Chapter 27 - Reflection III

8 years ago

"How you feeling son?"

"I'm more than ready. Actually I thought I would be more excited than I am."

"It really isn't all that to get excited over."

"I don't wanna hear that from you, you barely ever leave the city at all."

"A guard has to face just as much danger as a searcher. I personally prefer being a guard cause I don't like running."

"I always knew you was just lazy old man." He replied with a grin.

"Don't call him old man Aj, I'm older than him so how am I suppose to feel."

"Don't worry mom he's only old on the inside." Aj responded.

"I could live with that then, age brings wisdom."

"The numbers ain't adding up then cause your not that wise either." Aj stated while laughing.

"I was about to say the same thing." The mom added while joining in on the laugh.

"You're all too loud for this early in the morning."

"Good morning to you too Angie." The mom replied.

"Ang you coming to see me off today?" Aj asked.

"Why when I could see you off from here?"

"Yanno your mouth way too smart for your age." Aj replied.

"I'm bringing her along."

"Would that be alright Andrew?" The mom asked.

"To carry her to the gate? Yeah it should be fine, I'll have her stay with me. Besides she needs to get out the house a bit more now."

"I don't like how your all deciding this for me when I'm standing right here." Angie stated.

"You'll be fine, hurry and get ready." Andrew stated with a grin.

Angie released a large sigh then went back to her room. After another fifteen minutes she returned and left the Nash's residence along with her father and brother. Today would mark the first day that Andrew Jr. would be leaving the city as a certified searcher. One of the first runners since the role was established.

"How often will you be leaving?" Angie asked her brother.

"That really depends on the people higher up." He responded. "There's a chance we could he out there everyday or maybe just once a week. It isn't really my decision."

"Would you like to go out everyday if you had the chance?"

"Well, everyday would be a huge strain on my body. I'm not exactly opposed to it though. I like to explore new places."

...

"That's it?" She asked frowning.

"Why the sad face?"

...

"Promise you'll come back." She stated.

"Of course I'm gonna come back." He replied.

"Then promise me that you will."

"Alright I promise." He swiftly replied.

"What do you promise?"

"I promise to always come back." He replied with a smile. "Why are you grinning?" Aj asked his dad.

"You two use to fight for no reason and now look at the both of you."

"Family is always gonna fight." Aj responded.

It hasn't been long since the city has established its boundaries with the walls that now surround the city. Since its creation there has been debate over who is allowed in and out the city and for what purposes. A guard unit was created to not only protect the people that now resided between these walls, but also monitor the flow of people entering and leaving the city. People quickly realized that even though the city contained supplies that would saturate their needs for a long time. There was literally a world of supplies and materials just beyond the walls. Some people made the decision to leave themselves and a lot of those people were never seen again. That's when some members of the guard unit decided to branch away and create a new unit. A unit specifically designed to train capable individuals to leave the city and forage for supplies of all kind. This people were originally named 'runners'. That name eventually changed to 'searchers' due to popularity in the general public. Andrew Nash Jr. as of today, would become a member of the third official searcher team.

"I shouldn't have to tell you to be careful right?" Nash said to Aj.

"You've overseen a lot of my training, you should know I'll be fine." He replied.

"Right now I'm not speaking to you as someone with a higher rank, I'm speaking to you as your father. Be careful Aj."

After a brief moment of silence Aj replied with a grin "Yeah dad, I will."

"Searchers report to the gate!"

"Later old man, later Angie." Aj said as walked over to join his team.

Nash smiled and nodded his head while Angie waved him off. After a short briefing of their task, the squad left the city's limits. That was the last time any⁸ member of that team was ever seen.

Later that night.

Angie arose out of her bed to the sound of crying. She crept out of bed and wandered down the hall to locate the source of the crying. She peered around a corner to find her mom and dad talking to a man she's never seen before at the front door.

"There isn't much we can report right now, but I assure you we'll be sending out a search party at first light tomorrow morning." The man stated.

"How far were they supposed to be going?" Nash asked.

"Anywhere between five to seven miles to the southwest." He answered.

"Please...please bring my son back." Mom said while trying to control her crying.

"Aj?" Angie asked softly.

The three of them turned to acknowledge Angie staring at them from around a corner. The mom rushed over and dropped to her knees to hug her daughter.

"Aj won't be coming home tonight, but hopefully he'll be back tomorrow." She said holding Angie close to hide her face.

"But, he promised he'd come back."

"He'll come back sweetie, I'm sure of it."

The next day a search party was sent to uncover the mystery of what happened to the missing searcher squad. Approximately five miles in the direction that the team would have ventured into, there was a gruesome discovery. Three mutilated corpses were found dispersed across a sidewalk. They were identified as three of the members of the searcher team. However the body of Andrew Nash Jr. was not among them along with two others. To this day those three young men have remained missing with no leads to help figure out their disappearance.

3 years later.

"Hey mom, Mali said she wanted to come see you today."

"Good morning Mrs. Nash." Mali said walking in.

"It's been a while Mali, how have you been?"

"I'm doing my best to keep going." She replied.

"That's all we could do." Mrs. Nash stated with a grin.

"I'd be doing a lot better if you'd get out of this hospital bed soon." Mali stated.

"Aw, yanno you were always like a second daughter to me."

"Alright Mali, time for us to leave." Angie said jumping in.

"I'm always looking out for Angie like she's my little sister, so I understand what you're saying."

"She's quite a bit to handle isn't she?"

"She's a lot more than quite a bit." Mali replied while laughing.

"Have you two forgotten I'm right here?" Angie asked while pushing Mali to the door. "Come on, out we go. Give me a minute Mali."

"Alright, don't drag your feet please I don't like waiting." Mali replied walking out.

Angie softly closed the door and walked over to her mother's bedside.

"How you feeling today?" Angie asked.

"I'm feeling good." She replied.

"You don't have to tell me that everyday to make me feel at ease. I can hear it in your voice that your not getting better."

She smiled and replied "You have a lot of your father's traits you know."

"See that's how I know you're getting worse, I'm nothing like him."

"Did he go to work this morning?"

"Yeah he said he would visit you later today."

"Hmm, how are the two of you getting along living alone?"

"Please come back soon, he can't cook and I've started to help with laundry like you asked, but washing his clothes is torture."

Mrs. Nash began to chuckle a bit before starting to laugh for a few seconds.

"I don't see the joke in what I said." Angie stated.

"Now you appreciate what I use to do around the house."

"I always did mommy."

"This is training for you to grow into a capable young lady."

There was a short moment of silence.

"It's a lot more quiet at home now." Angie said.

"I'd assume so."

"Promise me you're gonna come home soon. I hate that I have to come here to see you."

"Hmmm." She replied with a smile. "Don't worry Angie, I promise I'll be back in no time. Now hurry, isn't Mali waiting on you?"

"I'll be back tomorrow." She said while opening the door.

"I know you will, I love you."

"I love you too."

That afternoon Cassandra Nash was rushed to the intensive care unit after her condition worsened. She succumbed to her illness the following day.

2 years later.

"Angie I heard your paps was promoted to Captain, that true?" Asked Victor.

"Yeah." She replied nonchalantly.

Angie, Victor, Mali and Denny stood at the edge of a small pond skipping rocks over to the other side.

"How you feel about it?" Denny asked.

"Good for him I guess." She replied throwing a rock.

"That's it?"

"Yeah, I mean nothing's really changing for me. He hardly is come home as it is, so I guess he'll be even more preoccupied."

"So that's why your always sleeping over at Mali's house." Victor stated.

"I'd move in with Mali if I could."

"Why though, you that scared to live alone?"

"It ain't even that. He's hardly home and the days when he is home all he does is drink."

"Really? I wouldn't expect that out of him." Said Denny.

"He's pretty good at masking himself huh?"

"All things considered could you blame him?" Mali asked. "He did lose his wife and son, and on top of that he has to deal with the stress of being the captain of the entire guard unit."

"I'm sure the last thing he needs is his daughter walking out on him." Denny added.

"I know that, it's the only reason I do go home everyday." Angie stated.

"It'd be better if you both talked it out." Victor said.

...

"Maybe."

They left when the rain began to come down about an hour later. When Angie arrived home, yet again there was nobody there to greet her. Dark clouds rolled in overhead and the downpour of rain intensified. Angie sat on the couch and began sketching the scene on the park they were at from her memory. After a while she fell asleep in the quiet living room.

The sound of rain trickling off of the roof to the ground below was the only sound present. A cool and constant breeze flowed through the house, which kept the curtains dancing in the air. The sun wasn't anywhere to be found but it was the time of day for it to begin setting.

"Angie." A voice called out to her.

She cracked open her eyes in response to hearing her name. Only moving her eyes she observed the empty room before closing her again.

"Angie." The voice called out again.

A little louder this time and she could've made out that it was a woman calling out to her. She rose up a bit and carefully scanned the room.

"Angie."

She focused her eyesight on the hallway where she found the silhouette of woman's shadow on the wall.

"Mom?" Angie asked.

"I'll be back Angie." Her mom's voice said as the shadow disappeared down the hallway.

"Wait!" She yelled dropping her legs off of the couch.

Her feet then landed into a pool of water below her. Upon further inspection she realized that the entire room was about half a foot deep in water.

"What the-"

"Ang." Called another voice.

"Huh."

"Ang, could you let me in? I'm still out here."

The voice of her brother called out to her from the other side of the front door. She stood up and slowly crept over to the door. As she walks over the water slowly begins to rise.

"Ang, could you open the door?" He asked.

"Aj?"

"I guess no one is here anymore." He said as his voice seemed to drift further away.

"No come back!" She shouted racing over to the door.

"Angie are you still waiting?" The mom's voice asked.

The water had risen to her waist level at this point and continued to grow.

"Mom where are you!?" Angie cried out as she stood at the front door.

"There's no one here for us to come back to." The brother stated.

"No, no I'm still here."

"We don't belong here anymore." The mom stated.

"No please, don't leave me alone. I don't want to be alone."

The water level then began to rise at a more significant rate. She jumped up onto the chair, but the water caught back up in no time. She began to breathe heavily as she struggled to find a way out. The water flowed over her shoulders and crept up her.

"Please, come back for me." Was her last words before being submerged.

In a panic she then opened her eyes in a jolt, while hyperventilating and grabbing at her chest.

"Angie, what happened?!" Her dad asked running over to where she was still laying on the couch.

She looked around at the dry empty room, trying to compose herself. A single tear came down her face as she came to realize it was a dream.

"What's the matter Angie? Are you alright? Talk to me Angie, come on."

"Please, don't leave me alone." She mumbled. "Please, I don't want to be alone."

Her dad paused for a moment and then reassured her:

"You'll never be alone. I promise, you wont ever be alone."