InsaneJournal

Who: The Cruz siblings.
What: Make camp & watch fireworks.
Where: Somewhere out there, beyond the colony waaaaall...
When: Wednesday night.
Rating: PG-13 (for implied violence)
Status: Complete



The fireworks had been a complete surprise, the light show in the sky toward the distant north an odd sight in the night sky. Odd and relieving. Ynes had cried, not knowing or understanding what they were. But for the others, it had been a renewal of spirit. They watched, wanting to get closer though they'd already camped for the night. Thrilling at being so close to a new colony, though Brian himself couldn't be sure what the fireworks meant.

Were they a sign of life? A cry for help? A warning to keep away? Or had some randomly flaming zombie finally bumped into something? A warehouse perhaps, a store...the flames finally reaching the stock room, the fireworks sent up into the sky by pure happenstance. He couldn't be sure, but it didn't matter. They were out of food, his sisters were wilting even with his powers urging them on, even Hoone was slower, sluggish...they'd need to make a town soon. And pray there was anything left.

They'd bumped into enough raiders on the way up to be hopeful about the chances of supplies being more plentiful. Resources at least. If they could make a farm maybe, he could do something about the sorry state they were in.

Moving his family in the middle of the highest point of winter had not been a wise decision, only necessary. It was their one shot, finally come to them and Brian had taken it. The colonies in the south were degrading, the quality of life dropping by the tens, it was no longer safe for them. And after two years of being forced to raise his family in little more than a slum - which would have been a sight better, he could be sure - and do things he was not proud of and would never speak of again to ensure that survival Brian wasn't about to give up and lose everything to the sea of predators they were firmly entrenched in.

No, North was their only hope. North, to Xavier's if it was still there. If it would even take them. Brian was prepared to do almost anything they required to see that they would. At this point, with Ynes and Josefina so badly sick and Lourdes so weak from cold and hunger and Isabella and Alicia pushing onward at his say so with no promise of anything more concrete than more snow...his family needed help or soon it wouldn't matter who came along. They wouldn't have to face it. Still, the horror of the thought of Zombies feeding on their frozen corpses, of losing the only thing that was precious and dear to him, made Brian so sick to his stomach he ignored any other worries creeping around in the back of his mind, waiting to strike.

He could, he would, do more unspeakable things if it meant his family's survival. He would never forgive himself, and he would never let them learn of it. His sisters came first. Their safety, security and the promise - however minimal - of their continued survival. Any hope at a future, he'd take.

There were lines, of course, even now. But the longer it took, the harder he had to push them, the further they went without relief...the desperation was growing. Brian did not ever want to go back to being its victim, but every day it came closer to reclaiming them all. And there was very little hope in an awaiting miracle. They were entirely too rare and in a poor, sorry state when they did arrive.