03 | BAD DREAM

"FUCK, my head is pulsating." Athena groaned as she walked up to the small group of individuals gathered in front of the church the following day after the party. Halfway through the night, after having one too many drinks for the first time, Athena was walked home by Grizz and had passed out the moment she laid down on her bed. She then proceeded to wave exhaustingly in response to Sam waving her over to him where he then embraced her in a comforting side hug.

"How are you feeling? I saw you drinking last night, and I know for a fact that you never drink alcohol." Sam signed after he had let go of Athena who let out a breathy laugh as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Grizz convinced me to try it last night." Athena signed back to him and then shook her head in a disapproving manner, "worst fucking decision I've ever made." Sam only smiled down at her and rubbed her back in a soothing motion to comfort her.

"I'll get a car and go to Greenwich to help." Cassandra finally spoke once Will had arrived at the front of the church.

"Why you?" Harry scoffed wearily as he leaned his head, drunkenly on his left hand.

"Someone has to find out where everyone went." Cassandra sighed dejectedly, still hung up on the disappearance of all the other members of the town. "We can't all go." She continued as she turned her head slightly to face the small group.

"I agree." Athena murmured as she looked at everyone around her.

"I'll go," Harry spoke softly, though loud enough for the group to hear his response.

"You're sober?" Cassandra responded sarcastically which caused Harry to chuckle dryly.

"Fuck you, Cassandra." He spoke as he gave his full attention towards Cassandra. "Luke, you wanna see if we can get some of the guys to come with?" Harry nudged Luke in the knee with his knee, causing him to wake up with a faint groan in protest. Though he agreed, and soon he and Harry both helped one another up and made their way over to gather the other guys.

Sam then began to tap Athena's shoulder, which caused her to stand up straighter and looked to Sam with her full attention who had started signing to her and Allie.

"What do you mean?" Athena signed as she looked to Allie with a puzzled expression.

"Notice what?" Allie signed back, confused as to what Sam meant.

"The smell, it's gone." Sam signed as he looked between the two girls who then turned to one another with appalling expressions.

It didn't take Harry, Luke, Grizz, and Clark long as they had called together a few people to the bridge which crossed over a set of train tracks, at the edge of the town and what Athena saw caused a sickening wave of anxiety to course through her body. Everyone who gathered at the bridge began to discuss the situation at hand and the possibilities of what might have happened, though all the while Athena kept staring out into the newly created forest which possibly blocked them off from the rest of the world. She still could not believe what she was witnessing with her very own eyes.

"Maybe this is just some elaborate fucking game. Like, someone built an exact replica of our town and just put it in the middle of nowhere, and if we just walk like, this way or that way or any way," Harry stated as he fully stood up from leaning on the hood of his car and stretched his right arm out in different directions to prove his point. "Eventually we'll get back to the real world." Athena stood next to Cassandra with her arms crossed, furrowing her eyebrows and biting her lip in thought.

"Why, though. Why would anyone want to build an exact replica of the town? It doesn't make any sense." Athena spoke up as she moved to stand next to Allie, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I'm not saying it makes any sense," Harry stated as he glanced at Athena who nodded in understanding. Athena then glanced over to Cassandra as she made her way next to her and leaned on one of the metal beams of the bridge.

"There was a smell, and then it went away, and it came back, and the buses came for us." Cassandra began stating the distinct factors of the ambiance, which then caused Harry to scoff in disagreement.

"You're gonna just work this out, Cassandra? Like some logic problem? I mean, not a flicker of a doubt?" Harry sarcastically commented while shrugging his shoulders in exaggeration.

Athena scoffed in response, "what else are we supposed to do, Harry?"

"The world doesn't just turn upside down without a reason. We're not in some play-within-a-play. Okay? Clever is not the same thing as true. There is a point to everything; there are answers." Cassandra spoke out, quickly glancing at Athena who nodded in agreement.

"That's right." Helena stated as well, "God doesn't just play games with people for fun."

"Alright, look, Grizz and I will get a group together, and we'll go hike out here through the woods, okay? Like a search party." The jock who was dating and sitting next to Helena, Luke, stated while gazing over at Grizz and Clark before reverting his attention to the gathered group of people. Helena agreed with what her boyfriend had suggested, though Cassandra and Athena questioned whether or not it was safe enough to do so in which Grizz and Luke decided it was. "Grizz knows what he's doing. And if there's people out there, we gotta find them, right? You know, to get help."

"I mean, it's worth a shot." Athena agreed as she glanced over at Cassandra before looking around to see who else agreed with the suggestion.

"I'm leaving. I'm hungry." Harry announced randomly before standing up and heading over to the driver's side of his car.

"What the hell, Harry?" Athena scoffed as she maneuvered over the concrete barrier and sat down on top of it next to Allie, who then proceeded to stand up in shock of what Harry was doing.

"You're leaving?" Allie spoke in disbelief, whereas Athena rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, watching as Harry turned around in response to Allie's question.

"Yeah, I got a house with a refrigerator with food inside of it, and I'm gonna go eat it," Harry stated nonchalantly, calling out Luke afterward, which had then started a bickering match to occur between himself and Cassandra. Though when Harry began to beckon Kelly over to go with him, Kelly had responded with a no. "Jesus Christ, just get in the car."

"Leave her alone." Will intervened, looking up to make eye contact with Harry.

"Hey, fuck off, Will." Harry began to make his way over to Will, pointing the finger at him, that is when Athena stood up and blocked his path, shocking everyone as she was not known to take action, usually being the type to be all bark but no bite.

"If you want to go so badly, then you can go by yourself." Athena then glanced towards Will and Kelly before reverting her attention to Harry with a severe expression, "and I suggest you take your insecurities with you as well." Athena expressed, noticing how hostile Harry would be whenever Will was around, especially with Kelly. Harry looked down at Kelly before making eye contact with Athena, who raised a brow in warning, then proceeded to scoff and turn to walk away.

"Fine. Who gives a shit?" Harry made his way over to his car, got in, and drove off without a care in the world. Athena still stood in the same place with a distressed look upon her face, not paying attention as to what Campbell and Cassandra were arguing about.

"Hey, it's okay. Maybe Harry will come to, later on, he just needs a bit of space, that's all." Grizz approached Athena, watching with concern as she shook her head and turned to face him while biting her lip nervously.

"Maybe, but how much space would a person need to comprehend the situation that we're in?" Athena sighed before looking down in thought, wondering how other people would react to what they would soon notice eventually at the edges of their town. "Once people find out about the trees surrounding our town, and I'm sure they will eventually, there's going to be questions asked that we won't be able to answer ourselves." Athena then looked up at Grizz with an unsettling expression before looking out towards the trees once more, "and without answers, there's bound to be chaos."

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"Okay, so five days' worth of food, and that should be enough to get us past Greenwich, Stamford, and all the way up to New Haven." Grizz stated, looking over to Athena who had a map of the surrounding areas of the town of West Ham, though found it quite useless since what was once surrounding towns on the map were now what seemed like acres of forest all around. Athena had decided to join Grizz and Luke on their venture into the woods, along with a few others, in search of some form of civilization, wherever it might be.

"This doesn't make any sense, from what I see on the map, and how far we've come from the town, we should see signs of the next town over but," Athena questioned as she analyzed and measured the distance from the their town to the surrounding towns before looking around her at the dense forestry. "There's nothing here except a forest that could go on for miles." Athena wiped the sweat from her brow, folded the map, and shoved it back in her backpack. She then pulled out her phone and groaned as she checked the time, seeing as it had been almost three hours since they started their trek from the town. "We should stop and take a break, we've been walking for hours and by the looks of it, I think we all need a moment to sit down." Athena examined how worn out and breathless everyone in the group appeared to be, almost immediately agreeing to her suggestion, and soon enough they were all sitting down together with their snacks while conversing with one another.

"All right. Here you go. I'm Dr. J." Luke shook the box of saltine crackers in his hands as Emily laughed at his actions. Athena smiled as she chewed the last bit of her granola bar and watched as Luke threw the box up in the air which then landed in Grizz's lap. She then applauded Luke, which had caused him to bow in response. Emily then congratulated him on the toss as well before the girl on Athena's right, Olivia, asked if anyone had the peanut butter.

"I don't see it anywhere." Grizz mumbled as he continued to chew the food he had in his mouth, which caused Athena to wrinkle her nose in disgust as she punched his right bicep as a signal for him to finish chewing his food, making them both laugh at what she had done.

"Is it still in the pack?" Emily questioned as she looked to the girl who had asked.

"I'll get it." Luke stated as he began to get up to go and get the peanut butter before Emily interrupted him and went to get it herself. Luke then turned around and threw something at Grizz, which landed in his lap, causing him to chuckle at the accuracy of the throw. Though, something on the ground caught Athena's eye as she watched Emily search for the peanut butter. She then stood up to warn Emily about it but was too late as she was bitten right when Athena had fully noticed the snake.

"Ow! What the fuck? Fuck!" Emily cried out in pain and hunched over to grab onto her left ankle where she had gotten bitten by the snake. Luke and Grizz stood up quickly as the girl sitting on Athena's right asked what had happened. "Fucking bit me!" Emily wailed in agony as Luke went over to help her over to where Grizz was.

"Hey, clear the area." Grizz stated as Athena quickly ushered everyone else out of the way and went over to help Luke with Emily, who kept cursing from the discomfort of the bite. "Would you lie her down? Careful." Athena took one of Emily's hands in her own and gave her a reassuring squeeze as Grizz asked Luke to lie her down once more to which Luke agreed.

"It's okay, Emily, I'm right here, okay?" Athena reassured Emily who nodded her head but continued to curse as the pain worsened. Grizz then asked for everyone to get back as Emily panicked, saying how she was dying and how much it hurt her. Athena bit her lip nervously and looked back at Grizz with a questioning expression. "Why, um, why don't you try to calm her down?" Athena suggested which caused Grizz to nod in approval and turned to face Emily with his full attention.

"Let's try, hey, I'm gonna try to calm you down, alright? You wanna slow your heart rate down. So, deep breaths." Grizz and Emily began taking deep breaths together as Athena moved to stand by Emily's side once more and grasped onto her left hand in assurance. "Yeah, one more." Grizz spoke, still coaching Emily in calming her breathing. "That's good, okay. So, squeeze my hand." Grizz took Emily's right hand in his own, "big squeeze. Think we can get some packs? Put it beneath the back of her head; we want her heart above it."

"We need to elevate her upper body." Athena stated as Luke reached out and grasped onto one of the backpacks and settled it under Emily's upper body. Luke then took Emily's right hand in his own as Grizz analyzed the bite.

"Is it supposed to hurt this much?" Emily whimpered as she watched Grizz examine the bite marks on her ankle.

"Only if you're lucky." Luke joked which caused both Athena and Emily to chuckle at his attempt at humor. "Don't worry, Grizz knows what he's doing, alright?" Athena nodded in reassurance as Grizz began to tie something around Emily's ankle to prevent the venom from traveling too quickly. "It's gonna be a badass scar." Athena sighed in relief, physically relaxing as she kneeled in a more relaxed position. "You okay?" Luke asked Emily once more before asking around at everybody else who just stared silently at Emily with shocked expressions.

"Mouth is tingling. Mouth is tingling. It's weird." Emily stated as she licked the roof of her mouth, causing Athena to quietly breath out a shaky sigh and ran a hand through her hair as she looked over to Grizz who realized what that had meant. Athena looked away from Emily momentarily, biting her lip in thought before looking down at the girl once more with an attempt at a more comforting expression.

"Grizz..." Athena whispered as she made eye contact with him, watching him nod, confirming her thoughts which caused her to let out a breath of air. A few minutes of Emily gasping for air and asking for help had passed by, worrying Luke and everyone around him who didn't know what was going on. Athena shakily reached out for Emily's left hand once more and with her right hand, she began to stroke her hair. She wiped away her tears as Emily whispered mom as she stared at the sky above them, causing Athena to sniffle quietly as she watched the girl die slowly. As Luke dragged Grizz away to talk to him, Athena and the others stayed huddled around Emily in an attempt to comfort her. "It's okay, Emily, you're okay." Athena whispered, watching as Emily gazed into her ocean eyes, smiling painfully as she brushed Emily's hair out of her face as she looked back to the sky and took her last breath.

"H-hey, I don't think she's breathing." Gwen stuttered as she analyzed Emily's face before looking up at Athena, who had gently let go of Emily's hand before standing up, then towards Luke and Grizz. "I don't think she's-"

"Gwen-" Athena began to say before Luke interrupted her with a panicked tone of voice as he instructed Gwen to give Emily mouth-to-mouth. It all felt like a bad dream as Athena took a few steps back, her breath shortening as she watched the scene unfold before her, feeling as if all the sound in the world had been blurred together as she began to experience a panic attack, something she had only ever felt whenever Morgan would have near-death experiences. Athena turned away from the scene as she began to take deep and labored breaths to calm herself down, nervously digging her nails into her palms while biting onto her bottom lip. Though someone lightly grabbed onto her left wrist before pulling her to them and Athena then noticed how that person was Grizz. He hesitantly pulled her into his side and the two watched as Luke did all he could to revive her, but failed to do so.

Gwen began calling out to Grizz and Athena for help, though they only stood still in their place together with hopelessness in their eyes, making Gwen realize how it was no use. Emily was dead.

"We need to decide whether to bury her here or take her home," was all Athena could hear from Grizz as she watched the despair and panicked looks on everyone's face. "The rest is out of our hands." Athena shook her head and turned away, only hearing the sound of Luke yelling in denial.

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The hike back to the town seemed even longer than before. Athena followed behind Luke on the way back, with the map in both hands and Gwen's headlight shining down on it so that she may read it. Athena kept checking on Luke every so often to see if he needed help with Emily, and he declined her help every time. Majority of the walk home was silent except for Grizz talking to Luke about some writing on the side of the church wall, which Athena did not understand.

Once they reached the church, the doors opened right as Athena was about to do it herself and saw as the people who were about to leave made way for them to enter the church. "Somebody clear that table." Luke spoke in a hoarse voice, causing Grizz and a few others to clear the table as Luke set Emily down. Everyone gazed upon the corpse, quietly in shock at what they all saw before them. "She died from a snake bite. Her whole body just shut down. We did everything we could, but we couldn't save her." Luke spoke as he slowly maneuvered around to the other side of the table.

"So we're gonna bury her tomorrow before it starts to smell. So, I'm gonna need a couple of guys." Grizz spoke, tears in his eyes as he looked over to a guy who stood next to him, "Clark?"

"Yeah, no problem." Clark responded, agreeing to what Grizz was asking him to do.

"There's nothing out there, guys. Just a whole bunch of... just woods that go on forever. We're all alone." Luke shook his head in disappointment, "this isn't our home."

Athena pursed her lips and wiped a few tears from her cheeks, watching as various people approached Emily's body to pay their respects before leaving the church. Slowly but surely the crowd began to diminish until Athena was the only one left with Emily and proceeded to approach her body, caressing her hair.

"I'm so sorry," Athena sniffled as she wiped away more tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry I couldn't warn you in time, I was the one who said for us to stop, I-" she choked on her sobs as she took a few steps back, attempting to control her breathing as she looked upon her face for the last time. "May God lay your soul to rest, and may you find comfort in the afterlife." Athena breathed out a short prayer, something her mother had said at her father's funeral, before leaving the church, and not looking back.

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n o t e
UMMMM, so a) i was able to cram the rest of season one into this chapter, so yay, and b) this chapter has 3424 words, and i'm not even sorry, so i hope you enjoyed it as much as i did !!
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