The Survivors Trilogy

BOOK ONE || CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

I'm thirteen years old in my dream. I think it's more of a memory rather than a dream. Everything around me seems... new.

I remember this day like it was yesterday.

It had been almost a week since meeting Vicky when I had my first real injury. While scavenging, I managed to scrape a sharp piece of what I thought was metal—turned out to be wood—against my back.

A large part of the roof was coming down, and I managed, just in time, to move out of the way, resulting in the wood cutting across my back. It wasn't too deep, but it managed to slice through my jacket and my T-shirt.

It was a good thing I was only a couple of houses down from ours. If I wasn't... I don't know what would have happened to me.

I don't really remember much after that, other than Vicky guiding me all the way back to the house, whispering reassuring things in my ear that, to this day, I can't seem to recall.

The next ten minutes were torture as Vicky helped Kyle clean up my wound, wiping an alcohol-soaked rag across my back, washing away every last bit of blood that he could see. I kept biting hard on something Kyle gave me, so I wouldn't scream out in pain, but I felt all the screams bubbling inside my throat, just waiting to escape.

"He's almost done," Vicky said, handing me a small bottle of water, which I downed within a few seconds. "Just a few more minutes. You're doing great." She pressed a hand to my bare shoulder and gave me a smile. Her hand felt warm against my cold skin, and it was very relaxing.

Kyle wrapped a bandage around my back and chest three times to keep it clean, then secured it with a piece of tape. "All done," he said from behind me. "See? It wasn't so bad, now, was it?"

"Mentally, it felt worse," I said as I slipped my ripped T-shirt over my head, being careful so I didn't touch the newly wrapped bandage. I winced as I straightened my back, feeling the cut strain under the pressure.

Vicky slowed me down with her hand. "Take it slow, Xan," she said, and I nodded, guiding the fabric carefully over my skin.

The only position I could have stayed in, and to be comfortable, was to lay on my bed on my stomach, leaving my back to get fresh air. I leaned my cheek against my forearm as I watched Vicky sit down on her bed, elbows propped up against her knees.

"Thank you," I whispered after a long beat of silence.

Vicky looked up at me, never taking her chin off her hands. She smiled. "You're welcome."

After all of this, she stopped being skittish around us. She started to talk to me more, and we joked back and forth while we were the only two Scavengers.

Vicky knelt down next to my bed, crossed her arms on top of the rock-hard mattress, leaned in close to my face.

The hours after that were filled with light-hearted chatter about everything and anything, joking around with Kyle as he came in to check up on the bandages.

He looked so much younger then.

His hair was slightly darker, except for a slight bit of silver lining his temples. His beard was shorter, showing more of his cheeks and chin. Most importantly, his gray eyes were brighter, showing us that he still had a lot more years left in him.

After he left, Vicky and I stayed up all night learning more and more things about each other, not once checking to see what time it was, or realizing how late it was.

It was after all that, that I knew she was going to be my best friend—no matter what.

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