Selena and Eden sat in the makeshift tent that Scott had put together the night before using sticks, mud, and various plants. Their eyes bore large dark bags and their sclera's screamed dark red. Neither of them had slept that night. They were too busy thinking of the terror they encountered in the forest not far from where they now rested.
"Why didn't you tell him about what we saw?" Eden asked, whispering as if not to alert Scott, who was just outside the tent putting out the fire he had sparked earlier that morning.
"We don't know what we saw, and you know how Scott is even if we did tell him, he either wouldn't believe us or he'd ask for proof that neither of us has. If we'd held on to the radio that would be something but we didn't," Selena replied, her voice barely a whisper.
"We had to get rid of the radio," they said, justifying their actions.
"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask you, how did you know that...thing wanted the radio?" She asked, skeptical of their decision.
"I used context clues, the...whatever it was, went after the car first, not us. We had a piece of the car so I hoped I was right and made a choice. Guess I was right," they said, shrugging lightly. She looked at them with doubt in her eyes almost as if she suspected that they had something to do with it.
"Okay, say it," they said, realizing she had something resting on the tip of her tongue.
"Say what?" She asked, with a yawn creeping its way out of her.
"You have something to say, so say it," they replied, holding back their yawn as well.
"I'm just saying, it seems mighty lucky you just so happened to know what it wanted without prior knowledge," she said, accusingly.
"Yup, you got me, Selena, I'm a Russian spy sent here to spy on the town. They sent me here as a baby to make it more believable," they said, mockingly.
"Whatever, don't patronize me, I'm just trying to figure out anything I can given our current fucked up situation," Selena said, wiping the crusts from her eyes.
Outside, Scott sat under the same tree he rested under the day before. He was looking up through the cracks in the leaves as the sun poked through and danced across his face.
In the distance, he could hear the crash and splash of the river slamming against the rocks and the cliffside, and he could smell the burning embers from the fire he stomped out. Even though it was early morning, he was unable to hear the usually obnoxious chirping of the birds in the treetops he despised so much. It should've been peaceful but it was more worrisome than anything. He realized many things he hated about everyday life were the things he was missing at that moment. The sound of students' chatter echoing through the hallways and the high-pitched chirp of songbirds sitting outside of Mrs. Philips' classroom during his first period.
He couldn't explain why he missed them so much but he did. The only thing he didn't miss was his dad, Thomas Wilkshire. A tall white man who wore a tattered brown suit most days. He was an outstanding citizen outside of his home, funding charity events and even hosting a blood drive for underprivileged youth. In the eyes of Westbrooke, he was viewed as an upstanding member of society and a great helpful man.
Scott saw the other side of things, when his dad got home he was too tired to put on his fake face any longer. His breath wreaked of cheap whiskey and his voice was anything but soothing. Most of all he was always searching for a reason to punish Scott.
He thought back to last summer and remembered in the living room, playing catch with Eden when he missed a pass knocking over the side table lamp and shattering it on the floor.
Thomas was in the room when it happened, sitting comfortably in his recliner downing his fifth beer of the morning. Scott's face lost all pigment as he went ghost-white. Thomas didn't say a word, he didn't need to. His belt unbuckling and sliding through the loops spoke a thousand words. Scott attempted to run but that only made his father even angrier. Instead of the belt being whacked across his backside he got a wrench to the knee, that his father had hucked as he was making his way up the family room stairs. As far as Scott knew, his father was the biggest bully there was, as far as everyone else was concerned he had a little accident on the trampoline his family didn't own that resulted in a broken leg.
He thought of what might have happened to his father. His mind was filled with dark and terrible thoughts. He hoped and prayed that he was somewhere in the street when the bomb went off. He hoped he suffered.
"Morning Scott," Eden said, as they peeled open the door to the tent and crawled outside.
"Morning kid, how'd you sleep?" He replied, peeling his eyes from the leaves above.
"Slept alright, you?" they asked, stretching their arms above their head.
"Good, for the most part. I dreamt of Dad," He said, picking at the cut on his hand.
"Dad? What about?" They asked, confused and nervous.
"I need to know if he's dead," he said, calmly, standing from his seat beneath the tree.
"Hold on, you can't mean-"
"I need to go home, you and Selena stay here to hold down the fort. I'll go into town, if he was anywhere it'd be home. Is there anything you want from the house that I can grab?" He asked, tightening the bandage around his hand.
"No, no way am I letting you walk into a radiation hazard. We don't know what's out there if anything is even left!" they replied, worry in their voice.
"This isn't up for discussion Eden, this is something I need to do," He said securing his wrap with a knot.
"No, you just want to see if that son of a bitch is dead, I understand Scotty, but you have to think this through. What are you going to do if you find him?" They asked, grabbing his hand gently.
"If he isn't dead...I'll kill him myself," He replied, yanking his hand back. Scott began to walk away heading back toward the city. Eden thought frantically, trying to find the right way to go about it. Nothing came to mind. They thought for a second longer.
"Selena and I saw something last night!" Eden shouted. Selena jumped from the tent placing her hand over Eden's mouth in an attempt to keep them quiet.
"Don't Eden," She said, gripping their mouth firmly.
"Let them go, Selena," Scott said, calmly walking back toward the pair. She huffed angrily before reluctantly releasing Eden from her grip.
"What did you see?"
"The world...it...it's consuming things," they said, attempting to find the right words to explain what they had seen.
"Eden the world has always consumed things, that's how plants grow," he said, sighing loudly.
"No, not like this, these massive vines erupted from the ground, wrapped around a car in the woods, and pulled it into the dirt," they said, reminiscing on the night before. Scott sat silently for a moment before bursting out into laughter.
"Wow, you almost had me for a second, a mutant car-eating vine huh? What's next, aliens probing our assholes, give me a break," he said, mockingly.
"It's true Scott, and we don't know what else is going on, you can't go home," they pleaded.
"Home? What are they talking about?" Selena asked.
"He's going home to find our piece of shit father,"
"We barely made it out of there alive and you want to go back? Your dad is probably dead already, there is no way he survived the initial impact Scott you don't have to find him," she begged.
"No, you don't understand. I hope he made it, if anything is going to happen to that waste of space it's going to be me putting a bullet from his gun between his eyes," Scott said. Eden and Selena were taken aback, the shock from what he had just said resinated and they understood what was going on.
"Scotty, I get it. I want the bastard dead too, but he's gone. There is nothing left of him but a burnt corpse sitting in his chair holding a beer bottle. He's dead," Eden said, attempting to bring their brother back to reality.
"I can't believe that. I need to see it for myself," he said, turning away once more.
"Fine, but you aren't going alone. We're coming with you," they said, pointing to Selena and themself.
"No, you have to st-"
"It isn't negotiable," they said, confidently walking next to him.
"Shit, I should've just stayed asleep," Selena mumbled softly, sauntering behind the others.
"Don't get lost, and stay close," Scott said, rolling his eyes angrily. Eden grew a large smile across their face, end of the world or not this was the first time they had won an argument against Scott, and it felt pretty good. The plain where they stood was empty of life but full of plants spreading across. The grass grew seemingly overnight and the flowers were rich and full of colors. The flowers that stood out most of all were the vibrant purple bunches of lavender, Eden's eyes danced around looking at all of the plants and foliage covering the area surrounding them.
The world seemed more beautiful today than it did a week ago, was the nuke a good thing? Did it make the world a better place to live? Or was this the beginning of something much worse? The answer remained unclear but one thing was for certain. The thought of going back home frightened them. Not the thought of seeing all of the dead bodies flooding the streets, not even the idea of radiation poisoning. The scariest thought that flooded Eden's mind was the effect it would have on Scott to see their father dead or alive.
They knew regardless of their father's well-being Scott wouldn't take it well. The only way they could be of any help was to go with him.