“NaNoWriMo 2020 Pt. 8”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Additional note: In honour of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), all 30 stories written in the month of November will (hopefully) create a single multi-part story that will reach its conclusion by the end of the month. Stay tuned for a new story part every day!

Read the compiled NaNoWriMo TTtW story here!

MASON’S POV

The girl looks so familiar… I swear I’ve seen her around before.

I crouch in the trees as she looks through the backpack. Oh crap, she found my notebook.

She slowly turns, looking around her. I push myself even further down into the bushes as her gaze rakes over my hiding spot.

“Mason?” she calls. “Mason, are you there?”

She looks my way again and I catch a glimpse of her eyes.

Those eyes…

Skye.

I let out a gasp and slowly stand up. Immediately, her eyes fall on me.

“Mason,” she says, her mouth dropping open. “How…”

I walk to her and cut her off with a big hug. She squeezes me back, still babbling incoherently.

Finally, I let her go and look over her.

“You look like crap,” I inform her.

She ignores me, instead grabbing my arm and looking through the trees. “Mason, where’s Garrett?”

My heart drops. How am I supposed to tell my brother’s girlfriend that he was brutally mauled to pieces by one of those mutant monsters? That I saw it and did nothing?

“Mason?”

I sigh and take her hand. “Garrett… He…”

A sob rises in my throat and I drop my head. “I’m sorry,” is all I can manage to whisper.

Skye lets out a gasp and drops to the ground. I don’t know what to do as she cries at my feet. Eventually, I crouch down next to her and put my arms around her, but it just feels wrong. I was a coward when it mattered most. I should’ve died with Garrett, but instead I ran. I ran, and now I have to live with the consequences.

Finally, Skye stops crying. She rubs the tears from her face and lets out a long sigh.

We sit in silence for a moment. But I can’t resist the urge to say, “So, you’re one of them now, aren’t you?”

She looks up at me sharply. “You saw that?”

“You almost blew me up,” I tell her before quickly adding, “But it’s okay. Obviously. Because I’m still alive.”

She frowns for a moment before seeming to deflate. “Yeah, I guess I’m one of them.”

I nod. “Okay.”

“What, you don’t want to get rid of me now because I’m one of them?”

I look down at her. “Skye, you’re the only living human being I’ve seen in over two months. It’s you and me now, you got that? We’re going to get through this together.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know if I want to get through this,” she murmurs. “Everyone’s gone.”

“We’re not gone,” I say firmly. “We’re alive. And we’re going to stay alive for as long as we can.”

“Why?”

“Because we can,” I say. “Because we have this chance that not many other people do.”

Because Garrett gave this chance to me.

I hesitate for a moment before holding out my hand to her and adding, “For Garrett.”

Skye thinks it over for a second before nodding. “Okay,” she says, taking my hand. “For Garrett.”

Final Comments: I’m not sure if I should’ve brought together the two MCs so early in the story…

Overall Rating: 🤔