EXPLOSION: WORLD BURN

Will, who is currently trying to sort his thoughts, after what happened with Ethan, suddenly hears a loud noise close to him and immediately jumps up and runs outside, scared something could have happened to his friends.

Kaitlyn and Aidan also hear the 'boom' and their discussion about that they should break up slides fastly into the background.

The others are more important at the moment.

Finn, who is at the fields, immediately jumps up when he thinks he sees something in the falling really fast down in some kind of fireball and then the loud noise is audible. Sprinting back to the middle of their new city, or whatever it is called, he falls several times over his own legs before arriving out of breath.

''Finn! Where the hell were you?!'' Jaden shouts worriedly, but Finnegan just scoffs and turns around again. Before he joggs over to Will.

''Did I do something wrong...?'' The boy with the, now dirty, glasses asks his best friend Parker next to him, but he just shrugs and Jaden sighs.

''How did it go?'' Is the first thing Finn says to Will , who is wiping his eye a little. Hiding that he is actually feeling kind of hurt by everything at the moment.

''Shitty. I told you it was a bad idea.'' Will answers honest and the shorter one looks at him sadly.

''What happened?'' The boy continues until Will snaps at him.

''It doesn't fucking matter okay?!''

''Sorry dude...-.''

•''A new Announcement!''•

The voice appears again through some kind of invisible speaker over the entire area and everyone looks around. Like they expect someone to appear, but as soon as they are sure there is no one, the voice begins again.

''The noise you all just heard was the, so called, 'World Burn'. The explosion which killed everything and everyone outside this camp or our safety base, where are also only two people inside. We are sorry for you loss.''

Everyone is having the same look in their faces. Numbness.

Not believing what they just heard, because it seems so fucking surreal, the first tears don't take long.

°°°

I feel how my entire world breaks apart. I have no one left.

I am alone.

My life makes no sense anymore, so why am I still here?

I want to cry, scream, shout, punch or just do anything. Only even move, but I can't. My body is like frozen and I can slowly feel how my knees get weak.

With a gasp after air, I arrive at the ground and the first tears run down my cheeks while also the first sobs begin to come up in my chest, which is suddenly too tight to breathe.

No no no no NO! THIS IS NOT REAL! THEY ARE ALRIGHT AND ALL OF THIS IS A LIE! I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT THEM! My thoughts are chasing me and my face expressions change to a painful manufacture.

I can feel the hard painful lump in the back of my throat as the tears begin to form in my eyes. Slowly, my breathing hallows itself and a small, but intense, pain strucks the top nerve in my head. Before I know it there is shouting and crying, it is myself. Yet, it seems so distant. Tears streak my face, like a burning hot masse rolling down my cheeks. I can't remember the briefest of moments, all I see are my hands, which are formed into fists, my shaking on them and around me. How my vision gets blurry and my chest gets tighter with every moment which passes by. I don't even recognize my own voice repeating the sentence, "This isn't real."

''H-hey, Jaden, don't-- don't cry I- I'm sure it's just a trap or something, I- I-.'' Finn cries out and wrapps his arms around me, because of what I tense up a bit at first, but then find some kind of comfort in his arms and burry my face in his chest.

''I can't do this.'' I cry loudly and start to shake again. Feeling, how Finn is tightening his grip around me, for taking the feeling of being alone, I don't understand how, but I know I can cry here and won't get judged. Finally.

''Y-yes you can, come let's-- let's go somewhere.'' The boy sniffs and tries to stand up, but falls back at the ground so I shake my head widely while I hide in his hug again.

''Please...I ca-can't.'' I continue sobbing and begin to shake more, if that is even physically possible.

''Stay for me, please.'' He whispers in my ear and I dig my fingernails into his thin jacket, feeling even more bad when I recognize that I left marks on his arm.

''Look at me, we will find a way. I promise.'' He cries and I look up into his teary eyes and can see fastly how my world gets blurry.

''I have no family anymore...'' I notice and begin to panic again.

''I have no family anymore..?'' I say a bit louder and am immediately sobbing much more than before.

''I have no family anymore!'' I scream in pain while Finnegan also shakes a bit and I feel more lost than ever in my life.

°°°

I don't move. I can't. My muscles are like frozen and I want nothing more than just turn into air, and be gone forever but I can't do that either. It is not in my hand to decide that.

The moment, everyone is focussed on something or someone else, I turn around and run.

I run faster than ever before. I run into the woods. I have a plan, but will I be able to actually do it? Probabaly not. It is always a lack of guts.

After a few minutes, I arrive with hurting lungs and comepletely out of breath at the large tree, I regognized when we first got here.

I shouldn't do this..

I ignore my alarming thoughts and am already starting to climb up at it. Higher and higher until the leaf around me form a small ceiling right over my head.

Without looking down, I somehow manage to get myself into the edge at one of the bigger branches, which is almost broken but who actually cares, right?

''Shit-!'' I hiss when I almost fall, but hold myself the last moment back before I hear a crack under me.

I shouldn't be here! Shit I need to get back, I don't want to die anymore! Please! No, no, no, no, no, no!

And another crack appears.

°°°

Between all this cries and sobs, I try to find Ethan. I know how much his Mom means- meant to him, but I can't see him anywhere and everything inside of me tells me to go and search.

''Where's Ethan..?'' Caleb suddenly asks and I have to ignore the feeling, of punching him right in the face.

''I don't know.'' I reply, but get an idea. I mean here aren't many places where you could just 'disappear'. The forest is so wide, that is nearly the only option.

''You know how Ethan is, ri-?'' Caleb starts again and I just walk away.

Like I wouldn't know how he is! What the fuck, man.

It takes me a few minutes until I find the right way but I somehow arrive in the woods and begin to look around.

''Ethan?!'' I shout, but don't get an answer so I walk further into the woods, carefully also looking up the trees. Just in case.

Suddenly hearing something like a scream, the panic starts to climb up my chest and I start breathing heavier and heavier with every second which passes by and sprint directly to the direction of the scream. Just for seeing that Evan was in a really large tree- and that not even on a safe place.

''Ethan what-?'' I ask and stop, seeing how he slowly, but surely, isn't able to hold himself on the branch any longer. My panic is threatening to eat me up and I do what probably everyone as stupid as me would do.

Following this idiot.

''Will-! I don't I- I don't want to d-d-die-!'' He sobs while I try to climb up that fucking tree, hoping he wouldn't let go, before I arrive at his side.

''Just a moment please, you-!'' I step on the wrong branch and almost fall all the way down and I surely wouldn't survive that. I mean I'm already like four metres above the ground.

''I- I- don't know how long I can hold it anymore!''  Ethan almost screams very high and I begin to climb even faster, missing a few steps but am arriving right before the branch cracks once again, after a few seconds.

''I am here just- just try to get back here!'' I yelp, but recognize the several broken cracks the branch already has and gulp heavily.

''I can't move! I will fall!'' He cries out repeatedly and I decide to do something, I don't think I ever considered to do.

''Grab my hand, I have a plan.'' I hold out my hand as far as I can and am somehow able to reach Ethan's arm while leaning forward scarily far.

Another crack is audible and I feel how Evan tries to let go my hand, but I tight my grip around it and gulp heavily, before I use my entire strength for pulling him over the branch to me.

The branch eventually breaks completely right after the moment Ethan is behind me and I feel how I begin to fall forward, into the direction of the ground. Thinking this is my end, I feel out of all sudden a pair of arms around my waist and fastly recognize, that Ethan somehow managed it to hold me back and I gasp shaking after air.

THIS IS INSANE!

''Will, I- I-'m so sorry I-.'' Ethan sobs but I just look down and nod.

''It's okay.''

It is not.

I sigh, while feeling my heart beating fastly in my chest from the circumstances which just happened. This isn't normal any longer. Everything is fucked up.

''No it's not. Nothing is o-okay!'' He continues to argue and to be honest, he's right. Nothing is okay.

''I- I destroyed everything a-and I am alone now and I am so selfish to think I could just g-go and no one would c-care but- Argh, shit!'' He stutters and I begin to tear up again, just by the thought of that I nearly also lost him.

''Let's go down.'' I just say quietly and begin to climb down, paying attention that Ethan wouldn't fall.

When we arrive at the ground, Ethan immediately pulls me into a hug and I feel myself tense up.

''I'm sorry.'' He sobs and I close my eyes for recovering from the shock.

My legs down at the ground don't feel real any longer. The ground under my feet doesn't feel real. Ethan hugging me doesn't feel real. Living, doesn't feel real.

''Will?''

I don't open my eyes, but answer in whispering.

''Yeah?''

''I- I lied again.'' He cries out and I sigh. I should be used to it by now.

''About what?''

''I overreacted, but I- I really want to be with you I- I just don't want to be a-alone again because now I have no-no one and I wouldn't be able to handle another loss.'' Ethan breaths out heavily and I lift my head and eyes up at him.

Yes. We have a height difference. Obviously.

''What?'' I ask, just for making sure I didn't understand it wrong and hold my breath back.

''I- do love you-.'' He stutters and I gulp, because I don't expect him to feel the same way at all.

''Oh.'' I breathe out and don't know how to react anymore.

''Please don't hate me.'' Ethan talks fastly and I am not even capable of thinking about an answer, when he already presses his lips onto mine.

Not able to move or anything else, I just kiss him back for around half a minute or a minute, I don't count, until we back off and I see how Ethan is still crying a little.

Against everything what I expect me to do, I smile at him weakly and hate myself for it.

Why am I so easy?

''Carmen planned something.'' I suddenly say quietly and Ethan nods, before we walk back the path again together, while holding hands.

°°°

I am sitting without any word or move now since several minutes at the same place, not feeling a thing.

Not happiness. Not sadness. Not anger. Just a shitty, stupid feeling of numbness.

''Parker..do you need...help?'' Carmen suddenly asks and I look at her. With teary eyes and a broken look in her face, she is standing there. Trying to help everyone, while no one really helps her.

''Camy...you need to think about yourself too.'' I say honest and she slowly shakes her head.

''I'm okay.'' She fake smiles and I sigh.

°°°

Me and Caleb are the first time in ever lying in each others arms, crying but not talking. Just being there for each other.

In that moment, I realize how I am the last one who has still someone of their family alive.

All of this isn't fair. I just want my old life back.

°°°

Not knowing where else to go, I hide in my bedroom and cry my eyes out in that stupid pillow from that stupid fucking house in that disgusting wrong city, town or whatever this shit hole is!

I want to scream and shout, but I can't. My throat is like I didn't drink in ages and everything hurts so unbelievable much that it takes my air to breathe.

I want to run, but my legs aren't moving.

I want to feel, but my heart is broken.

I want to live, but have no will anymore.

°°°

Me, Leah and Maddison are the first time in ever on the same level.

Same thoughts.

Same feelings.

Same angst.

It is weird, but we know that we will need each other now and it breaks my heart to know that no one from the people here will ever get to have their parents in some special time of their life anymore.

Of course nothing will go like it was before, but we all need to move on, on some point..It's hard but we can't all also die this is some weird destiny shit. Deep down we all know that.

No one can resist at least a bit of love and that is the fear from everyone here. How can we hope to be happy, when no one else is alive anymore? How can we move on, when the memories are stuck in our brains and will never get lost?

How will we all be able to see what to do from now on?

We are the last people alive, so what? What now? We all die on some point and nothing is left, or what?

We already lost so much.