Teenage Wasteland

P r o l o g u e

A/N: PLEASE read this before proceeding to Chapter One, otherwise the end part won't make sense. Thank you. -YH

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Today was a Friday.

The very first Friday since the Alien Fallout one week ago, to be exact.

She remembered when it struck right down to the very second, as if everything from that moment were permanently singed into her mind.

It very well might be.

After all, it was the day that her entire life fell to pieces.

In between a pile of rubble that had once stood regally as her bedroom, lay fifteen year-old Nell curled up in a ball with her head between her knees. The large bronze wall-clock clutched tightly between her hands had been dismounted from its spot on the still-standing wall above her as she stared at it blankly from under her legs.

Her thoughts now switched gears as she watched the second hand of the clock reach the hour she'd been waiting so obsessively over since she'd woken up.

It was almost time. The thought festered in her mind, consuming the previous ones like small prey.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

In Three. tick. Two. tick. One. tick.

Now.

One week from now.

Yes, Nell had been counting down the seconds. One whole week had come and gone, but Nell hadn't. In her mind, she was still living over the last Friday of her old life with Stevie and Mae. It was the only thing that kept her from losing her mind, though she wasn't so sure that it hadn't been lost over the past week already.

At that moment, her focus was on drowning out the smell of death and the sound of chaos that threatened to consume her very existence.

But to no avail.

She could still smell the stench of her neighbors' rotting corpses as it wafted over from its epicenter in their backyard. Though the poignant smoke radiating off of the freshly ignited C-4 bombs outside of her fallen home did partly dull her senses, it did little else to mask the unbearable odor of death or the memories that resurfaced with it.

She could still hear the tortured cries of ravingly ill people as they slowly gave in to their sickness. The screams of crazed rioters, the gunshots, and the pleas for mercy intermingled with the sound of their deaths to create a tragic symphony of utter catastrophe. A symphony that only further catered to her thoughts of the last torturous week.

Nell raised cold, clammy hands up to shield her grubby skin from the oncoming wind as she thought of all that she had lost in the time span of a single week.

Her parents were dead, the house was in ruins, Mae was gone, and Stevie...

Stevie was at home.

A single tear slid out of her bloodshot eyes at the thought.

How had it come to this?

Just then a stronger, more dominant part of Nell began to kick viciously at her thoughts of woe and self-pity. It urged - practically screamed - for her to get up and carry on with her business.

It's time. It hissed repeatedly.

It's time. It's time! IT'S TIME!

The cries grew more frantic until Nell belatedly pushed herself off of the rubble and made her way out of the trashed bedroom through a large gap in one of its decimated walls.

Her limbs trembled and quaked, fighting her every step as she carried on. Nell was unsure if this was a physiological sign of malnutrition and fatigue, or a sign of her body's outcry for self-preservation against what she planned to do next. Most likely both, she concluded as she referred to the many doctorly chats Mae had with her on the matter during Finals every school year.

However, she fought to push out these memories afterwards, before the wave of emotions that accompanied them crashed down on her and began to drown her. She had to focus on getting out of here, and thinking of Mae would only cripple her further. Sadly, she began to lose the battle as one of her last moments with Mae resurfaced and took over her mind:

"One week Nellie. If I'm not back, you get the hell out of here. Don't wait for me, and don't you dare waste time looking for me either. You get yourself out of here and don't look back."

"Mae, please-"

"I have to. You know that. We're running out of food, and if I stay then we'll both starve."

"But I can help! Please! Just please- don't leave me!"

"It's not safe out there Nell. There's no way you're going."

"But Mae-"

"Look. I'm willing to go out there, for both our sakes, but I'll be damned if you risk your life out there too. You're my little sister Nellie, it's my job to keep you safe."

Moments passed then, with Nell sobbing hopelessly and Mae comforting her in her arms until she had to leave and set out to scout the dangers of the city.

"Don't you worry Nellie, I can fend for myself. I'm not going to leave you here. Lock up hun, I'll be back soon."

Nell's jaw locked to fight off the sobs threatening to reel out of her at the memory and froze as hesitation overtook her. How could she leave? What if Mae came back and she was already gone, what if Mae was injured and needed help?

She could still feel the gentle kiss on her forehead as her sister bid her goodbye, could still smell her fleeting scent of rose petals amidst the other gruesome odors as Mae walked out the door that day. She touched the spot on her forehead then, her mind reaching a stalemate on how to proceed next.

But then, a stray memory showed itself to Nell. It was the end to the final moment between her and her dear sister, she recalled:

"Wait!"

Mae turned back one last time at Nell's desperate call, giving her sister a reassuring smile.

"We're gonna be okay, Nellie."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

And with that final memory of her sister playing through her mind, Nell stepped past the scorched and twisted gate of her home. Mae hadn't kept her promise, and neither would she. Not all of it, at least. She then vowed she'd be reunited with her sister, whether that be in life or death.

"I'm coming Mae."

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A/N: Thoughts? Feel free to share them in a comment, message, or vote!

Thank you for reading,

-YH