Echo

Promises and Purpose

The light compelled me awake no matter how exhausted I still was. I opened my eyes and shielded them from the sunlight.

I moved slightly and hissed at the pain. Not only did I forget I got shot for a minute there, but sleeping in a tree isn't the best of all suites.

I sat up and pulled the fabric slightly to see if it was still bleeding. I instantly let go when it felt like a scab was about to get ripped off. I'm glad the bullet went right through but it'd be fantastic if this didn't happen at all.

I ate a few pretzels and drank some water, since I had lost a lot of blood. and I tried to give myself a pep talk: "You've got this. You know why? because you've got to got this Echo. Yeah."  I clapped my hands together once and was ready for the struggles that were to come.

I let my self drop from the tree with my other leg and started limping my way--I don't know where.

I saw a creek thankfully. I started to follow it knowing full well i'd find a river and then i'd find a town.

Every time it sounds this peaceful I think of how the world feels blurry. Like i'm in a dream or in fog. The sound of nature is better then silence, is something my mom would say.

I used to love climbing trees and being in the woods. I loved running and fighting.

I hate the thought of hurting people and having to put myself before anyone. I hate being tired and stressed out. I hate being by myself...and I do all these things to survive.

My feet and thoughts halted at once when I heard a small cry. I ducked behind the tall grass around the creek. I could see a woman washing her arm in the creek and crying so softly you could hardly hear it.

She had her stuff by her side and the only weapon I could see clearly was a knife on her waist.

I stepped around the grass quietly and had my gun at my side just in case. "Excuse me? Are you okay?"  I tried to sound kind but it came out more hesitant.

She grabbed her knife and stood in front of her stuff. "Who are you?"

"I won't hurt you. I just- I heard you crying," I sighed and said, "Im Echo.What's your name?"

WHAT AM I DOING?

"Emma." She glanced at my thigh, "What happen to your leg?"

"Some assholes shot me over some pretzels..weird right?" I smiled nervously.

"I can stitch you up if you'd like, my oldest boy was always getting into fights so, I'm pretty good at it." she smiled.

"You really don't have to-"

"Sit." she suddenly picked up a drowsy little boy that came out of no where and sat him close beside her. I found Mary Poppins apparently.

"Okay," I said awkwardly an sat next to her but, not too close.

"This is my little one Olli, he likes to sleep throughout the day a lot so you can just imagine how tired i am right now." she looked at the blue eyed boy who rejected eye contact. She handed him some water and he drank some.

He was very little, and had olive skin, dark brown hair, and very blue eyes. He looked like one of those kids from pull-up commercials.

I reached in my bag and handed her pretzels, "I'm not going to get shot for eating those guy's pretzels right?"

"No no I wouldn't let that happ--" she smiled, "Oh you were joking, sorry." I looked away and smiled as she handed the boy the pretzels.

"Thank you," She said as she reached into her bag and grabbed a tin box. When she opened it I could see what I believe is sowing supplies. 

I unwrapped my leg and it once again started to bleed. I cut my pants open slightly around the wound for more room. "How old is he?" I asked trying to not think so much about the pain.

"He just turned five a while ago...may I ask how old you are?"

"Uh I'm turning twenty one sometime soon." That felt weird to say aloud.

"Have you been on your own from the beginning?"

I hesitated, "Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, everyone has something shitty that happened to them, right?" she nodded as she poured alcohol on the needle.

"I'm going to pour this on your leg, it's going to hurt."  I nodded and looked at the trees above. I felt it pour all over my leg and sting like no other. I squinted my eyes and waited for the pain to lessen. I wanted to cuss but out of respect for the little one, I cussed only in my head.

She patted it with a dry rag which was nothing compared to the excruciating sting of the alcohol.

She examined the wound as she held the threaded needle. "Let's stitch the exit wound first."

I turned my leg slightly to the side and looked away. Her son looked at me with his big blue eyes and waved limply.

The needle went into my flesh and I tried to smile and wave back so I wouldn't look at him like I was dying. He softly giggled and I couldn't help but scoff humorously.

She finished the exit wound fairly quickly. I completely blocked out when she did the other side because it hurt so bad. I just closed my eyes and pretended like this wasn't happening at all. 

She put gauze on the wound and wrapped it with medical tape. I looked down at the fine work in approval, "Thank you.. so much." I smiled.

She smiled but her smile dropped softly, "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure."

"Before it all started, my son told me he'd be at the vacation house. We lost contact when all the phones went down and it took us forever to get there, and when we did, it was burnt to the ground. But I believe he's still out there, I- I know he's out there. I've been looking for him, but I needed to find him now more then ever, because...." she pulled up her sleeve and made sure her son didn't see. A deep bite mark was on her forearm. Her veins around it were turning dark and her skin looked pale.

"When?" I asked dumbfounded.

"I was tired and wasn't paying attention.It happened this morning." She rubbed her eyes, "I need you to take him, and keep him safe."

"W-what?You hardly know me."

"I know that you've survived this long on your own, meaning you're determined. I know that you risked your life to see if I was okay. God lead us together for a reason." I looked at my hands in thought, "Please take care of him, I know you can."

I inhaled deeply and looked over at the boy who was cluelessly playing with pretzels and grass, getting the two confused. "Okay," I said quietly.

She hugged me tightly and I put my arms around her loosely, "Promise me, you'll protect him and teach him to protect himself. I want my baby to have a life." she pulled away and held both my shoulders and looked me in the eyes with hope.

"I promise."

The next few hours she boiled water from the creek and filled empty bottles while we talked about random things. Olli fell back asleep and the day continued to get warmer.

Emma was interesting. She was kind, smart, and seemed to live only in the moment. Not worrying what happened, or what's next, just-- now.

It felt nice to not be alone and to rest, i've constantly been going since this all started.

Except for the first few weeks without my dad. I slept in the car for about two weeks before I started learning the new ways of the world.

Although I made yet another antagonizing promise, I felt okay. Emma made me realize that running and surviving isn't living if you don't have purpose. Maybe this is my purpose.