Phase One: Identify (Territory of the Dead) Read Online Free Page B
Author: Rose Wynters
really didn't want to be alone.
We made up the sofa bed and laid down, Mom turning the lamp off next to her. The newscaster was still on, but didn't seem to have anything new to report. His voice was simply a low background noise, a horrific reminder of how brutally my entire world had changed.
Within a few minutes, my dad started to snore gently in the recliner. I peeked over at Jayden. His eyes were closed as well, but I couldn't say if he were asleep or not. Mom's breathing grew slow and even. I marveled at how easily my parents slept during a time like this.
My thoughts went to the people I knew in this town. I wondered how my best friend Amanda was taking it, and I wished I had my cell phone. If I did, I would try to call. Was she even still alive? It was a sobering thought.
Amanda and I had been best friends basically our whole lives. In some ways, she was my complete opposite. She was studious and reliable, with plans for her future. She wanted to be a doctor, and was determined to save the world. While I was relieved to not start college this fall, she was eagerly counting the days until she could.
I wanted to cry at the very real possibility that she was dead. With a heavy heart, I eventually grew tired enough to close my eyes. Sleep took an impossibly long time coming that night.
Chapter 3
I woke up sometime later, puzzled why I was sleeping in the living room on the sofa bed. It only took a second though for me to remember why, and I was flooded with an awful, gut-wrenching feeling of despair. Would it always be this way for me?
The living room was peaceful, the TV still on but turned down low. The world was quiet. My eyes were gritty from lack of sleep, my body exhausted. It was still dark out. Something, somewhere had attracted my subconscious attention, though. What had woke me up?
I sat up noiselessly, not wanting to disturb my family. Jayden was awake and quietly watching the news. He was grief-stricken, but at least appeared to be aware. “Jayden?” I whispered, hesitantly. “Is everything okay?”
He gave a small nod before whispering back, “As much as it can be, I suppose.” His voice was so sad, my eyes stung with tears. I couldn't imagine losing my parents or my little sister, if I would have had one.
I swallowed hard, having to do it twice before I could speak again. “Nothing feels right anymore,” I told him quietly. He wasn't looking at me, but somehow I knew he was listening. “I just feel like I'm in this horrible nightmare that I can't wake up from.”
I really didn't expect him to reply. It wasn't like he'd really talked to me in the past, so I was surprised when he responded back, “I know what you mean.” His voice was thick, as if he was having a hard time even speaking. “I hurt so badly inside right now that I feel like I can't even bear it. Mom, Dad, my sister, how am I supposed to go on knowing that they are dead?”
He stopped talking, and I hated it. After the events of the night, I wanted the companionship desperately. I needed someone to share this terrible load with me, someone alive like I was.
My mind raced as it frantically tried to come up with something, anything, that would keep him talking. Unfortunately, there was nothing to be said. I felt cruel even trying. After all, he was grieving.
In the end though, he must have needed the companionship as badly as I did.
“To be honest, I can't even remember the last time I told any of them I loved them. Now, I'll never get the chance.” He shook his head sadly, his hair appearing even darker in the dim lighting from the TV.
“I was so stupid, you know? All I cared about was college and getting my freedom. The last two years, I found every excuse I could to avoid hanging out with them. I wanted to be with my friends, or out chasing the hottest girls. I didn't think my parents or my sister were cool enough to
We made up the sofa bed and laid down, Mom turning the lamp off next to her. The newscaster was still on, but didn't seem to have anything new to report. His voice was simply a low background noise, a horrific reminder of how brutally my entire world had changed.
Within a few minutes, my dad started to snore gently in the recliner. I peeked over at Jayden. His eyes were closed as well, but I couldn't say if he were asleep or not. Mom's breathing grew slow and even. I marveled at how easily my parents slept during a time like this.
My thoughts went to the people I knew in this town. I wondered how my best friend Amanda was taking it, and I wished I had my cell phone. If I did, I would try to call. Was she even still alive? It was a sobering thought.
Amanda and I had been best friends basically our whole lives. In some ways, she was my complete opposite. She was studious and reliable, with plans for her future. She wanted to be a doctor, and was determined to save the world. While I was relieved to not start college this fall, she was eagerly counting the days until she could.
I wanted to cry at the very real possibility that she was dead. With a heavy heart, I eventually grew tired enough to close my eyes. Sleep took an impossibly long time coming that night.
Chapter 3
I woke up sometime later, puzzled why I was sleeping in the living room on the sofa bed. It only took a second though for me to remember why, and I was flooded with an awful, gut-wrenching feeling of despair. Would it always be this way for me?
The living room was peaceful, the TV still on but turned down low. The world was quiet. My eyes were gritty from lack of sleep, my body exhausted. It was still dark out. Something, somewhere had attracted my subconscious attention, though. What had woke me up?
I sat up noiselessly, not wanting to disturb my family. Jayden was awake and quietly watching the news. He was grief-stricken, but at least appeared to be aware. “Jayden?” I whispered, hesitantly. “Is everything okay?”
He gave a small nod before whispering back, “As much as it can be, I suppose.” His voice was so sad, my eyes stung with tears. I couldn't imagine losing my parents or my little sister, if I would have had one.
I swallowed hard, having to do it twice before I could speak again. “Nothing feels right anymore,” I told him quietly. He wasn't looking at me, but somehow I knew he was listening. “I just feel like I'm in this horrible nightmare that I can't wake up from.”
I really didn't expect him to reply. It wasn't like he'd really talked to me in the past, so I was surprised when he responded back, “I know what you mean.” His voice was thick, as if he was having a hard time even speaking. “I hurt so badly inside right now that I feel like I can't even bear it. Mom, Dad, my sister, how am I supposed to go on knowing that they are dead?”
He stopped talking, and I hated it. After the events of the night, I wanted the companionship desperately. I needed someone to share this terrible load with me, someone alive like I was.
My mind raced as it frantically tried to come up with something, anything, that would keep him talking. Unfortunately, there was nothing to be said. I felt cruel even trying. After all, he was grieving.
In the end though, he must have needed the companionship as badly as I did.
“To be honest, I can't even remember the last time I told any of them I loved them. Now, I'll never get the chance.” He shook his head sadly, his hair appearing even darker in the dim lighting from the TV.
“I was so stupid, you know? All I cared about was college and getting my freedom. The last two years, I found every excuse I could to avoid hanging out with them. I wanted to be with my friends, or out chasing the hottest girls. I didn't think my parents or my sister were cool enough to
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