DONE ✔️ (UNDER EDIT)

Chapter Two.

Chapter Two.
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'...Drowning wasn't how I wanted to go... I'm here. I'm alive. Just barely...'

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"You're staring at that water like it just killed your family." Marie said as she sat down beside me on the rock, eyeing me like she knew something was up.

I just gave her a tired look, not bothering to answer. My focus stayed on the waterfall in front of me. It was crazy how this place—this beautiful little spot in the middle of nowhere—felt like an escape from everything. The world had gone to shit, but nature didn't seem to care.

I'd been thinking about going for a swim. My knee had been bothering me all day, and I figured floating around might help. Plus, it was sweltering. The heat didn't care that the world was falling apart; it was still here, baking us in the sun. We had stripped down to as little as we could without risking getting too burned.

Thank god for the stash of sunscreen we found a while ago. I've already got the tan of my dreams, but if we all don't end up with skin cancer from this, I'll be shocked.

Marie lit a cigarette and held it out to me like she always did. I shook my head.

"You're no fun." She said, blowing a stream of smoke into the air.

"Never claimed I was."

"You used to be," She shot back, "Back when Nev was around."

That stung more than I expected, and I felt the knot in my chest pull tighter. I didn't say anything, just kept my eyes glued to the water.

I wanted to tell her, 'yeah, well life was a hell of a lot easier when Nev was here', but I didn't. I was pretty sure neither of us were up for a verbal sparring match right now.

She exhaled a long breath of smoke, and I waved it away with one swish of my hand.

"You really just gonna sit here all day, just staring at the water?" She asked, breaking the silence.

I shrugged, barely looking at her.

"Is it even safe to swim in?" She asked again, but I could tell it was more curiosity than concern.

Another shrug. Didn't matter, anyway. The world was full of worse shit than whatever was in that water.

She let out a dramatic sigh, already knowing I wasn't gonna offer her much more than that.

"Well, I'm heading back to the cabin," She muttered, "By all means, keep sitting in your stupid silence."

I didn't stop her. I barely raised my hand to wave as she got up, dusting the dirt off her pants, and walked away, leaving me alone with the quiet.

Finally. I closed my eyes, feeling the coolness of the shade from the trees. The air here felt cleaner, somehow, like it was untouched by everything else that had gone wrong. A small escape from the absolute hell we now lived in.