Interstellar FanFic.
Chap. 1
Rhiza was walking home alone again. Her father had warned her against walking alone several times before, but Rhiza choose to endure his screaming complaints for solitude, for the few moments of peace she could salvage from the 2.5 miles it took to walk from Randall's Supply Store to her home. Even with the silence, a tinge of guilt broke through because she knew her father had reason to worry. The blight had made people desperate, ruthless even. Randall himself had considered changing her hours with Patrick's so that she didn't have to close the store, but Patrick had a sick child to take care of. Little lungs all around the world had blackened with the weight of dust and debris; little lungs that eventually failed. The wind was calmer now than it had been earlier in the day and Rhiza wiped her goggles and adjusted her mask. With everyone shut safely in their homes, her town was a morbid wonderland yet still bore a serene resemblance to the books of her youth, the books that promised peace and good tidings on earth around this time of year. Her steps quickened as she neared Zachary's house, as if it were waiting for her. He was waiting for her and she was waiting to touch him, she wanted to touch her dear Zachary. Rhiza's senses sometimes scared her, they were too lucid, particularly any that were tactile. Hungrily, she imagined the coarse leather glove rubbing against her fingers, the sensation of her hand in open air, the warmth of her palmar receptors as she caressed the side of his face. She needed to touch him before she walked into her own home, the tactility of their embraces was what kept her calm, it was her life line. She found herself nearly sprinting up his porch steps when the door in front of her suddenly thrust open. Zachary's mother had to shield herself from the dust that pummeled her face as she grabbed Rhiza and dragged her inside the house. Bewildered by the woman's force, Rhiza pulled away while yanking dust coated goggles off her own face. Once her sight had returned, Rhiza stared into the bloodshot eyes in front of her. Zachary's mother had the lines of hardship etched into her face, and the panic that she now wore gave her wrinkles gruesome intensity. "He left, he's gone. He didn't tell me where, and…and… he took the truck. Please, honey do you know where he is? Dear God, he took the truck." A twitch, that was all Rhiza could offer as a reply. She couldn't even speak. However, she felt her lips. Despite the mask she wore, she felt how the skin of her lips had been ripped apart and now she savored their metallic aftertaste. 'He was supposed to wait for me, he promised,' were the words drumming in her head. What Rhiza felt next was an emotion, a sense that she never foresaw. Her body was immediately crushed by the burden of the realization and she was certain she would die. She had to escape. Unknowingly, she pushed the weary woman away from the threshold and nearly collapsed unto the porch steps. The wind had gained intensity and immediately Rhiza gagged at the dust winding itself down her nostrils and scratching at her eyes. She was going to die, she knew it. Rhiza wearily made her way to the dilapidated Victorian that she knew was her home, but she couldn't walk inside. Instead, she idly walked behind the house, the dust was beating the hoodie of her sweater against her head now, 'gone, gone, gone' were its words. Once she made it to the shed and closed its doors behind her, silence enveloped her again. The silence she sought out that evening was the same silence goading her towards her demise. 'He was supposed to wait for me' were her last words before she felt the sting of the metal across her skin.