Not The Last {Rough Draft}

Chapter 17: A Silver Lining

  "Astrix? Wake up, I got you something," Ashley said. She was nudging me with her foot and I looked up. Was that what I think she was holding...?

  "There's an apple tree in the yard next door! Isn't it awesome?" Ashley squealed. I stood up and snatched the apple from her. I bit into it and felt energy flow into me.

  "Thanks," I mumbled. Van, Trent, and Nile were all sitting either on the couch or floor and were talking.

  "Come on, we are getting to know each other!" Ashley said excitedly. I rolled my eyes and followed her over to the boys. Ashley sat by Nile and I sat on the other side of Ashley.

  "Okay so we should start fresh since some of our first impressions didn't go so well," Trent said and he looked directly at me.

  "You're just angry because I beat you up in our fight," I said, rolling my eyes.

  Trent gave me a stare down then continued to say, "I'm starting. Hi my name is Trent Marks. I'm 19 years old," I was wrong on his age then "I have one sibling and she is annoying times seven billion. Before the apocalypse I was working at an auto body shop. During the apocalypse I have lost three people from the groups I have been in. I have no idea what to do in this disaster, all I know is that I want to keep you guys alive," Trent finished. Well that was a nice way to say a summary of your life.

  We were going in a circle so now Van said, "Yo, name's Van Styke I'm also 19 and I am an only child, and I am a foster kid. Before the apocalypse I was working with Trent, by night I was a bar tender though just to pick up ladies. Since the apocalypse started I have also lost three people. My main goal now is to try and survive long enough to find a pretty girl that would marry me so we could repopulate the Earth!" Van said. I wasn't sure if he was joking or not on the last part but Trent punched him.

  "Name's Nile Dalson, I'm 16 and I have a sister who is now dead. Pre apocalypse I was doing the usual and just trying to graduate high school, maybe get into college. Since the apocalypse I know for positive that two people are dead and two may still be alive. My goal is to try to not die before the end of the year," Nile said.

  "Ashley Marks. I'm 15 and I will turn 16 in a week exactly. I have one sibling and he is the worst. Before the apocalypse I was in school and then after wards I worked at Subway. I have also lost three people and my goal is to try not to get eaten," Ashley said. She just kind of shrugged. Then she looked at me.

  "Well, my name is Astrix Richards and I'm 16. Your guy's summary of your lives are quite boring so I'm just going to try to get everything I can because I feel like I owe you guys that much," I sighed. This was going to be a bad day.

  "I am an only child and I'm not too sure how my parents really worked out. A week before the apocalypse started they called me useless and left me. I didn't tell anyone, not even my best friend. When the apocalypse started I fought to get out of my school building and saved five amazing people as well. A few days later one was killed. A few days after that the other four were killed and that's when I was alone for three months. During those months I saw things people shouldn't see. Things people would have nightmares every night about. Before the apocalypse I had already picked out a college and was trying to get my future set out. Since the apocalypse has started I have lost six people. My goal is to repay everything that I owe to the people that are gone," I stopped. There were tears in my eyes. I could feel the eyes of everyone on me.

  Ashley put a hand on my shoulder. I blinked several times to get rid of the tears and then looked up. Nile, Van, and Trent were all looking at me with sadness. I don't know why I got teary, maybe it was the thought of my friends, or my parents.

  "Astrix, I'm sorry," Nile said. There was something undetectable in his eyes. He was apologizing because that night that we had talked, I had never mentioned any of this to him and he had never realized just how much I had wanted to say that.

  "Anyways, on a more happier note, where are we at?" I asked.

  Trent looked at Van and Van shrugged.

  "We should be about halfway through the state. Maybe a little less. Are you sure you want to go to the coast?" Trent asked.

  I thought for a moment before I nodded and said, "Yes. I have to,"

  "Alright. We need more food though. I took we should stay in this area for a few days and get rested before we go any farther though," Trent said. We all nodded and after a few minutes of arguing about who should go to the store, we all decided on the boys.

  "You guys are sexist," Ashley said, sticking her tongue out.

  "We don't want you guys getting hurt," Nile said and he looked at me. I flipped him off and followed Ashley up the stairs to the rooms we hadn't explored yet.

  Ashley opened the door to one room and we instantly let our mouths fall open.

  The room was huge. There were two queen sized beds that looked softer than anything. Ashley and I looked at each other and immediately jumped onto them and laid down. After a really long time of lying on floors and couches, this felt like pure heaven.

  "Oh my God! Astrix! It's a hot tub!" Ashley yelled and jumped off the bed. I followed her and she threw open a door. Once again our mouths gaped. There wasn't just a very large hot tub, there was also a pool. Ashley and I took one look at each other and dove into the cool water.

  "This... is... AWESOME!" Ashley said. I laughed and splashed water at her. Maybe today wasn't going to be all that bad. Finally a day to act like normal teenagers again and we deserved it more than anyone. After all, there is a silver lining on every black cloud.

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Sorry it's short! I just thought I had to make their lives decent for a while and I had to make Astrix's life more clear. So did I achieve that by any chance?

So read on, vote on, comment on, fan on, and feedback on!

Oh and just saying, I have everything up to Chapter 22 written :) I really get into this sometimes...