by Opal Jones
Chapter 8
May 20th, 2034
After a few days, things slowly began to fall into routine again. No more Smoke, no more battles, and no more life-threatening injures. And to be honest, Matt almost missed it.
Now, don't get anything wrong, Matt hated almost losing his best friend, and brother. Not to mention it was nice not sharing his head with a demon, That was one thing he would never miss. But without the action, it was hard to get used to it all. Matt would wake up in the morning with only a brief moment of panic before the day.
Eli had a long scar across his stomach, but he had managed to pull through. Still, he had lost a lot of blood before Chloe had patched it up. After a week, Eli could stand up, walk around, and fight without getting ill or dizzy.
Sara was a little better off. Aside from taking care of Eli, she was excelling at fighting and hand-to-hand combat. The new H.A.N.D members fit right in, strengthening their numbers, and everyone taking them as family. And there was talk that R would soon be joining them. Of course, someone would have to get her, while Matt had no idea who she was.
On the morning of the 20th, Eli and Sara planned a little something special: a dance. Now, for the middle/high scholars out there, no one was panicking over dresses or who they would go with- it never even crossed their minds. They had spent their entire lives fighting to stay alive and never had time before to worry about things like such as those.
Before she presented the idea, Sara walked down to Matt's room. As she opened the door, her brow furrowed. There was a bag, full of clothes and spare weapons, sitting on the desk, despite most of the papers and pins still gathering dust.
“Oh, hey.” Matt walked in behind her, carrying several coats in his hands.
Sara frowned and faced him. “What's going on?”
He bit his lip and walked to the bag. Keeping quiet, he pushed them in and zipped it up. Once he slung it over his shoulder, Matt broke the news:
“I'm leaving.” Matt said grimly, watching as Sara's mouth fell open.
“What? Matt, why?”
He ran his fingers through his stringy hair, sighing. “Well, several reasons. I mean, at the rate things are going for us, we're not gonna live much longer. And before I die, I need to see L.A again. Take Meagan: everyone thought she died back at the battle,” he shuddered, remembering, “but here she is now. I don't have any hope that Reagan made it, though, but I need to go back. And besides, have you considered how much danger you're all in when I'm around? If Eli had died, or you, or anyone else, I would never have forgiven myself.”
“But Matt, you can't just go. We'd be nothing without you!”
“Look at me Sara. I've lost weight, I'm on edge all day, and I'm getting no sleep for the most part. Face it- I'm not a leader anymore. And who knows? Maybe I can get another group going there, spread us out. But I'll miss you.”
Sara felt warm tears begin to fill her eyes. Before he could walk away, she threw her arms around his neck, ignoring the bag and the fact that he was a good four inches taller. He laughed a little, and half hugged her back. But he broke away and jogged up the stairs. Distantly, Sara could hear Matt close the door.
Sara just stood there, dumbfounded, for several minutes. Then Eli came down, a smile on his lips.
“Hey. Where's Matt?”
She took a shaky breath and pushed her hair back. Eli's smile faded and he came up closer to her.
“What happened?”
“Well, he's.... gone. Matt left.”
“What? Why didn't he tell anybody?”
Sara shrugged. “I don't know. But I guess we need to let everyone else know?”
He nodded, and then pressed an intercom button she had never noticed before.
“Emergency meeting, so, uh, hurry down.”
After a minute, everyone had crowded in, numbering now at about thirty. The room was abuzz with noise, and no one could quiet them down. After a moment, Sara got up onto the stage and cried,
“HEY!”
Everyone looked up, the noise dying. She stood there, looking at them. How could Matt take the pressure for so long? Jackie pushed her way through the crowd and stared at her.
“Where's Matt?” she asked, a hint of worry in her voice.
“That's what we're here to talk about. He's gone. Matt left.”
The room was quiet; you could hear a pin drop. Eli walked onto the stage with her, and spoke.
“Right now, we need a new leader. By order in our ranks, our number two will fill in.”
Jackie's eyes widened, then she shook her head. “I'm nowhere near ready, Eli. I just can't do it.”
Eli exhaled, and then rubbed his head. “That would mean me. But, it’s like Jackie, and I don't have what it takes.”
He looked at the room, then at Sara. “That means anyone can take it now.”
No one spoke. Not one hand went up in the air. Sara stepped forward.
“I'll do it.”
Eli looked uneasily at her. “Sara, are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes. Now what do I need to do?”
“Nothing. Just, good luck.”
Sara smiled, her teeth shinning. “Then let's get going.”
That night, as Sara began to get ready for bed, someone knocked on her door. Slipping on her jacket, she opened it just a crack. Eli was there, looking a little nervous.
“Yes?” she asked, smiling a little bit.
“Um, I wanted to show you something. I think you'll like it.”
Sara opened the door wider and smiled again.
“Sounds good.”
Eli led her outside, then around to the field. Looking down at the building, barley sticking out of the ground in most places, Sara could see Matt's window. He sat down, and she did the same.
Eli whistled a little tune, and something incredible happened. Slowly, the trees began to light up. They were fireflies, flying around, making swirls and patterns in the sky. Sara's mouth dropped, and then she grinned, ear to ear.
“How...?” she whispered, star-struck.
Eli felt his cheeks flush. “It’s um, my own little secret. Sometimes I'll come out, and they just find me.”
To prove his point, he held out his hand, and about twenty of them landed softly. She smiled, pushing a bit of her hair back. Eli felt his heart jump.
“And I, uh, kind of made this for you.”
With another whistle, all of the fireflies flew up high, moving around. In minutes, a word was sprawled across the sky- “Sara”. She felt herself blush, and she laughed in happiness.
“This is, just- wow.” she looked at Eli, and then stood up. The fireflies disbanded and came back down. They gathered around her, making whispering noises.
Eli stood up and just watched as Sara played with them. And a truth became very clear- Eli liked her. She turned around and laughed.
After another minute, they disbanded one last time, spreading out into the sky. Sara turned to face him, her eyes lit up and sparkling.
“They had to go. But thank you, so much. That was amazing.”
Eli smiled, but was wondering how she understood.
Sara took his hand and looked up at him, being only two inches shorter. “Let's go in, hm?”
Eli felt his hear skip another beat, and he went to bed that night, very content.