Absolute Contamination

16/ Final Destination

CHAPTER 16: FINAL DESTINATION

The wind made the leaves of the trees rustle, creating a peaceful feeling inside me while I watched the sun lighten up the sky. Even though Christophe had dozed off, I wasn’t able to bring myself to close my eyes. I only had a few hours left to begin with, and I didn’t want to waste them by sleeping. I wanted to enjoy the sunrise one last time. It was the last time I’d see it, just like all the other things around me. I took all of it in, the view of the pink sky, the smell of the grass and the trees, the sounds of the birds at the break of dawn…

Next to me lay a healthy Christophe and Emily, and that was everything I had dared to hope for. Only a couple of days ago, I promised myself to make Emily my priority, and despite the horrible circumstances, I managed to hold on to that promise. She still wasn’t inside the Safe Zone yet, but we were so close that nothing else could possibly go wrong.

“Seriously? Did I fall asleep?” Christophe spoke in a hushed voice, breaking the silence. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he yawned while sitting upright. 

“You needed your sleep, Christophe,” I reasoned, but he disagreed and shook his head at me.

“I wasn’t supposed to fall asleep, especially not while you were still awake.”

Without having to use the words, the hidden message was more than clear to me. He hadn’t planned to fall asleep, especially not since I wasn’t going to be alive for much longer.  It was an unpleasant reminder of the truth, but the truth nonetheless.

“It’s alright,” I smiled at him. “I didn’t mind.” And that wasn’t a lie, either. Of course the first few moments had been a tad uncomfortable, but soon enough I had realized that it was the perfect opportunity to get peace with my plan, to accept that I was going to die soon.

Perhaps I was a little too calm, but I couldn’t help it. During the time Christophe had been asleep, I did a lot of thinking. And with the rising of the sun, a peaceful feeling had silenced my worrying mind. It was as though I found acceptance in my fate, knowing that despite it all, I still managed to get Emily to the Safe Zone.

“In Emily’s backpack you’ll find a letter and a picture,” I told Christophe, wanting to make sure he knew everything there was to know. “On the backside of that picture are a couple of names. Emily’s mom asks in the letter to try and contact these family members, so Emily can stay with one of them.”

For a few seconds I tried to think of the other things left to tell him, now that I had the chance. I had already informed him about Emily, and once he read the letter as well, he would be able to deal with it. Other than Emily, there wasn’t really anyone left, except for maybe…

“I don’t know what happened to him, but can you look for my brother Jason? Hunter and I lost him four or five days ago. I can’t seem to remember, and it doesn’t really matter, but if he made it to any of the Safe Zones, I know he’ll be looking for us. So, if you ever find him, can you tell him about what happened?”

Christophe nodded, promising me he’d look for Jason, without having to say it out loud.

“Oh,” I added, “you don’t have to look now, but I think I might have put some pictures in my backpack. If you find Jason, can you give those to him?”

When Hunter and I had left the car behind that day, we packed in such a hurry because there wasn’t any time to chose carefully what to bring with us and what not. Back then, I just grabbed whatever fitted in my backpack and for some reason, I was convinced that the pictures that I had torn from my bedroom wall just before we left the house had ended up in that backpack as well. Knowing that Jason hadn’t taken anything with him when he disappeared, I assumed he would appreciate the pictures – that is, if he wasn’t dead yet.