Piece By Piece ~ Snippet 2

Aiden

We all quickly introduce ourselves. The introductions are short because they don't consist of anything aside from our first names. Except for Savannah of course. She has a last name as well. 

"So, what do we do now?" Elise asks, bringing my attention back to the group and away from the fiery redhead. 

"Well, I don't think we need to spend any more time here." Lana says, sliding her bag onto her shoulder and rubbing her arms. "It's kind of cold out." 

"Maybe that's because you're wearing a silk blouse and a skirt." Viren points out. "Or rather, what used to be a silk blouse and a skirt." Viren is definitely more practically, and more androgynously, dressed in cargo shorts and a loose t-shirt. 

"Ah!" Lana looks down at herself and vigorously starts trying to rub out dirt smudges. "This was such a nice outfit. It's all ruined now." 

Viren laughs. "You should see your hair." They point at what used to be a neat bun, but now is just a mess of straight Asian hair. 

"We need to stock up," Danger asserts. "That much is certain." 

"Yeah, come on guys," I second. "Danger knows what he's doing." 

"No I don't," he says over his shoulder. "None of us do. That's the point." My mood falls. He's entirely right. 

The group starts to mobilize and Savannah drifts back to me. "Hey, um, Aiden." 

"Yeah?" I look over to her from the corner of my eye. She's a little blurry past the edge of my crooked glasses lens. 

She tucks a piece of her bright red hair behind her ear absentmindedly. "I never really said thank you, for before. You pulled me up." 

"Oh, that." I rub the back of my neck. "It was nothing really." 

She shakes her head. "It wasn't nothing." Her red hair shimmers, even in this dim light. "You made me get up. You wouldn't leave me there." 

"Of course not." I turn to look at her so I can see her clearly. "I couldn't." 

"Well, I won't forget it," she tells me sincerely. 

"You might not want to promise that," I caution. "I mean, that is part of the current problem, isn't it?" She rolls her eyes, but with a smirk. I look away after a moment. 

My eyes wander over the still unfamiliar surroundings. Moving away from destruction and active fires of the explosion, our path is lit instead by lights lining the edges of the wide street. They sputter occasionally, and only emit a dim glow at best, clearly wanting for power. They've fared better than the cramped blocky buildings though. None of them appear to have any power whatsoever. In the blackness of the night, the towering structures seem to lean in menacingly over our small party. It crosses my mind that any of them could topple at any moment, ailing from unseen structural damage caused by the blast. 

I rub the back of my neck and try to divert my attention back to the woman walking alongside me. "I guess this is the part where we'd usually make small talk, except, we don't have anything small to talk about." 

Savannah shrugs. "I suppose you're right." She looks up a little to meet my eyes. "I don't really mind though. Do you?" 

I shake my head, not wanting to disagree with her. Although the peace is rather calming, when I don't think about the uncertain dangers of our world. "I can't say that I do. With as hectic as it was when we first woke up, the relative silence is a welcome change." 

"Nope, I mind." Viren, walking ahead of us a ways, raises their hand. They turn back to look at us. "It's too quiet around here. It's not natural." 

Elise bites her thumbnail. "Viren has a point. I mean, where are all the other people?"

"Maybe we're the only survivors." I suggest. I wouldn't mind a simple solution, to keep my mind far from any unsavory possibilities. 

"But that doesn't make sense." Lana adds from behind us. Her impractical heels and tight skirt have left her at the back of the pack. "Think about it logically. We all ended up at different distances from the explosion. Elise, Aiden, and Savannah, from your clothes, it looks like you were the closest to the blast. Did you even see any bodies?" 

Danger glances back; even he must be interested in our response. Savannah seems uncertain. She was pretty out of it when I first pulled her to her feet. Elise shakes her head. I think back. "I don't recall any."

Danger exhales, facing forward again. "Well, clearly something happened here, aside from the explosion. We'll have to figure out what at some point."

"Maybe that event, whatever it is, caused our missing memories." Savannah says, thinking aloud. No one disagrees. 

"Fewer people means a smaller group hunting for resources," Danger notes practically. "I'm hoping to find some type of department store along our route to stock up on supplies." 

"Clearly this was a densely populated area at one point," Lana says. "That means it shouldn't be too hard for us to find a store." 

"Good." Danger speaks again. "Then you can change into something more practical." 

Viren guffaws and Elise titters behind a raised hand. Smoke practically curls out of Lana's ears. "Sorry I didn't dress for the apocalypse. I like professional outfits, not the casual attire you're all wearing." The rest of us look around at each other and shrug. 

"Ours work better now, don't they?" Danger asks without turning. 

"Burn!" Viren exclaims, pointing back at Lana. 

"You guys are so mean," she mutters under her breath. 

I notice she's still shivering. I have a hoodie on, though I'm really not cold. I slide it off and walk it over to her. "Here. It looks like you could use this." 

Her eyes widen. "Thank you." She puts it on quickly. I cross my arms over my chest as goosebumps start to rise up. I guess I was pretty used to having that hoodie on. It was a cloth layer of protection I wouldn't mind having back. Clearly though, Lana needs it more than I do. 

"Danger, how much further are we going?" Viren asks. Their shorter strides are working double time to keep up with Danger's significantly longer legs. 

Danger sighs. "I don't know, kid, until we find a store with supplies." 

Viren crosses their arms petulantly. "I'm not a kid. I'm sixteen." Then they turn back to look at the rest of us. "Did you hear that guys, I'm sixteen! In your faces! I know my name and my age." 

"Well, I knew my full name before you remembered your age," Savannah reminds them. 

Viren sticks their tongue out at her. "Oh yeah, well how old are you?" 

"Well..." Savannah stalls, searching her mind for the answer. 

"I'm nineteen," Elise adds, remembering herself. 

We turn to look at her, and then Lana speaks up. "Twenty." 

Suddenly a number comes to me, although something about it seems off. "I'm seventeen." 

Savannah gives me a strange look. "Seventeen? You look older than seventeen." 

I shrug. "I feel older than seventeen, but I'm pretty sure that's right."

"Oh, I've got it!" Savannah claps her hands together. "I'm twenty two." Then her face falls. "Oh no, does that make me the oldest?" 

"Nope," Danger replies. "I'm twenty five. That makes me the oldest." He turns to Viren. "And that still makes you the kid." 

"Aw, man!" Viren crosses their arms over their chest, pouting. 

"Hey guys," Elise stops, pointing to a building. A sign in green block letters reads A-Mart. "Clearly someone had a hard time coming up with that name," she remarks. 

"Well, hopefully this will work," Danger says, leading our group towards it. 

"Hey Danger," Viren starts, and Danger looks over to them. "Are we there yet?" 

Danger pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs.

-The adventure continues as we learn more about our explorers. This week I wrote from a different perspective, and at this point I'm planning to continue that pattern. I typically write from a first person point of view, so rotating through the perspectives of different characters should add some extra depth to the story as it goes along. I hope you guys enjoyed this week's installment, and Piece by Piece will continue next week!