Page 65 of Uprising

“Tell us about college,” Molly nudges my arm with her shoulder. I crack a smile, thinking about the simple days.

“What’s there to tell? It was professors, dorms, overpriced books, and terrible food.”

“I bet you were popular, weren’t you?” Jake asks across the burning fire. I glance over at him, smirking.

“I wouldn’t say I was popular, but my best friend Mallory was.”

“Mallory is such a pretty name,” Molly sighs.

“You only think that because it’s close to your name, dork.”

Molly rolls her eyes, picking up an acorn and tossing it at Jake's head. “Yeah, well, at least he went to college, duck face.”

Jake blocks the acorn from hitting him, sticking his tongue out. I’ve learned that their Aunt Sara had been taking care of them for the past ten years. Molly was five when her parents died in a car accident. Jake, who had no intentions of going to college, ended up working at a car dealership.

“Okay, tell me about the parties. I bet they were great. Were they anything like the movies?” Molly also talked a lot, especially when it was too silent.

“No, nothing like the movies. I mean, I’m sure some parties were, but the ones I went to were pretty tame. But it was the usual underage drinking, drama, and of course, music.”

“That’s lame.” Molly pouts, tossing a clump of grass into the fire.

“Yeah, well, lectures and finals week were much more lame.” I nudge her with my shoulder. “I had this one professor who had a creepy crush on my friend Mallory, and well, let's say I’m pretty sure I saw a zombie eat him.”

Molly frowns slightly before cracking a smile. “I want to meet this Mallory girl.”

“She’d want to meet you too. She’s funny and loud. Was a cheerleader back in the day.”

Molly's eyes widen, her finger twitches as if she couldn’t control her excitement.

“A cheerleader?”

“Hell yeah, she was even the captain of the cheerleader squad. Me and Rue, our other friend, went with her to plenty of competitions. She was the main flyer. Even to this day I have no idea how the other girls or hell even Mallory got up there.”

Molly's smile widens the more I talk about cheerleading and Mallory. I even find myself showing her a few routines that Rue and I had to help with. After Molly finally gets it down, she runs off to find her aunt.

“I know we’ve said it a few times already, and I get that you don’t want it, but uh… thanks.” Jake pulls my attention to him.

Frowning, I sat down next to him. “I–I’m not sure what I?—”

“You saved her in the hardware store. And I haven’t seen her this excited about, well, really anything since the world went to shit. She was—is—a girly girl, and sometimes I forget that and the fact she’s still so young.”

I lick my bottom lip, staring off across the fire into the woods.

“I think we all forget what life was like before. I’m just happy she’s coming out of her shell.” Jake pats my back. “So, this is the last time, but thank you.” He doesn’t wait for me to say anything before climbing to his feet and walking off.

The voices around me blur into background noise, laughter and quiet conversations becoming distant and muffled. The weight in my chest grows heavy the longer I sit there. Everything feels so heavy that I find myself pushing off the ground and heading straight to the tree line. I feel eyes on me as I step away, needing air, even though I’m already outside. I don’t want anyone to question why I’m too quiet. I’ve slowly opened up and become my loud self again, but sometimes I need to back away. The noise of others becomes too much that I can’t breathe.

The night air is cool against my skin as I move further into the dark trees. It’s strange, the feeling of needing to be alone. I was never like this; I’ve always needed people and thrived in their company. I liked being the center of attention. But now being around them just makes everything louder in my head. Questions about my past are a reminder of everything I’ve lost. Mallory and Rue should be here with me. The three of us should already be in Florida, safe and together. Everything feels like a mess, like I can’t breathe.

So I stay here, alone in the quiet, letting the dark wrap around me. I won’t stay here long. Just until the ache in my chest feels a little lighter.

CHAPTER39

Reed

Iwatch Noah from a distance, my heart clenching tight in my chest as he sits there talking to the siblings—Molly and Jake—I’ve come to realize. The weight of his sadness sits heavy, suffocating the air between us. He doesn’t realize I’m here, just a few feet away. I thought hiding from him would be more difficult than this, but Noah is oblivious to his surroundings.

Every time his fingers fidget, his shoulder tensing when someone brings up a topic about being alone, he’s quick to change the subject. It makes me want to go to him. To step forward and say that I’m here, that everything is okay. I want to pull him out of the darkness that he’s sinking into. But I can’t. Even against the desperate fight waging inside my head.

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