion academy. Unfortunately, her parents don't allow her to go, but believing this could jumpstart her career in the fashion business, she goes anyway—by plane.
Around three months later, something terrible happens in New York: a war/battle breaks out and while Maya tried to flee, Lucas, Farkle and Zay "join" the army and fight/stay behind. Lucas and Zay, as well as Maya, pass away and after the war/battle is finished, Riley pays a visit to her hometown and is shocked to find everyone she knew dead or missing, excluding Farkle. She then realizes how selfish she'd/she's been and is relieved to find she still has one friend left to hold on to.
Exciting, right? Originally this was going to be my "Ghost Town," story but then I started writing and drifted away from the original plot—don't worry, I'm still writing "Ghost Town!" It just might not be anytime soon.
So, this was supposed to be for Halloween, but I'm like two days late. Sorry 'bout that. Special thanks goes to my beta reader, EmeraldTulip.
Happy (belated) Halloween! I hope you enjoyed this story and let me know what you think (and how your Halloween went) in the reviews!
~Star :)