1.5:
Months have passed. I take long walks every day, trying to walk as far as I can, so that perhaps I might find others like me. Not even others, just one would be okay. There's nobody in this world like me - I only want someone to relate to, someone like me that I can talk to, someone who will be my friend.
I've been out here for days. It's unsafe in these wastelands, but I make sure to hide when it gets dark. I sleep in covered places, tucked away from the sight of any predators, or monsters... or whatever is out here. I know that it's better to be in my own bed at night, but I can't make a lot of progress if I have to get back home every day. I don't mean to sound dramatic at all, but knowing that I'm the only one out here makes me feel a tad empty. What am I supposed to do out here all alone in this world?
I search the wastelands for a few more days. Though it's just a few more days till summer, it still is not all too hot here, considering the location of where the lab happens to reside. I feel a chill come across my shoulders, so I re-wrap a piece of cloth I've been carrying around me, and hold it closed with a pin. I move myself out of the shadows so that I won't get colder. I climb up a small pile of rubble and look around, in hopes that I can see the lab in the distance. I can see it only a little, but something else, something else much closer catches my eye.
At long last! It's another! I peer at him as he walks along, looking up at all the piles of remains of the world. He does not see me, but I hope that he will. I look back down at my path and descend from the pile of remains. I walk along, coming closer to him. I can vaguely see his number, but he is hard to miss. He is an unusual color - green - like the grass in the meadows just northeast of here. I feel my insides flutter just a little, knowing that I'm not alone in this world anymore. I speed up my pace, coming within a foot or so of him, before my foot hits a rock, and he turns around, on alert. He sees me, but is reluctant to say something. I try to read his expression, but with not much luck. He seems somewhat surprised, but more pleasantly surprised to not be walking around this world by himself. He looks me up and down one more time.
"Hello." he greets me. "I'm 30... a-are you out here all alone?"
"I've been out here alone for a while. You're the first person I've ever run into out here."
"That's... crazy." he says. He looks at me as if he wants to ask me something.
"1.5. It's a pleasure." I put my hand out towards him, so that he may shake it. He reluctantly reaches out and grabs my hand, giving it a gentle shake.
"So..." he says. "W-where did you come from?" he seems to be struggling a little with conversing. He seems nervous, almost as if he's already found a liking for me. I ignore the thoughts in my brain and answer his question.
"The same place you did, I believe. I'm from the scientists' lab. You can see it in the distance. I direct him towards the building far in the distance, and point to it so that he can see. I put my hand on his shoulder, only to guide him to where I'm looking, but he feels the touch and looks at me with a quick little smile.
I think I'm smiling a little bit too. I feel something like a current running through me, through the back of my shoulders - perhaps I am more happy than I am showing. I feel so much more electrified now - I've felt the touch of another being, another alive being who I had been hopelessly searching for for the longest time.
"Yeah, that's where I'm from too." he says. "The doctors told me to come and find you. They were scared that you had died out here."
"I see... well... at least I'm not out here by myself now."
"That's right. I'll stay with you. We can look for others together."
"Mhmm. We can also... just... stay together. We can be friends." I say quietly.
"Of course." he smiles. "I'll be your friend. I'll keep you safe, too."
"You'd... protect me?" I ask, rather surprised.
"Of course, do you think I'd have a chance out here alone?" he chuckles. "I'm so obvious, I'd be dead in less than a week!"
"You'd be fine!" I joke. "Now come on, let's get going. We have a whole world to discover." I grab his hand, and I feel a tingle in my own. I wonder for a second what just happened, but again, I don't think of it for long. He talks to me more, and time passes more and more as we walk.
It's been about a week and a half - we made it farther than I've ever been. For the first time, we've made it to a body of water. The beach is calm, but just like everything else in this world, it's littered with garbage and rocks and whatever else is left of the previous world. The only thing that seems to be peaceful yet lively are the lightning bugs slowly making their way across the beach. The sky has plenty of them flying around and lighting up the world below. Combined with the sound of gentle waves washing ashore, it creates an environment that is calming and peaceful.
"You know, I didn't think there was water up here. This world feels a little too empty for something so... free-flowing." 30 jokes.
"I know what you mean." I laugh.
"Hey... that plank over there has something written on it. Should we see what it is? It might tell us where we are."
"Yeah, sure." I say, following him over to it.
30 is a little bit awkward, but not that much. It's almost kind of admirable in him, almost suiting. I've taken a liking to him. He's very kind, and good-hearted. He's sweet, too. He's protected me, and always been respectful - he's a gentleman, I suppose. I could almost say that I feel things for him beyond what friends would feel, and judging by his actions, it's safe to say that he might be feeling the same. He's the only one in this world. Perhaps just by nature he's the only one for me, as ridiculous as it sounds. I'm okay with him liking me, and I'm sure that feeling is mutual. I feel better when he's near me, and I feel less and less alone every passing day. He makes me feel special, and I very much enjoy being around him. Maybe all of this could work.
We make our way over to the sign a few yards away from the water. Something's written on it, but it's beat up and the words are hard to make out. After moving closer, 30 and I both look at it. All it says is Cayuga. Presumably, that's the name of the water body. We don't know what it means, and I don't think much of it because 30 has already redirected my attention to a space under the dock of the lake. It is a quiet little space, and it sits under the dock just right - there is a patch of grass underneath, and the wood planks above have caved in, creating a space where one can lay in the grass and still look up and stargaze.
"Aw, how beautiful." I say. "It seems like a good place to rest."
"Yeah." he says. He looks at me with a sheepish smile. Something in my chest flutters a little. His actions are kind of adorable. He's like a kid, but grown up at the same time - fun, joking, playful, but still mature and collected, if that's even possible.
We both sit in the patch of grass under the hole in the dock. He lays down on his back and relaxes. I sit next to him. He looks up at me, still with a smile. He moves his arm up and gestures for me to come closer.
"If you want..." he says. "You can come closer, I wouldn't mind it at all."
"Oh..." I murmur, but not sadly. "I... I guess. I'm okay with it." I smile, nervously. My heart beats a little bit faster.
I take off my poncho and place it next to me. I look over at 30, who is... trying hard to make it seem like he wasn't staring a little. I'm not really bothered by this, considering he basically just admitted that he has feelings for me. I lay down, and shift over to his arm. I rest my head on his shoulder, and we look up at the sky. It had been cloudy for about a week here, but yesterday it cleared up and it's been sunny for about a day and a half now. Because of the now clear skies, the stars are visible, and their light shines down onto the emptiness of this world. Everything is quiet, except for the sound of the waves, and a light breeze.
"It's all so peaceful." I say. "And so pretty, especially the stars."
"Yeah, it's really nice." 30 says, turning to me. "But personally, I think you're much better."
"Aw," I say back to him quietly. "You don't have to say things like that."
"But I mean it, I think you're great." he pauses. "I-I do like you a lot, actually."
"You're so sweet." I chuckle. "I'm pretty fond of you, too."
"Really?" he says. "You... like me?"
"I'd say so. I trust you, and I enjoy your company. You seem to care about me, and... I find your presence very comforting. I feel like you understand me. There's a lot of things that I like about you."
"I do care about you, 1.5. I care very much. You're really awesome. I... also feel comfortable and safe with you around, and you're just really interesting. Funny, too."
"Adorable." I say, cocking my brow at him. "You really know how to make somebody smile."
"Glad." he says, sitting up. I scoot towards him a little more, and he puts his arm around me.
"This is nice." he says. "When I was born, I thought that I'd get sent out here and spend so many days all alone. I never thought I'd be doing anything like this."
"Same here. Thanks for staying with me." I say.
"It's absolutely no problem. Thank you for being with me too."
"You're so... I don't know what word I'm looking for... confident?"
"Well, there's only two of us. Not much of a point in being shy." he jokes, and gives me a comforting smile.
He places his other hand on my side, and kind of just looks at me in a way that's asking for permission. I really don't know how to look back at him, but I feel like I'm okay with this. I'm scared, and I don't know what to do, but maybe I should let him do this. I've been out here so long that I've basically built a wall around myself, always staying sharp so that I won't be able to get hurt. Perhaps if I let 30 kiss me, I might change a little. Maybe I won't feel so tense, so scared of the world. He makes it better for just being here, but maybe if something more were established, I'd feel so much better. I haven't known 30 for a long time - only about twelve or thirteen days. But, in that time, we talked every moment we were awake, and we had gotten to learn a lot about each other. I really appreciate him, I love his personality, his sense of humor... I wouldn't trade how safe he makes me feel for anything. Maybe I should do this. I let the thought of 30 kissing me pass through my mind, and it suddenly feels a little better. I'm okay with this. The thought of it makes me want to smile, and it makes me feel... mushy, and soft - kind of like a pillow. I look at him, to respond to how he looked at me before. He smiles and moves in closer to me. I lean towards him in return, but before his lips can even touch mine, I hear a sound. It's much louder than everything else going on around us, and it's also a very unnatural sound. I get up and immediately start looking around us for any disturbances.
"Did you hear that?" I ask 30. "It was loud!"
"I... no. That's not exactly what I was thinking about..." he chokes on a laugh.
"Wh... what do you think it was?" I turns to him, asking nervously.
Before he can say a thing something huge comes from above, nearly crushing me. I jump back as quickly as I can, to see that what nearly killed me is the giant, skeletal foot of some animal, reinforced with metal and wires and nails and so many inorganic things I cannot name... Its head comes down to our level, and our whole environment turns red from the glow of its eyes. I look and all I see are teeth, just a part of a giant enemy that could kill both 30 and I very easily. It growls at us, and my stomach drops so fast that I don't even think, I just grab 30's and start running as quickly with him as I can. It's quick to follow us and we jump out of the way just as it swings a claw at us. I pull 30 off the beach and behind a pile of rubble, where we try our best to hide. I try to stay quiet while I search for something I can use to fight. I discover a metal pole and dislodge it from some scraps, and just as I get it out, the rubble collapses as the beast searches for us. We avoid the falling remains and keep sprinting away from the beach and towards the lab. I jump into harm's way and throw the pole at the monster as hard as I can. It hits the monster's eye, bursting it, and making sparks fly everywhere. I retreat, but before I get out of range I feel pain all over, and that I can't breathe at all. My mind unblurs itself, and I realize I've been hit, and gone flying into something a good distance away. I feel myself hit something face first, and then I collapse onto the ground, convinced that I am about to die. I try to recollect myself, but I fall again. My hands are covered in blood, my own, at that - I look at my arms to see one has been torn open, all the way up past the elbow. I also can't tell how much I'm bleeding, because I can barely see. My vision is a bit blurred, most likely because of the hit. But I try to get up and see that I'm having trouble keeping my balance. I stay up on my knees, and I rub my face, hoping it'll numb the pain in the whole right side. I look at my hands again, still discolored by my own vital fluids. I put my hands over my... eye. I feel my whole face again pressing where my right eye once. Quickly looking at my palm, I see blood that's pouring out, floating in it are glass shards and pieces of cloth and metal. I try to stay as calm as I can, but the fact that I'll have trouble seeing for the rest of my life is making it very difficult. My whole body shakes as I try to even come close to pulling myself together.
I look around, looking for 30, looking for the beast, trying to regain control of myself and get us both out of here. I stumble over past a pile of debris, and see 30, trying to fight off the monster by himself. I try to run to him as best I can, wobbling and stumbling as I move. 30 sees me, and his face just says it all about what I look like now. He asks me something, but all I hear is a blurry mess of noise in my head, which is torn open and entirely disoriented and pouring out blood like the second end of the world is coming. The monster notices me, already nearly defeated, and rushes towards me. I look up at it with my one eye, ready to go unconscious. It raises its limb at me again, ready to strike. I exhale, realizing that I am about to die. Just before it hits me, I am shoved to the ground. I hear a scream of pain, and somebody shouting for me. I try to make sense of all of this, but I am bleeding to death so quickly that it doesn't really even matter. I wonder where 30 is. I am able to see him out of the corner of my left eye for just a moment, and then the whole world goes black.