Hi! How have you all been? I've been good - I just keep getting Writer's Block! Well, I've been so excited to write the next few chapters, and I hope you like them!
Lily's POV
I don't know who to hate; Jonas, for making such a big deal about Asher and me; Asher, for either faking the way he felt, or being too weak to stand up to Jonas; or..myself. I should have tried to fight for the way I feel. What if Asher really wasn't just joking before?
Then he's a coward, I think bitterly. I begin to accelerate as I walk, growing angrier and angrier with everyone. I have never felt such anger before - I don't particularly like it. My mouth tastes like metal, my head feels cloudy, and I keep having to clench my fists.
"Lee-lee!" A high-pitched, slightly garbled voice shrieks beside me. I jump, and turn to see Gabe, nestled in Jonas' arms, waving at me.
I wave a pinky at him. "Hi, Gabe!" Jonas smiles at me, but I don't feel very much like smiling at him. I glare at my brother, and take Gabe from his arms. Gabe is the only one who I know can't be lying to me - he can't speak yet, after all, I giggle to myself, as I begin walking slower with a squirming toddler in my arms. Seeing me, Gabe begins to laugh.
"Hello, Gabe," I whisper to the boy. "Do you know where we're going?" He looks up at me with blank, happy blue eyes. "We're going home. Can you say 'home', Gabe? Home."
"'Om, 'om!" Gabe shouts.
"And you won't know this home. You won't know what they almost did to us. To you," I murmur in his soft hair.
Gabe tilts his head to the side, wondering why I look so sad all of a sudden. "Lee?"
"It's okay, Gabe," I force a smile onto my face.
"Holy cow!" Jonas' voice rings out ahead, making both Gabe and myself jump.
"Oy vey!" Asher screams, a phrase caught on from our friends in Hertzelia.
"We're here," I bounce Gabe up and down, trying to look excited to arrive at this dysfunctional, inhumane home I once knew. "We're here."
Asher's POV
How long have I been away from the Community? Six months. It's June now, and I left in December. Now, here I am, standing in the middle of the neighborhood that raised me in my childhood.
How did all of this happen in only six months?
The little units, once kept so neat and tidy, cubes in perfect rows, are in shambles. Several roofs have fallen in, and many others are sinking gradually. The streets, once perfect, intersecting lines of concrete, are broken, filthy, stained with rivers of - is that blood?
"Shhh, Gabe, it's okay," Jonas, standing beside me, coos to Gabe. I want to comfort the whimpering boy too, but the disaster before me has stolen the words from my mouth.
"It's empty..." Lily mutters, gazing around the deserted Community.
Indeed, the most horrifying part is the eerie lack of people. The Community was never loud, but there were always signs of life, to some degree. Now, however, the place that once was the limit to my entire world is a ghost town, nothing but the rotting stench of what once was.
"Jonas," I hear Lily say in a choked voice. "I can't."
"There must be life," Jonas begins frantically looking in all directions. "There must be someone. Somewhere!"
"Jonas," I say weakly. "There is no one left."
Jonas sinks to the dirty ground, wailing in agony. "I killed them! I killed everyone! Mother, Father, even Pierre-"
"It's not your f-" I run to his side, trying to comfort him, but I am interrupted by a savage shriek and a figure leaping from the bloody shadows.
Wow! So, who or what do you think this "figure" is? I hope you liked this chapter! If it was really sad, I can explain - I was listening to Les Mis as I wrote! If it wasn't sad enough...whoops! Sorry! Well, what do you want to see in the next few chapters? Bye!
