Miles and Beck walked side by side, their fingers intertwined. They stared ahead as the distance grew shorter. They weren't very far from the bridge now, another fifteen minutes and they'd be right below it. Ace stared on blankly his face pale and emotionless. His mind filled with the sad remembrance of the day he lost his brother.
His swollen hand trickled blood that slowly fell to the dirt, steadily being consumed and repurposed by the earth. His brother had been playing near the river two summers before the blast. He was playing "Island Savers" (a game the two of them created together.) Before falling into the rapid water. He wondered if his brother had attempted to fight the waves before he tumbled down the waterfall and split his head on the large boulder that had since been removed.
He remembered coming home and seeing his mom on her knees gripping his photo to her chest beside the fireplace. His father stood over her with a hand on her shoulder. Once he walked in his father broke down and beckoned him over with an extended arm as the two police officers stood with bowed heads in the common area of the cabin.
After the initial shock had all but vanished Ace and his dad made it their project to block off the cave wall with stones. He carved his and his little brother's initials into the last rock before wedging it between two others.
"In case of an emergency, with just the right force this wall will come right down," His dad said patting the wall with an open palm. His family didn't go to the cabin much after that. They didn't do much of anything after that. Ace shut himself off, so much that every day he'd come home after school and sit in front of the gorgeous fireplace in his living room at home.
He'd sit and talk to his brother's metallic red urn until his parents got home. Now as he walked by the lake knowing what was happening around him he realized, Alex was the lucky one.
In the distance growing closer with each grueling step, the decaying bridge grew more visible. Beck watched closely as pieces of rubble tumbled down and collided with the water below, launching large splashes into the air as they hit. At that moment she wondered what would've happened if she had stayed on that bridge, she wondered what did happen to those who couldn't get off in time.
She looked up at Miles as they walked, his stoic head still rising tall above his broad shoulders staring onward at the path laid out for them. She wondered what was going through his mind. Was he as scared as she was? Did he have a plan for when they made it back to the town they once called home? She had no answers for her ever-flowing questions, only more that filled her uneasy mind. The closer they got to that tumbling monstrosity the more uneasy she felt.
Her hands accumulated small beads of sweat that lubed her palms more than she'd liked. She hoped Miles couldn't feel her nervousness as she gripped his hand tighter. She knew the feeling of fear, she has since the first time she had encountered a man with ill intentions. His patchy beard that wreaked of cheap beer and stale Funyuns as he complimented her "Sexy skirt," That fear was nothing compared to what she felt now. Her stomach twisted in knots and she lost feeling in her legs. She knew she was walking but she could no longer feel the ground beneath her feet.
She looked to Miles again to see any emotion on his face, again his sturdy head stayed glued to the bridge ahead.
"Are...are you okay?" She asked, softly.
"My feet are starting to feel sore again, but other than that mostly fine. Why?" He replied, finally lowering his head to look at her.
"I just...Aren't you scared of what we're going to see?" She asked, twiddling her fingers.
"Of course, I don't know what to expect when we get there. I honestly fear the worst," He said, bowing his head for a moment.
"The thing is, I have been selfishly hoping we find Amanda and Abel," He said, his voice cracking gently. Beck stared up at him, seeing for the first time since this all started, a real look of desperation. That's why he's been so focused. He isn't optimistic that things are better than they seem or even that they'll find the answers they so desperately need. He's hopeful he'll find the two people he knew were okay.
"Thank you," She uttered, leaning her head on his shoulder. A faint smile curled as she realized she wasn't the only one afraid. She just needed something to keep surviving for, and she found it. Miles. The journey was exhausting taking its toll on each of them, physically, emotionally, and mentally. The closer they got to the last place they stood before the bomb fell the more their minds filled with feelings of guilt and hopelessness.
Then almost without realizing they were standing beside the fragmented pillar that once was the bridge they leaped from to survive. What remained of it was pitiful. There were barely five feet of the bridge itself still intact above them which was holding up a dark red sedan teeter tottering slowly daring itself to plummet to the water below. The three of them stopped and looked up watching the car intently, not hoping it would fall but not betting against it.
To the right was a large gap between the two quarters that remained of the bridge. On the other side, a silhouette of a person standing perfectly still with their arms out in front of them, almost as if they were bracing for impact. Miles stared for a moment before bringing his cupped hands to his face and cupping them securely around his lips to shout out to the person towering above them. As he moistened his lips with his parched tongue, the bridge began to creak and crack just beneath the figure's feet.
They all stared in shock and horror as in the blink of an eye the ground gave way and the motionless body tumbled to the ground. It fell for what seemed like forever before smacking the water. The three of them covered their eyes in horror, attempting not to see the aftermath of such a horrifying head-first fall. Miles bravely peeled his hand from his eyes slowly to see what remained, to his surprise all that lay in the water was the large stone surrounded by what seemed to be ash floating above the surface of the water.
"Wh...Where did he go?" He asked, looking around confused.
"He was just...there," Beck replied, pointing to the now missing chunk of the bridge.
"He was dead already," Ace said, unfazed.
"What do you mean, dead already?" Miles asked, skeptically.
"I mean when the nuke hit, it did something to the people in its path. They became...shells, hollow crisped shells," He finished.
"So...th...the ash-"
"Was his body deteriorating," Ace said, finishing Beck's sentence. The uneasy feeling she had felt in her stomach earlier was back, but worse. She could feel her insides twist and move around like a slimy snake moving its way through a skinny log. Her heart pulsated rapidly in her chest to the point where she felt a sharp pain, almost like someone was puncturing her heart with a needle, like a voodoo doll. Then she hunched over and puked multiple times. The acidic taste filled her throat and nose as chunks poured out of each.
Miles stared on in horror and disbelief. He knew something happened to the people, he remembered Ace mentioning it before, but he didn't think it was really like that. His body quivered with disgust as his bravery dwindled quickly. Ace stood emotionless his mind blank and his face bearing the look of a grieving widow. He was numb to all feelings and no longer felt the need to show any substantial reactions. He could feel his damaged fist, still clenched as if he had still been bashing it bluntly into the wall of stone to escape the arachnid-riddled cave.
The blood still traced its way down his purple knuckles down to his fingertips before splashing into the dirt.
"Come on, we have to keep moving," He said, looking to his left up the hill toward the city.
"We...we can't just pretend this isn't happening," Miles said, the blood absent from his face.
"We have to, he's dead, he was dead and now he's gone. If you don't want to end up like that then I suggest we keep moving," He replied, sternly, before making his way to the base of the steep hill. Miles and Beck looked at each other uneasily, with no other options they followed close behind him. As they hiked the side of the slippery hill the town began to come into view. The tops of tall buildings crested the top as the bridge grew less menacing.
At the top, they saw the true horror and the real damage. Buildings collapsing, and the streets have broken. They stood to the side of the road that lead back to town. Roots began sprouting through and small trees began to grow through the cracks they created. Miles looked around for a moment, catching his breath from the climb and scanning the area for any immediate danger.
Across the river, on the other side of the bridge, he saw the dirt road leading to the shelter. He couldn't help but wonder what was left of it. Would he find his mom if he went looking? He didn't know but he knew that the fate of the people in there was worse than their own, and going in there would solidify his worst fears. After catching their breath the trio knew this was the final stretch of their journey, a few more miles and they would be standing on the border of their old hometown. Miles diverted his eyes from the other side of the river, turning toward Westbrooke.
"There's no place like home," He said, tilting his head and cracking his neck loudly.