Chapter ONE - Bonds.
“Hey Aaron!? When you're done talking to yourself can you come help me out!” An irritated voice called from across the room “yeah ‘Kila i'm comin” I replied.
I stood up from in front of the eye and small LCD screen , the dim display copying my every movement. I looked around the room, soft orange light penetrated the cracks in the wood that covered the windows, made visible from the clouds of dust that filled the near empty rust colored room. A figure stood over at the only doorway, she slowly stepped forward into the light. "Baka" She sighed..
“What do you need help with?” I asked calmly walking over towards her, she was about up to my chin, not bad looking either…
“I need help barricading the front door, its nearly dark.”
“Tequila, 22, our support… both in a firefight and in other… circumstances. Invaluable to the team… well I guess that every member is in this situation, Saved our asses on more than one occasion and im goddamn determined to return the favor”
“Arigato”
“No prob, Hey bro!” I yelled of into the darkness of the hallway “What’s for dinner?”
…
…
“Nothing too flash” the darkness replied
I looked back at Tequila who was rechecking the makeshift barricade, making sure it wouldn’t fall if forced.. She nodded at it, confirming that is was stable. “Yo…” I whispered gaining her attention, I motioned towards the kitchen “yep” she replied in the same quiet tone.
As we approached the kitchen the smell of food overwhelmed the musky, dirty smell of the abandoned house we were staying in for the night.
I opened the door to a dimly lit room, four candles were placed in different locations all revealing the thick layers of dust that covered every surface… all except the table and bench beside the stove. The ground was littered with bits of wood and glass, a velvet stain ingrained into the center making it very clear why this place is deserted.
I also spied in the corner of the room what i took to be probably the most unfortunate rag in existence, used to clear the bench and table, caked in unknown browny-rust coloured dirt, scrunched up and discarded… poor thing.
I looked over to the ‘tall but still shorter than me’ man standing over the gas oven “so what were we having?” I asked curiously “well along with this can of spaghetti I found we have… a can of spaghetti” He replied with a hint of disappointment “Hey whets its all good, at least its something aye?” I said reassuringly
“Yeah but im SOOO hungry!” He said playfully, lightening the mood.
“Whetu, 21, the Heavy… the guy you could count on to have the most blood on at the end of each skirmish, damn luckiest son of a mother that ever lived. I rely on him to get us out of trouble…
He is my best friend after all.”
“Well here it is, grab a plate” he said grabbing two “Leah, dinners ready in here” he sat down at the table “cheers bro” I grabbed the other two and passed one on to tequila “thanks” she replied.
Just then Leah walked in to the room “The back is clear, no uh zombies there hehe” She said quirkily
She was a little shorter that Whetu but not as short as Tequila.
“Leah, 19, Medic… not the strongest or best aim but damn good when it came to general healing. She would normally be the one to cover my back when times are rough… things have been rough though…. Since E-day she hasn’t really been the same”
We all sat down at the small wooden table, the fire from the candle setting the stage for the dancing shadows that plastered the walls behind us. “Thank you for the food” We all muttered before digging into our small meals. We try to keep things as normal and homely as possible in this hell… its all we really can do to stay human.
“Music anyone?” Whetu asked pulling a small blue ipod nano from his pocket, it was outdated a few models but he was loyal to the little blue machine, It was a prize from back in the old days, he won first place at the ‘2009 rising star youth awards’, one of his many achievements in his short life. He switched it on to the tune of ‘Sink or swim from Maisey Rika’
The room grew quiet as the happy tune filled the void. We all just stopped eating and stared at our cutlery… we each had the same things on our mind… The old days.The playful music brought back memories of a much happier time, one we all took for granted.
Back when life was good and simple,
Back when life was fun…
when we had…
Family
...
I snapped.
“DAMMIT!” I yelled, standing to my feet so quickly the chair fell backwards, I grabbed my empty plate and violently delivered it off the table, onto the ground and stormed out of the room.
“Don’t worry about it… ill get him” a soft voice said over the dead silence of the room
“Me, Aaron, 20, Sharpshot… Im the guy who everyone relies on in those really tough spots. I sit at a distance and comb my way through priority Zee’s… I guess ive saved everyone about as much times as Ive been saved. Talk about family is out of the question for me…I guess everyone kinda despises and is grateful for me in a way also… having killed their all families when they couldn’t… and my brothers…dammit all”
It was going to be another long sleepless night.
END Chapter ONE
