At Our End

Eight

Fanira had slept on the small rug in the living room of a small home that Roman had pulled over at around two A.M. No one had spoken a word last night as they all sauntered in, no one knew what to say. After everyone had gone to sleep except for Roman who was on watch Fanira had gone into the bathroom and cried.

She cried for her sister.

Her mom.

Her dad.

And Natalia.

When she was she looked at herself in the mirror and promised herself that she would never cry again. With that she came back out into the living room to see Roman seated by the front door half asleep. She moved to lay back down on the rug but Roman motioned for her to come sit by him.
     "How are you?" He asked quietly to not disturb the others, his caring eyes and haired face spoke of times as a care-free teen.
"How can one be when they are living through this." Roman looked her, his depthless eyes scanning her face for something. The silence stretched between them as she looked at the person who had handed her her bag on that first perilous day and had been the sole catalyst of her surviving whatever it was they were going through. She looked him over, at the cut beneath his left eye.
"I found something that day Natalia died," he whispered, his voice barely audible. "This book," he said brandishing the leather book he had kept at his side these past few hours. "might just contain the answers we need."
"What is it?"
"It's a diary from a man named Malcom Gatlin. He worked at the factory where the oil from the recent oil spill happened. He says in here that their company was secretly producing a chemical that they hoped could be used to sell as a mass poison on the black market. However it had never been tested on humans. All he says on the topic is that the chemical is able to bond with the existing atoms of an element and multiply so fast it is almost indestructible, and that it is called Cinnafarin," he answered rocking back and forth nervously. Fanira nodded and looked at him, the dark smudges under his eyes, his messy blond hair, through all of it the world, and its inhabitants had adapted fast. She couldn't help but feel her heart skip a couple of beats at this unexpected luck. "You best get some sleep," he said finally rubbing his fingers threw his hair. She looked one last time into his blue eyes with their flecks of orange and stumbled over onto her bedroll and fell asleep.

--///:::

When Fanira finally woke up her golden brown hair had fallen slightly out of its pony tail and her nails were still grimy with the dirt from the woods. She was grateful for the heat spewing into the sparsely decorated living room. Heaving herself up she noted Zale and Maddix still passed out on their bedrolls. Everyone had been so distraught last night no one had bothered to go to separate rooms. She had heard Maddix whispering of better times into his pillow, because she knew just like herself every time he closed his eyes he saw Natalia laying on that tile floor.
The smell of bacon and eggs drifted in from the kitchen door that had been left ajar, with that Fanira stood and walked into the small kitchen to fine Roman sitting by the stove. His cheeks were blotchy and the circles under his eyes dark as he turned to see her. "I found some reserves in the fridge, what some breakfast? " he asked calmly moving around the eggs with his spatula.
    "Yea," she replied halfheartedly. "How far away are we?"
"We're about 4 days of good travel away," he said turning back to the stove, the corners of his mouth sagging. After a few moments a tired looking Zale appeared in the doorway, her hair a frizzy mess. Her pink sweatshirt was the only bit of color on her as she nodded at the two. 
     "I didn't know you could cook," she yawned stretching her arms up toward the ceiling.
     "Yes, my dad was a cook," Roman answered hiding his face.
      When breakfast was ready the awkward trio sat down at the circular table and began to eat the breakfast and the old juice boxes Roman found in he fridge.
       It was a wonder that the electricity and water supply hadn't been damaged in the craze of exiting after the virus had begun its havoc. Fanira couldn't help but wonder how crazy it was that the whole world, the whole government, had fallen apart in only a few hours. She didn't want to think about where those people were now.
      After Roman had filled Zale in on what was happening and what he had found out in the journal he had found a creaking sound was hear as Maddix leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen.
    "Definitely waiting?" He said with a smile, sitting down at the table.
     After everyone had eaten the group decided that Maddix would teach one person how to shoot in the back yard while the other two went to scavenge the house for supplies. With Fanira and Roman on scavenging duty, the group parted to their respective areas.
Fanira followed Roman through the hallways of the small farm house snagging any items that may be useful later. After grabbing some paper towels and some soap in the  downstairs bathroom. After a quick walk down a flight of stairs the two came to a thick door most likely leading into the garage.
"I say we just look, you know just in case for gas," Roman said, more to himself than to Fanira. Suddenly the shy girl stopped, throwing her arm out to stop the boy from proceeding she pressed her ear against the door.
"Do you hear that?" She asked quietly.
"What?"
"Talking, humans talking."