"We come from... Hunting all day an endless cry
Over the dark horizon sky
With twisted tales of sacrifice
To imagine or believe all the glory of the free
The things I've seen I can't deny
Sinners, saints all mixed in one
The dawn of time has begun"
Black Fire, Dragonforce
Chapter 7: Without a home
This hunger, the pain in my legs, and the water continuing to pour on us from above, all added to the difficulties plaguing us. Night has fallen once again, but rest continues to elude us. I could be back at home, sitting on my bed playing video games now, but I left that behind me three weeks ago. Many times, I have questioned the choices I made then, but now as with each other time, I look to the person beside me and know it is worth it.
"You okay Zack?" he says looking over at me.
"Yea, I'm just tiered and it seems like we are going nowhere."
"I know what you mean. Being by myself for so long, made it feel like I had nothing to live for. There were times, where I just cried myself to sleep in some dark alley, wishing that I wouldn't wake up again. There was nothing that made me want to keep going."
"I can't imagine what it was like Codes. So many times I felt sorry for myself, but know that I now what you were going though, it seems so idiotic. I wish I could have been there for you"
"It might have been better with you not knowing though. You were able to live your life and enjoy it. I didn't want you to suffer like me."
How can he think things like this? Was I really so selfish that I wouldn't want to help him.
"Cody, what ever it takes, I promise to protect you. After all, I'm the big brother," I say as a small smile grows across my face.
"Thanks Zack," he says as he wraps his arms around me.
"You and me against the world buddy, together they won't stand a chance. Remember, you're not alone."
"Yea," he says as his eyes begin to close. I can't believe he's actually falling asleep just leaning against me like this. I catch him and gently set him on the ground. You've been through so much, but you can rest with me. I set his exhausted body against the wet ground. As the rain continues to pound us from above, I feel my body begin to succumb to the same desire for sleep. Accompanied by the silence of the night, I lay my body on the ground beside him and drift into a gentle slumber.
"Night Cody"
"Night Zack"
_
"Zack, wake up,"
"What is it Codes?" I ask he shakes me awake from my slumber.
"Look at this," he says holing one of the orbs in his hand. It is glowing a bright golden color. The drowsiness leaves my body as visions flood my mind. I many different images, but they flash by too fast for me to identify anything. Soon though, they I can see a man wearing a suit in what appears to be an underground tunnel. He looks around nervously as he pulls out a small brown sphere. He stares at it intently as the lights above him flicker. I see the orb begin glowing, and then I'm brought back to reality.
"Dude, did you see that too?"
"Yea," my brother answers me, "We're getting closer."
"So that was the orb of future?"
"No, that was the orb of sight that we got in the park. It let's us see things in other parts of the world. That person was trying to communicate with us though."
"How do we get to him though?"
"I don't k-" Cody freezes for a moment as the same thought crosses both of our minds. "That's has to be the orb of thought."
At first, I thought Cody was crazy when he said we had to go south to Florida, but I trusted him. Now, after many days of walking and riding the bus, it looks like it will be worth it. He said it was just a simple thought, but since it was the same type of thought that led him to me, it had to be worth it. Now, we both know the location of this person.
"You felt it too then?"
"Yea, I know exactly where that guy wants us to go."
"You think it is safe though?" I ask my brother, "What if it's just a trap?"
I can tell the worry mount in him as he faced the ground. This is the first time since we met again that I could tell he was at a loss. "I…I don't know."
An awkward silence fills the alley we spent the night in. Is this what it felt like to be alone through all that time, to not know if what you were doing would get you anywhere?
"We can get through this," I say placing a hand on his shoulder, "Remember, you don't have to do this alone anymore."
"Yea, you're right Zack. We just have to come up with a plan so if he is on our side we can find him, but still have a way out if he is with them." This is the brother I remember, the logical caring one
"So what's the plan Codester?"
A car door slams near us, and as we turn to face it, we see several familiar faces.
"We get away from them," Cody says as we run down the dark alley as the same mysterious people from the park exit there car.
_
A/N: This chapter was hard to write, and telling the story from a first person present tense made it harder, but I think it worked. Sorry for switching narrations so often, but I want to try different things and think this fits better for this part. This one took longer than the others to write, and to get up to standards, but the good news is I wrote the next chapter tonight, so it will be up soon.
