AFTERMATH: a Delirium story
CH. 1
The past is dead. I repeat Raven's mantra in my head over and over again, willing it to be true. But it's not. My past has followed me and haunted me for the past eight months, eating away at me from the inside. I left Portland, crossed over into the Wilds, thinking it would be different and that I would never go back. But here we are; in Portland, with everything from my past clinging to me and mingled together with the new present. My mother, Annabel; Grace, oh little Gracie; Hana, somewhere out there in the chaos; and Alex. My Alex, still waiting for me near the crumbled ruins of the torn down wall.
It's evening now. Night was fallen upon us softly and it is strangely silent, considering the day's events. I'm still reeling over everything that happened. The torn down walls. The city of Portland without leadership, a murdered mayor, and citizens terrified without the protection of the wall and Invalids lurking around. Hana's betrayal and sudden help sends mingled feelings throughout my body. I don't dwell over the fact that, if she hadn't told on me so long ago, things would have been different. I can't change the past. I can only move forward.
I am happy though, oddly enough. My mother is here with me. My own mother. Little Gracie, too, who is thin and dirty but full of fire and fight; she is my brave resister, and always has been. Right now, I pull a soft blanket over her sleeping form by the campfire. What's left of our little group from the Wilds has banded together once again, on the other side of the crumbled wall in the fringes of the trees. We don't feel comfortable in the city riddled by scared citizens and random Invalids. Together, we are our small family.
But an estranged one. Raven is alive; she is sitting with Tack, her face pale and her lips pressed into a hard line. She was shot straight through her left shoulder, the bullet slicing through her flesh like it was nothing. Now, she is bandaged and cleaned up with her arm in a sling. Despite the day's victory, she looks like she carries the weight of the world on her shoulders.
Across from me sits Julian. It kills me inside; I have barely acknowledged him after the initial tearing down of the walls. It was easier, when we were in the thick of it and I knew he was alright and Alex was standing before me telling me he wasn't going to let me go again. I dig my nails into the palms of my hand. Alex isn't back yet. Alex hasn't come back yet. He told the group he was going to find supplies in Portland for us and he hasn't come back yet. I clench my fists harder. You promised.
He promised he wouldn't let me go again. I glance at Julian and something hitches in my chest. And despite that, I still think, Please, keep your promise.