September 29, XXXX
Trudging far behind the others, but still in clear eyesight of the others, who seem to be ignoring my very existence save for a few non-reassuring looks from my brothers, I can't help but wonder how things would be if I had been killed instead of Jeanette. Would it have been for the better? I guess Brittany, who can barely muster a look in my direction (and when she does, it's only for a split second and filled with betrayal), really got to me. Alvin and Theo would probably be in ruins, much like the tattered Brittany, only I like to think they could handle it better, or at least keep their composure for the chipettes. Alvin would put on his macho-munk face despite his misery, secretly living in the comfort of Brittany, and Theodore would have Eleanor to calm him and get him through the nightmares he would no-doubt have. Meanwhile, Brittany and Eleanor would cry too, saddened by my untimely demise, but grateful for the safe return of their sister. It'd be kind of nice not to have Brittany dislike me so much even from the beyond. Jeanette on the other hand… Would she be feeling this sensational hopelessness that I do? Would she blame herself for my death? Think of herself as useless, worthless, and overall lost? Or would she accept the loss and use it to her advantage, inspiring her to continue onward? No matter… She'd be back with her sisters where she belongs, capable of bringing closure to my brothers more-so than I can Brittany and Eleanor. As for me? I'd be rotting in the stomach of a wolf-corpse where I should be. God, why couldn't it have been me? T'would have been a better fate than what I'm going through with the chipettes, the guilt, the frustration… Why is it I that gets to walk through this tall, damp grass on this cloudy twilight? Why do I have the pleasure of feeling cold evening rain pelting my matted fur, making it cling to my skin?
"So u-umm…" I stammered, trying to break this record of silence, "W-Where do we go from here?" I thought back to what Ryan said. A group, right? Some kind of village colony taking people in? Sure, we're not exactly 'people', but we can earn our keep; Alvin's invaluable and despite his size he can put up a fight, I can conduct research on a cure, Theodore and Eleanor are great chefs and caretakers, Brittany has begun to show some strong leadership skills and can help make clothes, and Jeanette is was a great nurse…
"It's gotta be close," Alvin said after a tense pause, "I'm sure if we just keep moving we'll find the place Ryan talked about."
"Hmph…" Brittany scoffed, walking further ahead of the group, stomping her feet and making unintentional splashes in the large puddles. I feel she's being stubborn; we need to stick together, especially in weather like this with low visibility. There could be dead anywhere and we wouldn't even know until it'd be too late.
"Ah-choo!" Theodore sneezed, forcing me to flinch. Jeez Theo, could you sneeze any louder. "I-I'm cold." Shaking like a chihuahua, Theodore appeared a darker shade than my sweater, "C-Can we stop for a little bit?" I was about to protest when I remembered… He must still be feeling the effects of his illness. Come to think of it, Alvin's probably still feeling the sting of his injury… Man, these painful events… They already seem like so long ago…
"Britt," Alvin tapped the chipette's shoulder, knowing she wouldn't stop otherwise, "Maybe we should stop for the night." She slowly nodded her head, sympathizing with the two disabled chipmunks, though she didn't seem at all pleased for a breather. In fact, the look on her face was a completely different story.
"Fine," She muttered and flashed me a heartless scowl, "for Theo's sake." What was she doing? Is she trying to make some sort of point? Using a nearby tree for shelter we hid from the heavy waters. Thunder roared from above followed soon by several flashes of lightning. The cold rain did its best to mask the blunt humidity. It didn't look like the weather was going to give us a break anytime soon. Great… As if we didn't have enough to worry about. My bag full of equipment is heavy enough as it is, but with the added weight of the rain I may as well be dragging around a bunch of bricks, so I was pretty relieved to drop it for a nice break. Looking the bag over I can't help but notice a few darker streaks. Though stained onto the bag, it still had a distinct smell. Blood. That wasn't there when I first got it, this had to be from one of us. Alvin's wound doesn't bleed anymore and the corpse blood that got the pleasure (NOT) of bathing in should be mostly a distant memory. I don't even think anyone else had any contact with the bag except… Except Jeanette. This is Jean's blood! I instantly threw the bag away from me.
"Simon!" I heard her voice. It had to be hers. "Ah!" I heard her scream, "Got it!" Just like when we were attacked…
"Simon… I can't make it…"
"It's not your fault…"
"You tried your best…"
"This is YOUR fault" Brittany's voice echoed through my mind. "You were supposed to protect her!"
"You tried your best…"
"Jeanette!" My mind screamed, "My best isn't enough!"
"End this epidemic…" It was as if I could see her clearly, holding out her timid hand.
"Hold me..?" I reached out and grabbed nothing but air. She was gone.
Three chipmunks sat together on a low branch. Theodore huddled between myself and Alvin, trying his best to keep warm and protected under the thick autumn foliage above. Our group was starting to look weak, even pathetic. I can't tell if I'm feeling shock or if I'm catching some kind of bug. One chipette sat underneath us with a pained expression on her face, as if she didn't want to be here. Wait… ONE chipette?
"Eleanor?" I piped up, "Hey guys, where's Eleanor?" For the first time in forever, Brittany gave me a long, not so distasteful look, then quickly reverted back to panic. I hopped out of the tree, but not without noticing Brittany's rapid breathing.
"Oh God, Ellie?!" She shouted before Alvin's paw clamped down on her muzzle, pressing a finger against his own. Brittany struggle with tears quickly forming.
"Shh, we'll find her," Alvin said, "but we have to watch carefully." His counterpart nodded compliantly but still crying. We didn't have to search for long, but for our mini-quest Alvin took the lead with Theodore a close second, searching frantically for his best friend. And somehow, through some form of irony, Brittany ended up next to me, huddled unusually close, though if you'd lost your sister recently and then your other one went missing I guess anyone would seek ANY kind of comfort.
"I wish it was you too." Her last words spoken to me directly flashed in my mind as if she were screaming in my face. "You let her die!" Those were her words piercing through me, ripping out my heart. And worst of all, they spoke the truth.
"Don't worry, Brittany," I said, trying for some confidence, "We'll find her safe and-"
"I can't lose her, Simon." Brittany replied coldly, cutting me off, "She's all I have left." That sure shut me up quickly. I had no idea she felt so isolated. Since the forest, she seemed to be holding herself together so well. No point in trying to give false hope to the hopeless I suppose…
It wasn't hard to spot Ellie; we found ourselves at the bottom of the last hill before the tree, staring up at our friend standing all by her lonesome in the rain. She was drooped over as if weighed down by the water, pressuring her ever closer to the ground. Gazing down the opposite side of the hill, Eleanor stood like a statue. Frozen maybe due to the cold?
"Eleanor?" Theodore said, walking up to his friend with me, Alvin and Brittany right behind him. "D-Do you want to come rest with us? It's chilly in the rain, you'll catch a cold." Sighing, Eleanor replied without moving, her eyes pinned to the bottom of the hill, and her tail glued to the ground. A clap of thunder could be heard right above us and I thought for a moment of the increased risk of getting struck by lightning with us being higher up.
"Go back to the tree, Theo," She whispered, but still powerful enough for us all to hear, "I'll come back later." She muttered something else under her breath that I couldn't make out; it didn't even look like she was breathing.
"I can keep you company." Theo offered.
"No. I'll be right with you, I'm just thinking." Theo backed down, looking intimidated, and dead silence immediately followed. Something wasn't right. This moment… It seemed too quiet, too safe. Nothing could be heard over the increasing roar of the rain and thunder. I thought I heard something, but I couldn't pinpoint it. My ears twitched but no matter how hard they searched, the unique sound could not be found.
Within seconds Eleanor's demeanor changed. Still not turning to face us, she started shouting, "Just go! Leave me alone! Let me mourn…" She choked on that last word.
"Ellie," Brittany said, taking a few steps forward, "It isn't safe here. Please come back with us."
"In a minute. Just go now. I'll catch up." Theo and Brittany, defeated, looked as though they might actually comply with Ellie's demand, yet no one moved.
"Why?" I spoke the lone word in a low tone as I lay my paw on her shoulder. Not unlike her sister's, her fur was soft, but cold. Ice cold…
"Simon…" She whispered, unmoving to my touch (did I sense a tiny flinch?), "Leave! Now- "A loud groan, and before I could push Eleanor out of the way I was flung backward, crashing into Theo and Britt and tumbling halfway down the hill. Wide-eyed and unable to move (out of shock or fear I couldn't tell) I watched as Eleanor got grappled, manhandled by an ogre of a corpse, crushing her in its grasp. Without thinking, Alvin sprang into action, pulling out his knife in one quick movement. Key words: without thinking. Despite his best efforts he was only capable of providing a distraction, the corpse's size being too much to handle.
"Guys!" Alvin shouted, struggling as he was forced to plunge the knife into the ogre's tree-trunk-like forearm. The ogre had grabbed him with its free hand by the tail, making Alvin sacrifice his weapon. "I could use a little help! Whoof!" He dropped to the ground. I turned to Brittany, dazed and confused and temporarily out of commission from smacking her head against the muddy ground. All this damage so quickly… I'm ashamed to say that I couldn't have reacted faster; instead I froze like a hapless runt, leaving poor Theodore as his only back-up… weaponless… wait...
"Theo!" I said, quickly checking to make sure Brittany was okay, "Where's my hammer?"
"I-I don't know," He cried, "We lost it in the forest!" The corpse hit Alvin aside and turned its attention to its captive chipette. Had it not been for Eleanor's scream of pain, I don't know if I could've woken up from my frozen status. That agonizing sound… A flashback of Jeanette being attacked by the wolf burned in my mind. Did she scream too? Why can't I remember? How much pain was she in? It was as if I could see everything that happened going on behind the corpse and Ellie, but it all seemed so clouded…
An unnerving crack echoed from Eleanor as the corpse held her tighter with robot strength, followed immediately by Ellie's ear-shattering scream. While this made even Alvin shrink back, it only forced me forward as the memories flooded back. Tears in my eyes, I pounced. Climbing up the corpse's body and tearing at its face, I did everything my tiny insignificant body could muster, though even with my now bloodied claws I was treated like a bug. Just like Eleanor, the creature had me in its clutches, barring its teeth and giving me a nice view of my grave. If it weren't for what happened next, our group of five would have turned to a group of three at least. I thought the worst was coming when three gusts of wind wisped by my head followed by a heavy grunt as the corpse dropped its captors and fell to the ground. Luckily I was dropped first, providing me with the opportunity to soften Ellie's fall. The unmoving corpse had three feathered sticks protruding into it: two in its chest and one square in the middle of its forehead. Theodore, supporting a rapidly blinking Brittany, came to my aid and to tend to Eleanor, who screamed in what could only be pain and then suddenly stopped, lying unconscious. There didn't appear to be any scratches on her from the corpse. A positive..? Alvin on the other hand, ears pinned to his stepped up from his huddled ball on the ground and walked towards the corpse to retrieve his knife. As he lay his hand on the hilt however, a voice called out, stopping any further movement.
"If ya got any living brains in that furry head of yours, you'll let go of the blade, back away slowly, and join the rest of your group." Now let me explain something. Alvin was never the type to be challenged and simply walk away. Back in the good old days he'd always push Dave's patience, doing things he was told explicitly NOT to do. He was the type who was capable of getting detention and then getting it cancelled ten minutes later! While most of his previous exploits weren't exactly life-threatening, the principle is still the same. But there was something about the rough tone of this guys (it HAD to be a guy) voice that I could tell made Alvin cringe. Maybe the trauma that just happened got to him too, but when I heard the voice, the fur on my back stood up. Alvin did as the stranger demanded and retreated back to us without his knife. "Good. I have a weapon drawn so don't even think about tryin' anything funny. I'm going to grab my arrows, toss you your knife and be on my merry way, alright?"
Our savior revealed himself inch by inch. First his head poked up from the west side of the hill, then the more threatening parts; the no doubt well-sighted compound bow with an arrow loaded and aimed right at us. The man, if you could call him that, looked barely eighteen with a young bristly face and tight, thin body, hidden under a thermal raincoat and cargo pants. Even in his combat boots he walked silently except for the occasional clanging of metal under his jacket. His camo cap did little to hide the messy mop of hair on top of his head.
"You're going to leave us?" Theodore spoke softly, tilting his face to the ground.
"You're squirrels. You can hide and live in trees if you really wanted. In the meantime, I need to stop wasting time on you and help other PEOPLE. Until I heard you speak I was actually planning on hunting you myself. Be grateful I helped at all." This guy really irked me. He wasn't so much intimidating as he was infuriating.
"ACTUALLY," I said, unable to shut myself up before it was too late, "we're chipmunks. And please sir.. We're injured and broken…" I looked at the unconscious Eleanor, the zoned-out Brittany, and the shaking Alvin, "Please can you bring us back to your camp? Or can you at least guide us to a place called the Village Colony?" He didn't seem at all convinced until I brought up the group, so I decided to press further, "Our late… um… friend at West Eastman school told us there was a group called the Village Colony just past a forest far back, but we must have gotten lost." His eyes, slits until now, grew.
"The school…?" He muttered under his breath, "They actually made it through the forest…" He withdrew his bow and walked up to me with a fixed expression on his face. "Chipmunks, huh? Sorry 'bout the confusion," He kneeled down to look me closer in the eye, and in those grey slits of his I felt a surprising warmth, a softness that didn't match his personality. He cast a quick glance at our group; Eleanor's unconscious body brought everyone to worry, Alvin looked so scared he might cry (even Theodore seemed more in control), and Brittany looked as though she'd been on one of those spinning carnival rides. Was it only dizziness she felt though? I have to wonder… she looked… angry? "You know, I think my little sister raved about a band of chipmunks once, wouldn't happen to know 'em, would ya?" Without waiting for an answer, he gently reached and grabbed Eleanor, "Glasses," he said, referring to me, "you ride on my pack with this poor creature," His eyes darted to Brittany, "Can you walk?"
"Yeah…" She blinked, turned around, and spit up, "no…"
"Hop on." Whether she liked it or not, I escorted Brittany up onto the man's pack. "Glasses you act as my cover from behind, but you also gotta guard these two with your life. Don't let either of them fall, it might be a little bumpy." The man reached into his coat and pulled out what I thought at first to be a tuning fork. Upon closer inspection however I could see it was a small slingshot, just the right size for me if not only slightly oversized. "You take this and hope those glasses work." I was about to question his judgement but figured it would be a pointless act. It was better to do as the strange man said and ask questions later. He had to know I was inexperienced anyway. "The rest of you keep up my pace and watch my sides." He looked at Alvin and Theodore who both nodded timidly, Alvin with a bit more pride. "Do you have any gear hidden?"
"We have a bag down by that tree." I said, pointing down the hill. I then wrapped my arm around Eleanor, making her flinch violently. Up close I could see tears in her closed eyes. Meanwhile I forced Brittany to sit on the other side of me so that I could do as instructed. I gave her a long stare down, and she looked back expressionless. So much so it was actually really terrifying. What is that she was feeling? She just lost one sister, what if she lost another?
"Excuse me, sir?" I asked, "Do you have any food? We haven't eaten much recently."
"We can eat once we meet up with the rest of my group." Before we started moving however, Alvin spoke up.
"What's your name?" He asked, reluctant to move until he was satisfied with this suspicious character. I really wish he hadn't. This weirdo seemed like the type who would just leave if he got mad enough.
"You can call me Robin," The man-boy smirked, "Robin Hood."
I don't know about this guy. Not only does he have quite the attitude, but he isn't very talkative or open about himself. And he was certainly different than the Robin Hood of lore. He said if I really wanted my bag I could carry it myself, even after I informed him of what was inside (to which I received an unprecedented snicker). So now I get to support Eleanor, ensure Brittany doesn't fall, protect Robin's rear with a slingshot I have no idea how to use, AND hold onto the unsteady bag. Brittany volunteered for slingshot duty but I refused. I don't think she should be operating any kind of weapons right now. For all I know she has a concussion and the slightest tap to her head will send her into a vomiting frenzy. Despite everything Robin's done for us, I refuse to trust him. He can't even be bothered to give us his REAL NAME! He says he's taking us to the Village Colony, but for all we know he's leading us into a trap. I mean, who would just rescue a group of injured chipmunks? It's not like he's getting anything in return.
He sure knows his stuff though. With nightfall upon us more corpses seemed to be around too (I don't even know how), and they were harder to see. Not only was he able to sneak by most of them, but the ones he absolutely had to take down were done so efficiently and quietly. Whoever this guy is, he is definitely lethal. Maybe he really is a good guy? I mean, if he wanted us dead or for dinner, he could've killed us all with the same arrow by now! One shot, clean through, we'd be a chipmunk kabob… Why can't I figure out his angle? Why would he do this? I don't like it… Right now I'm probably the strongest member of our group. I don't know what happened, but ever since the ogre attacked us, Alvin's been out of sorts. He's turning timid. Scared. Why…? Every time I hear a twig snap, he flinches… does he think it's Eleanor again? Is he waiting for a scream after every snap? Theodore still coughs every now and then and I get him to take what remains of his medicine. Brittany is out like a light without putting up a fight, and Eleanor is still unconscious, leaving me by default as the most able-bodied. Hopefully nothing eventful happens because I can't be a leader… I just let others down and fail. I think of Jeanette again, whose illusion appears to be following us. It must be her illusion. She's long gone… I just hope she's in one piece. I can't see her face in the illusion. It's like she's wearing a bridal veil. Her body is just visible, but her face is a mere shadow. Why won't you reveal yourself to me? I think. Am I being punished? Is this her finally realizing I've failed her and the others? I try to distract myself by cleaning (more or less picking at) the corpse blood out of my claws and fur. I'm a messy slasher.
"There they are." Robin announced. Sitting on a thick tree branch were two figures, one and average looking male, and the other a petit female. The girl couldn't have been any older than ten. She wore a dirty red cloak over a light beige tunic and had short messy hair. As for the other one, I estimate him to be between the ages of 13 and 15. He was shorter than Robin and slightly taller than the girl. I don't know if he was trying to look tough or what, but he wore a LOT of camo. I still saw him…
I checked the surrounding trees just in case there weren't others.
"Found some new rescues," Robin said, provoking the two to hop down from their perch. The girl's eyes widened.
"Are those… Chipmunks?" Her voice was high and squeaky, though not annoying.
"Yup." Robin replied, "They the ones you like so much?"
"Wait, this is your sister?" Perplexed by Robin's honesty I had to ask, "And she really is a fan?" The girl looked down at Alvin.
"You're really ALVIN?!" The girl squealed to which Robin gave a sharp 'shh'. The girl obeyed and rather than say anything more, bent down to Alvin and pulled him into a tight hug, "I'm your biggest fan…" She whispered.
"Pfft." The boy in camo scoffed.
Robin broke out rations quickly, encouraging everyone to eat in a hurry. Alvin and Theo took theirs with glee and Eleanor wouldn't wake up. I watched Brittany blink at her portion, take a nibble, then weakly toss it to the side. I attempted to share some of mine with her but she smacked it away. I'm really worried. Her condition may be worse than I thought. I wish Jeanette was here. She was the one who read all the medical journals. I'm just useless as always having read only about the mechanics of science.
"Normally I'd stop for the night," Robin explained, "but we need to get this one to the Village Colony." He said referring to Eleanor, "They can keep her alive." At the last word Brittany quickly got up, wobbling.
"Oh," The boy said, "We have to go THERE…?"
"That's not my first choice either, but it has the closest medic."
"Can't we go to HALO or even theTreetop Group?"
"There's no time and you know that," Robin replied, his demeanor changed. Whenever we asked a question he'd be gruff and would barely look us in the eye, but with his two group members he was kind and patient.
"We have to go!" Brittany shot up, pouncing beside me and her sister before turning green and forcing herself to sit down.
"Please, John!" The little girl said, clinging to him, but not letting go of Alvin's paw, "We just HAVE to help them." She stared up at him with big blue-grey eyes.
"Ugh," John scowled, looking back into her puppy-dog face, "Fine!"
"Then let's go!" Alvin chimed, his normal smile back on his face.
"So your name's John?" I asked, probing for information from our little group of saviors.
"Yeah, what of it?" The rude boy, who took over my job of watching Robin's back replied.
"Are you Robin's friend? Sidekick? Are you supposed to be like Little John?"
"What?"
You know," I said, trying to make it obvious, "he's Robin Hood, and your name's John. Little John. Robin Hood and Little John?"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Hey!" Robin snapped, "Language!" This shut the boy up.
"No, silly." The little girl sang, "He's just John. No 'little'." She suddenly looked back and forth, "Hey, aren't there six of you?" She asked, turning to each one of us, "One… Two… Three… Yeah, where's number six? Jeanette, right? Where's Jeanette?" At this my heart sank and I decided not to start up any more conversations as they would just end in a pain in my chest. The mention of her dead sister's name brought Brittany to twitch in my direction.
"She's… not with us… anymore…" Brittany grit her teeth and sniffed, trying not to cry.
"Oh…" The little girl hung her head low, almost as if she was ashamed of asking. She knew what Brittany said meant. "How…?"
"Red…" Robin spoke. Red, as in Little Red Riding Hood? "Respect."
"Oh, sorry." Red choked, "It's just, I really liked her…" I smiled as I looked back at the forest that claimed the life of my Jean, now just a dot in the distance behind hills and stray trees and hours of walking. Jeanette's illusion stood clear against the horizon like a ghost. Her face still not revealed. A tear escaped my eyelid.
"Yeah… Me too."
"We're almost there," Robin said, as if trying to get everyone's mind off of the topic, "Three miles at the most." Suddenly a loud shriek echoed through the night and the three humans bent down.
"What the heck was that?" I whispered harshly checking over my group. Brittany looked like her head might explode, Alvin was cringing with Red, and Theodore held on for dear life to John.
"We have to hurry!" Robin spat out, got up and started sprinting, making sure his friends were right by him.
"What was that!" I shouted, "It sounded like some kind of bird." The shriek reminded me of some kind of hybrid of an owl and pterodactyl.
"That ain't no bird." Robin panted, "If you think that's a bird, you have a lot to learn about the apocalypse. I'd take the Village Colony over THAT any day."
I may have misjudged these people. As promised we were escorted to the Village Colony, but our adventure with them didn't end there.
"State your name and business!" A voice boomed as we approached a wooden gate 12 feet tall and lit by torches in this middle of the night.
"Robin! I have injured." The gate opened but no one moved.
"Where? Your people look fine."
"Well they aren't exactly human…" Robin said, a drop of sweat making its way down his forehead, "They're chipmunks. They were famous before all this happened."
"Are they good for anything other than a meal?"
"Well they were able to make it this long." I decided to take that as a compliment. Before we arrived, Robin made it clear to us that we were to remain dead silent. He was to do the negotiating and it was our job to sit there and look pretty. Useful. Needed. When asked if there was anything else we could do his response was we may as well give up on saving Eleanor and head back to the forest. According to Robin, these people weren't exactly the most welcome or trustworthy, but they could help. To them, as long as you could prove your worth you would be accepted. It reminded me of how the School Group operated, but when I told Robin of the comparison he laughed nervously. Apparently we were going to be a tough sell, and it isn't like the school where at least there were people who knew us personally. "They made it through the forbidden forest, and they each have a set of skills that could prove helpful including: cooking, some combat, textiles, and strategy and brains. One also claims to be working on a cure." Robin! If I'd known he was going to blurt it out to everyone I wouldn't have told him.
"That's garbage!" Came a reply from an invisible man, "But if what else you say is true perhaps even woodland creatures could prove useful. Enter." Everyone had climbed onto Robin's pack for the negotiation, leaving hardly any breathing room. Inside the gated community lay three long rows of cheaply built wooden homes, RV's and tents, with a single concrete building at the far end, visible only by its insane height. Even though it was the middle of the night, a couple dozen people lined the street, shopping for what looked to be survival supplies. Was this a market? A place for people to trade and re-cooperate before going back into the wild? But why would they leave if this Colony here means safety? We were quickly approached by a tall, well-built grey haired man.
"Robin!" He smiled a great big smile, "Haven't seen you in a while! I have to say I'm a little disappointed at your most recent rescues, especially after all this time." He circled Robin and looked at us, noticing Eleanor's obvious pain. "I suppose we could take them in, so long as they can pay their dues. It's not like they eat much anyway, right!"
"That'd be great… Hugo… Thank you." The man named Hugo called out and a couple of nurse looking types escorted us to one of the wooden homes.
"Ahh!" Eleanor screamed as the nurses gently set her down on a small bed built for a doll. The rooms in the home were dimly lit by plenty of candles and had a barky smell. It was kind of unsettling. Especially with no windows to see outside.
"We're going to have to ask you to wait in the other room." One nurse smiled a fake smile and guided us to the room. As we forcefully left, the door shut and a deadbolt lock snapped.
Screams.
Screams of agony. Terror even. These were all that could be heard from beyond the door. It got so bad, Robin had to take his two younger cohorts out of the building altogether, stating we'd meet up later. I wanted to get out of there too, I really did, but there was no way I could leave Eleanor, nor the others. Not in this state. Alvin seems to be petrified from all the screaming and I almost wish I could take him outside. Theodore and Brittany are hugging, crying, praying.
Brittany in particular has been crying her eyes out. She looked at me and for the first time it didn't seem like anger, though I can't guarantee it wasn't hatred. What does that even look like? Is it the hollow way she glares at me? The crack in her voice when and if at all she speaks my way? She looks at me as if I'm pure evil, as if all this, including the world ending, is my fault. The difference between that and anger? Brittany looks completely and utterly defeated whenever I'm in her line of vision. I make her cry a little bit harder. I make her hurt all the more unbearable. I desperately wish I knew what she was thinking.
More screams. Until finally, after seems like hours, silence. Though the screams still echo in my head. We all feared the worst once that door opened.
"She should be okay." The nurse said plainly, "She just needs plenty of rest now. We'll have medication for her as well.
"D-Did you have to put her through all that?" Theodore whispered, "Did she have to suffer?"
"I'm sorry, but we don't have any veterinarians, nor do we have any extra anesthesia or morphine. And we don't have an x-ray." You're not sorry… You don't care… She's just a chipmunk to you…
"Can we see her?" Theo asked and the nurse nodded before walking away. I wasn't sure what to expect when I walked in but I cried nonetheless. She might as well have been in a full body cast. The second nurse said Eleanor suffered fractures all over her body.
"They shouldn't take too long to heal." The nurse said, noticing Brittany blinking. "Are you okay?" It took a while for Brittany to nod and comprehend what she was nodding to.
"L-Later…" She said and the nurse let us be alone with our broken chipette. Brittany lay her head on one side of her sister, and Theo on the other, meanwhile Alvin and I stood back. How could I let this happen? I was right there with Eleanor when we were attacked! Wait… Thinking back, Eleanor was looking down the side of the hill where the corpse was coming from… But…
I turned to Alvin and knew he was thinking of something along the same lines. Why did Eleanor want us to go…? I'm too exhausted to figure this riddle out. All I know is one thing for certain:
Eleanor knew the corpse was coming.