I look down at these unknown strangers and smile. My companion assesses the damage and flips over seemingly random pieces of house but I smile as my hair falls over my eyes, mainly because I haven't cut my hair since.....forever! But tie it back as I can't risk falling over and hurting myself. I look at my hair falling over my eyes, i vaguely remember some of it use to be brown but that memory is long gone now and at this present time it's a nightly black, I think it's the result of where I lived and it supposedly killing every living thing but I don't like to think about it too much and I'm not really bothered by it. All the same, I can't help but wonder how I've survived so long in a place most thought was dead and dangerous without even a scar; sure I've had scratches and very close encounter but I've always managed to get out of them!
"We really did a number on them ay?" Says my companion, referencing the dusty carnage around us with bits of a house under our feet and a smell of burning wood lingering in the air.
I nod as I try to clean the ash out of the strange boy's hair, revealing curly ginger hair.
"I'm...sorry.." My companion says again as I wipe the boys face with the cloth around my neck and a bottle of water, enabling me to inspect his face and take in his features. He's a fairly handsome boy with just enough freckles to make him cute but not too little so it's barely noticeable and a style that can only be explained as dorkish.
"Yeah, I know! I should get started on the other one!" My companion says to himself as he approaches another strange boy and drags him out of the rubble and grunting.
"You know people are going to be calling people to understand this mess right?" He informs me as he dabs the boys face with a wet cloth from his pouch; I think about this as I rub his hair, revealing blood matting it and making it rough.
I place the now almost cleaned boy over my shoulder before gesturing towards a house.
"You're right! We'll take them to our house! That is why you're the brains!" He shouts as he copies my motion of picking up his boy and placing him over his shoulder. I nod approvingly and smile before moving the ginger boy's head to make sure he won't develop a headache once he wakes up.
"Away!"
Rolling my eyes I walk away from many of the houses and into the hills with my companion in hot pursuit.
"You know I'd never had the strength to do that, correct?" He asks as we enter the forest.
I look down inspection the ground, trying to find my footing with the weight on my back.
"You did the right thing!" He resumes reassuring me.
I keep looking at the ground, a deep pit in my stomach threatening to eat me if I dwell too much on it.
"Ok, maybe you lost control but..." He fades off as I strut ahead, ignoring my failing muscles. An old sadness makes itself known throughout my body as it tries to make me give up but I try to walk on, taking a breath I concentrate on my not perfect but livable life and my future, not my past. An old memorise threatens to awake but I stare ahead and march along to an invisible beat.
I take a silent breath and clear my head as I fall back to my companion, my muscles aching and almost begging me to fall.
"The important thing is....are you ok?" My companion says, catching sight of me and breathing a sigh of relief as I nod my head.
"Thank goodness! Imagine this tiny body carrying three bodies!" He laughs mainly to himself but I smile at his joke and ruffle his hair playfully.
We keep walking but eventually stop.
"Bloody biscuits! My muscles are dying! This is worse than that time we got chased by those Tianthalogics!" My companion exclaims as we carefully place the stranger's bodies on the floor.
"Set up a fire, I'll gather something to sit on for an hour or two!"
I nod before taking out a matchstick and lighting a bundle of dry leaves on fire.
As I watch the flames dance I can't help but wonder what these people's connection to each other is.
Were they brothers? Friends? Star-crossed lovers? Enemies? Or was one sent to kill the other, didn't finish the job and now the scarred one lives in an apocalyptic wasteland until he suddenly one day realises his life isn't real but instead of doing nothing he decides to get the real people their lives back?
I smile to myself as I place my problems on their shoulders and see how crazy I must sound.
"I'm back!" My companion exclaims as he drags a medium sized log towards me while I sigh and shake my head.
"What?" He asks as he stops pulling and looks up at me. In response, I point to my left where a 'rather perfect for sitting on' log is.
My companion awkwardly clears his throat before sighing and sitting down, my eyes drift to his eyes and see pity clouding them.
"Hey bud, do you ever wonder what we are?" He asks as I sit down beside him and look up at the sky. I inspect the sky, it's deep hue of purple and blue with drops of light and chilling silence lets me escape the ground before I finally shake my head.
"Really? You've never wondered if we were the rebels, fighting for an unknown but valiant cause or the dark side, fighting for the destruction of all and somehow looking really cute and rugged?" He asks me as he does his best smoulder at the end. I roll my eyes and push his face away before thinking about his point.
What if we are the dark side and are just fighting for ourselves although from our point of view we're the heroes?
What if we're insignificant and-
My companion cuts my thoughts short as he nuzzles his head into me and looks up with eyes filled to the brim with love.
"Now let's get some sleep!" He whispers as he pulls away from me, leaving a sudden cold patch just above my hip.
I snuggle down beside the log and think of my friend while his small but perfect breaths fight off my tornado of thoughts leaving the peace and letting me get some rest.
