Echo

You Cant Go Back

Be prepared for anything. I thought to myself. Anything and everything can go wrong.

"I told you things would work themselves out." My dad smiled while we both looked around the camp we had found. A few cops guarded the area poorly, and selfish people lingered around, grabbing as much food as they could carry.

"I hope so." I said under my breath, leaning against the truck. The sun was starting to go down and I could not see myself sleeping at all in the near future.

"Don't be so glum, be thankful we're alive, yeah?"

"Yeah," I nodded. I wasn't entirely feeling the happiness or thankfulness, I was just there. I still feel like i'm in some nightmare waiting for something bad to happen or waiting to finally wake up. But I know by the feeling in my chest that this is all real.

How am I supposed feel calm when there are dead people trying to eat us?

I can't and I won't think this is a safe place.

I've never been glad that my mom was gone. But i'm glad she wasn't here to see this. I'm glad that she's in a real safe place.

"Let's go help em get wood for the fire," Dad urged. I looked over at the poor older lady doing it herself and pushed myself off the truck. I grabbed some fire wood and carried it over to her as she dug a shallow hole.

"Thank you hun." she smiled and set the wood over the newspaper in the hole. "This is the best way to make a fire. If its in the ground slightly itll be big enough to keep us warm but not big enough to give away where we are. My husband was in the marines. He taught me that."

"Thats smart," I smiled at her carefully, not having very great interaction skills.

I handed her the matches on the ground and watched as she lit the fire, it consuming everything in the pit. Dad went back and forth making a wood pile next to us.

"Whats your name?" the lady asked as she pushed her silver hair out of her eyes.

"Echo. Yours?"

"Echo," she repeated. "Thats a beautiful name. My names Edith."

"Nice to meet you," I smiled.

She pressed her hands to the fire for warmth, "May I ask how you got your name?"

I nodded hesitantly, "I was in foster care for a few days. I would always yell echo when I walked through the halls and I kind of made a game out of it. So, they started calling me Echo. When I was adopted I asked if that could be my real name."

"And im geussing they liked it, because it stuck?"

"Yeah," I scoffed amusingly at the thought.

"You ready to eat?" Dad said from behind me.

"Yeah. Bye, Edith" I waved at her and walked with Dad to the truck.

He pulled out two cliff bars each and said, "What a dinner."

I smiled and we both said grace before we began eating them. I wasnt really hungry considering the events, but my stomach begged for calories.

We finished eating in silence and we threw our wrappers on the floor of the truck.

"Its pretty dark lets go sit by the fire." I nodded and followed Dad to the glow surrounded by people. Luckily, Edith made the hole wide enough for many people to have their own space. I sat on the dirt feeling the warmth of the fire spinnning around me.

The smell of fire takes me back to camping trips with my mom. She always took us camping because she believes people are meant to be in nature, not stuck in a house all day like i've been doing.