Broken Memories

October 16th, 9:33 am

Current Location: Memphis, TN
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"When did she leave?" asked Dad, giving Bryan a concerned look. The news of Bethany's departure shocked all of us, and we wanted to know more.

Bryan shook his head. "Scott says late last night. It's so stupid, because she's practically walking into a death bed. There's a high chance that she's already dead."

Amelia shot him a surprised look. "Bryan, don't talk like that. It was her choice whether to leave or not, and there was nothing we could do to stop her. Besides, you saw how she fought. She's strong enough to handle herself on her own."

"She's right," Evelyn added on. "Joshua's gone, so it only makes sense to do so."

Bryan only looked more solemn. "You're right. I'm sorry, guys."

It was quiet for a few seconds before I spoke up. I leaned over and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, you know what will cheer you up? Once we're done, let's hit the courts and see how well we can still play."

He looked up at me and smiled. "You know me well, don't you? Sure, I'll play with you."

Everyone lightly chuckled, lightening the room around us. Once we settled down, I looked around the dining hall, and the difference between what it was before versus what it is now suddenly hit me. There were a lot more empty seats from where the people that died sat, and nobody bothered to fill them in.

It still seemed like they were still there.

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Hours passed, and nothing too out of the ordinary happened. Bryan and I played basketball, but we were cut short when we began to get those uncomfortable cold sweats. So, we all decided to hang out at Bryan's place while Dad napped from the heavy medicine he took.

We all talked about whatever stuff came to mind. I was comfortable with the relationship that we had, but something was still hanging in the back of my mind. I wanted to talk about it, but I didn't quite know how to put it into words.

"Jeremy?" Evelyn suddenly asked out of nowhere. "Are you okay?"

I looked at her, who was staring back at me with sparkling eyes, but her face showed question. "I don't know. There's been something on my mind for a while."

"Well, what is it?" asked Amelia. "You can talk to us."

I sighed. "I know, I know. I just don't know how to put it into words."

"Is it about Dad?" Olivia asked, tilting her head in question. Braxton looked up with a serious face, but kept quiet as usual.

I shook my head. "No, it's more about winter coming up."

Everyone got even quieter than it already was. Bryan was the first to speak. "That's come to mind, too. With the supply limit running down, we probably won't have much of a choice but to leave, don't you think?"

"Yeah, and if you guys remember, our original plan was to pick you guys up and immediately leave," I said. "It's already a miracle that Raiders haven't attacked since."

"I agree," said Amelia. "I don't think it's safe to stay here for long. Raiders are going to attack this place again, and with our lower numbers, we might not win the next one."

After a minute of thoughtful silence, Evelyn spoke up. "So, what should we do?"

"We'll talk to my dad about it and see what he thinks," I answered. "If he's in any condition to move, we'll head south."

"To where, though?" Amelia questioned.

"There's no telling," I said. "We might go back to Florida for all I know."

"I want to find my family," said Evelyn, keeping her head down as if she was ashamed to say it.

We all turned to her, and I leaned in. "You've never bothered to talk about your family before. You should tell us, if you want."

She took a deep breath. "I-I...I don't know. It's sort of a faze. The only thing I could remember is that I had a mom and a dad, and I think I had two brothers."

"You don't remember their names?" Bryan asked with furrowed eyebrows.

Evelyn looked like this was overwhelming her. "I really don't know. W-When I woke up in the bed, I sort of had a hard time remembering things. It felt so strange, and it hurt my head."

I scooted closer to her and gently lifted up the straightened hair that hung over her forehead. A bruise that still looked recent from the battle was fading away on the left side of her forehead. I later noticed that Evelyn was blushing, but I didn't move. I spoke quieter.

"Do you happen to remember getting hit in the head when those Raiders attacked you?"

She glanced up at me, then turned her head and looked down in thought. "Maybe. Probably."

"What about during the fight?" I asked. "Did you hit your head then?"

She shook her head. "No, not that I know of."

"That's weird," mumbled Amelia. "I feel like you should still know if you hit your head, even with lost memories."

"Well, we shouldn't pressure her," I said. "We can let the nurse take care of this. It's not really our job. In the meantime, let's watch some TV until dinner's ready."

Everyone agreed, and Bryan grabbed the remote and leaned back in his chair with Amelia cuddled up next to him. I found it cute.

"Hey, Jeremy?" Bryan called out, looking over at me.

"What's up?" I replied.

"Don't you still wish that the NFL was still a thing?"

That never really settled with me until now. Bryan was somehow a big New Orleans Saints fan, while I was an Atlanta Falcons fan. Of course, with the once established rivalry between them, we'd always fight amongst each other to see who would end up victorious. Bryan's team was better, of course, but I grew up as a Falcon, so I never bothered to switch to a better team.

"Yeah, of course I do," I said after a while. "I miss the old days when we always fought."

Bryan smiled. "Dude, you have no idea how much I miss that."

Amelia scoffed, but smiled. "Boys and football. My dad was a Patriots fan to an extreme level, and God it was annoying. Every time they'd win a game, he'd rage about how sharp Tom Brady's passes were, and how they're surely going to win the next Super Bowl."

I laughed at that. "There's too many of those kinds of people in this world."

Evelyn leaned against me, silently asking me to hold her, which I did. "I do happen to remember my dad being a pretty big Cowboys fan, which caused my brothers to follow in his footsteps. Every Sunday night, he'd make our entire family watch it. It was a good night if they won, but it was horrible if they lost."

"Great, two annoying teams. Just what we needed," Bryan mumbled, which caused us to laugh even more.

Even though we were laughing, I still felt the tension in the air. I wasn't sure if it was just feelings from before or something inside of me was trying to tell me something. I couldn't tell which one it was.

"This isn't over," Bryan mumbled. We all looked up at him. "Jeremy, I can tell you feel the same way."

I nodded. "I'm sure you do, too."

"What do you guys mean?" Amelia asked with a nervous expression on her face.

"We're going to have to leave sometime soon," Bryan answered. "With food and medical supplies running out, chaos is bound to break out now that the government's collapsed. Raiders are surely guaranteed to attack sometime soon as well."

I leaned up and scanned the room. "And with winter closing in, that's not going to help our situation at all. With the little sun we have to help us, it's gonna be a lot colder than usual."

After a few seconds, Evelyn asked the question I've been dreading. "When do we leave?"

"I'm going to talk to my dad about it first, and see what he says about it," I answered. "With his condition, I'm not so sure that he'll be willing to go."

"Do you think he will?" asked Braxton. I looked over at him, then I looked down in thought.

"There's no telling, but I know there's no way in hell that he'll let the three people left in his life leave him behind."

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I willingly sat alone on the deck by the pool. Dinner passed like a blur. I ate without saying much at all, due to what's been on my mind so often now. I couldn't shake the thought of leaving for what, the third, fourth time now? The first time, we lost John and Candice, and most importantly, my mother. The second was to head to Baltimore, and it was only shortly afterward that Sgt. Brown went ballistic almost out of nowhere. The thoughts of that still bothered me to this day. Then, the most recent one, the trip to Memphis; only to lose Navarez in the recent fight.

I missed Navarez, a lot. He was literally a miracle in our lives, and there was no repaying the debts that he left us, even if he was alive.

My thoughts were shaken when somebody tapped my shoulder. "Hey, you alright?"

It was Amelia, someone I least expected to show up. Of course, I smiled anyway, since she was still a friend. "I'm alright. Thanks for asking, though."

"Doesn't quite seem like it," she said with a sad smile. Before I could say anything, Amelia walked over and sat down beside me. "Listen, we all have our problems, especially now. And, you're more than welcome to pull me aside any time you feel like it whenever you want to talk. But you yourself have to be willing to do so. I know we don't know each other as well as you and Bryan do, but I don't care. We're going to be stuck together no matter what goes down, so we might as well get to know each other while we have the chance, am I right?"

I smiled softly and nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

"Good," she said as she stood up. "Oh, and one last thing."

I tilted my head. "What is it?"

"You do know that Evelyn has it bad for you, right?"

I frowned. "Excuse me?"

Amelia hesitated. "Um, never mind. It's none of my business. If you ever want to talk, just find me. See ya later, Jeremy."

With that, she walked away, leaving me alone again in my own thoughts on the wooden deck of the pool.

"Huh, she has it bad for me," I mumbled to myself. "The thing is, I'm not sure if I really want to pursue that right now. I should go check on Dad to make sure he's alright."

And that's what I did for the remainder of the night.

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