The Serum

S E V E N T E E N.

"I can't believe you woke me up for this. We're in the middle of nowhere!" Lucas exclaims, throwing his hands out and proceeding to get whacked by a low hanging tree branch. He winces and rubs his scratched skin. 

"News flash, bucko, we've been in the middle of nowhere for weeks." I snap at him. I agree with his sentiment; it feels like we've been walking in circles. But he doesn't have to whine about it like a baby. 

"Just wait, we're almost there!" Aria practically skips ahead. I've never seen her be so excited about hiking. It makes me think about what she found; from what I've gathered, the only things that make her happy are clothes and makeup, both of which there are none here in the Wilds. I push a waxy frond from my face and hop over a rotting log.

Oliver traipses ahead, silent the whole time. He doesn't talk much anyway, so that's not much of a surprise. The sun peeks through gaps in the tree cover, painting the ground in stripes. 

"Oh, we're here!" my head shoots up and I crane around Oliver's bulky form to see what Aria's eagerly pointing to. I edge around him and sidle beside Aria, my eyes widening and the words dying in my mouth when I see where she's pointing to.

Correction: what. 

It's the ruins, the one that Janice told me about. It's a recognizable stop on the journey to the bunker. My excitement splurges and spikes as I walk towards it. Oliver grabs me, permitting me from going.

"We don't know what's in there, Lizzy."

"Oh, it'll be fine. C'mon!" 

I wrench my arm from his warm grasp and bolt ahead, not bothering to wait. The leaves and undergrowth crackle with my every step. It seems as though we've come to some kind of street, judging from the buildings lined on either side of me. They vary in size. The wood and stone are mottled and green, ivy and moss and fungi creeping up along the remnants of the street. It feels eerily silent, as if it's been... waiting. 

The other three come to stand beside me, gaping at Aria's find. I don't want to admit it, but she actually did something useful. Lucas does a 360, his jaw about to hit the floor.

"Is this..."

"The ruins. We're getting closer." Aria confirms with a proud nod. The heavily fractured concrete seems to crack more with every step I take. I explore the buildings, reading fading words to the best of my ability. I wasn't a star student, nor have I ever. But I can still read. 

"Look!" Lucas beckons us over madly, pointing to a small patch of grass laden with slender stones. As I jog closer, my heart drops into my sneakers.

It's a cemetery. The etching is still there; overgrown but there. I trace the inlets of the words with my finger, feeling the moist dampess of the moss as I survey the tombstones.

"Lizzy." Oliver says from behind me. I spin and come to join him at a unadorned, average stone. He points to the back and I drop into a crouch, reading the words. It's barely legible, a shaking scrawl. It's heavily misspelled but somehow, I still make out the sentence.

My breath escapes me. 

Lizzy Selburn; my love, my life, my heart.