ragnarok - rim of the world

Disagreements

We continued to walk, sometimes picking up into a run if we heard anything odd.

Gabriel and I lagged behind the rest; I took the opportunity to talk to him.

"What the hell were you thinking back there?" I confronted him.

"I just wanted-"

"You could have gotten injured, or worse, killed." I stopped myself, noticing the somber expression he wore. A soft sigh escaped my lips as I felt the anger dissipate from my body, "Look, I...I can't lose anyone else. I'm sorry, I just...care about you."

He took my hand in his as we continued to walk, "I care about you too."

A meek smile appeared on my lips, "Just be careful. Don't die on me."

He made a slight chuckle. "I will. Don't die on me either. Promise?" 

I looked up at him, feeling better, "Promise."

After a while of walking in silence, Gabriel broke the silence to address the eventful morning.

"That was the same alien from camp. I thought we killed that thing."

"If it came down with the capsule, that means it survived the heat of atmospheric re-entry, which means it must have tremendous cellular regeneration abilities," Alex explained.

"English, Alex, please," Zhenzhen pleaded.

"It's kinda like Wolverine, right?" I remarked, grasping what he was saying.

"Yeah, exactly."

"Oh." 

"Why the hell is it following us?" Gabriel asked.

"It's pissed about its dog," Dariush deduced, "You ever watched Marley and Me or Beethoven? It's a primal bond. It's out for revenge. Just ask John Wick."

"You're putting human motives on an alien lifeform. No, it probably just had orders to kill the astronaut and anyone she came in with. We're just loose ends to this thing," Alex theorized.

"No, you know what, dog theory was better."

"Who gives a frog's fat ass why? This ain't Comic-con, bitches," Zhenzhen spoke, making us all stop in our tracks.

"Yeah, she's right. All that matters is that it wants us dead and we can't kill it," I chimed in.

"She's right. We should just keep moving," Alex agreed.

"I'm done with your ideas," Dariush started, "You were the one who thought to let Hannibal Lecter out of his cell. Consider your leadership privileges...revoked!"

"Sometimes you do the right thing and it doesn't work out. That doesn't mean it wasn't worth doing."

"Who the hell told you that?"

"My dad. Never knew what it meant until right now." A moment of silence encapsulated us as the mood suddenly became somber.

"Look," Dariush started, breaking the silence, "why is it up to us to save humanity?"

"What, do you think someone else should do it? Of course, you do. The kind who's always had everything done for him." Gabriel gave him an aggressive poke in his shoulder. Some part of me anticipated another fight. "Maybe Mommy and Daddy can pay the alien to go away, buy him a new Mercedes..." Gabriel didn't get far in his sentence before Dariush grabbed him by the collar and gave him a hefty headbutt, making him fall over. 

"Hey! You don't know my family, dude." Dariush went on top of Gabriel and started to tussle with him.

I stepped in and got Dariush off of him as Zhenzhen helped up Gabriel.

"Come on, get up," I said to him, pulling him up and away from Gabriel. I looked at him in the eyes, pleading with him to stop but he quickly looked away from me, refocusing his attention on Gabriel.

"You don't know me. My family has nothing!"

"Oh, yeah? Except for a car dealership and a mansion and a yacht!"

"No, the dealership is gone. It's all gone. That's why they sent me to camp, man." I looked to Dariush, the sadness enveloping him. I knew about losing the dealership but never said anything to him. I knew how much it all meant to him. I had never really seen Dariush get all sad and mopey a lot. It... hurts.

"It's...it's just stuff." Gabriel's tone noticeably shifted as he realized that Dariush was serious.

"I don't know who I am without all that stuff." Tears slowly cascaded down his cheeks. "And...they're taking my dad. He's going to jail." I bit down hard on my teeth, wanting to suppress the thought. This whole thing was a good distraction from those thoughts, but I guess I can never really escape it—the tears formed in my eyes. I looked up in an attempt to not cry. I needed to stay strong, for me, for Dariush.

"I'm...I'm sorry."

A beeping sound emerged from Zhenzhen's backpack, she stooped down to open it and I took the opportunity to have brother-sister bonding time.

I enveloped him in a hug, not wanting to let go as he hugged me back. We didn't often have moments like this, so every time we did, I would savor it.

"It's gonna be okay, dar-dar," I whispered, "it's gonna be alright." I don't know if I was trying to convince him or myself more.

I pulled back from the hug and gave him a small smile, trying my best to be his sister. I nodded to Gabriel, meaning for him to apologize.

"Uh, hey, sorry I head-butted you. You should get that cleaned up," Dariush apologized. I just took notice of Gabriel's now bloody nose. 

"Yeah, that's fine. Sorry for...punching you."

Zhenzhen took out the beeping radio, "It's Dr. Fielding. He's trying to contact us. We gotta go."

"Maybe we should try to find some clothes? No clue what that thing can track, it might be our scent," Alex suggested.

"Then let's go," I said, running off as Zhenzhen took the lead.