A Foggy Beginning by R. Brownell (beach read TXT) 📕

things we were forced to do, one was attend some classes so that we could learn basic math, English, and some history of the world; so we had an idea of where we had come from. The second was getting a job at fourteen, everyone had to contribute and that was the only rules that were really enforced. Co-ed sleepovers were allowed by the time we turned thirteen too, the monitor that used to patrol the rooms had disappeared once we turned that age. A curfew was also non-existent too. Usually on our movie nights we would all end up passing out in my room. The boys brought their sleeping bags, and the three of us girls would try to fit on the bed. Some nights, like tonight might turn out we’d all pass out watching the movie on my bed. From where I sat I could already hear Abs snoring, and Bea was soundly asleep, Walt was in heaven as the two of them ended up passing out against him. I could see even in the dark room, from the glare of the TV a small smirk crept up on his face. A few short minutes later I had passed out on Cyrus, his arm protectively set around me and his head close to mine.

I woke up a few hours later to static on my TV. I lifted my head from Cyrus’s chest and looked around the room; everyone had taken some pillows and crashed on the floor. I quietly got up to turn off the movie and then headed back to my bed. Cyrus now lay on his side; I could see the outline of his body from the small nightlight I always kept on at night. He patted the spot next to him and I lifted the covers and slid in. He scooted to me and I turned away from him as he put his arms around me. I sighed deeply.

“Something on your mind?” his warm breath lingered on my ear.

“I heard something tonight while I was at the video library,” I started.

“Two people were talking about the latch and that they were opening it to go out and explore. They also mentioned another facility that possibly exists. After Bea left to get ready for tonight I snuck over to the door and it was open, when I walked in the latch it was open someone had gone outside. What if they really knew about this other place? What if I could get there? What if…”

“Raine, shh, you can’t go up there you know that. It’s too dangerous we don’t know what kind of environment there is and what that storm has created.”

“If we were fine then, why wouldn’t we be fine up there now?” I turned to him.

“That was years ago, remember another one of those things hit a few years back, who knows what it did.” He brushed a piece of hair behind my ears.

“Cyrus I have to know. You guys all may be content with that has happened but I am not. They are out there I feel it,” I began to feel a little choked up that he didn’t believe.

“Do you really think I am content? Do you remember what happened to me?” I nodded.

“How can you say I am content, I am heart broken, but I have learned that I need to move on things are the way they are for a reason. None of us can change what happened.”

I didn’t feel like fighting with him anymore for the night, I turned back and curled up into a ball once again allowing Cyrus to wrap his arm around me.

“You aren’t alone Raine, you will always have me,” he spoke softly in my ear. I said nothing back to him.

Maybe he was making sense, but I was a stubborn person I didn’t want to believe it. His past was a bit rough; he had lost far more family members that I did. He told me the story once and I never forgot.

It was Cyrus’s fifth birthday May 20; his family was throwing him a huge birthday party in the backyard. He lived in Poughkeepsie New York and had a huge property. His dad worked in the New York City at the stock market and his mom owned her own arts and crafts business in Poughkeepsie, which did very well. They lived in a huge farm house miles from anyone. They also had a farm with horses and pigs, his older brother Mark who was 17 took care of the animals. Cyrus also had a little three-month old sister and another older sister who was twenty-five and pregnant with her first child. He could not wait to see her and his brother-in-law who promised him he was getting the best birthday gift ever.

Cyrus told me that he was impatient the entire day waiting for everyone to arrive. Finally at 4 o’clock in the afternoon they all arrived. He told me he got his very own two-wheeler bike from his brother-in-law and sister. His parents had given him a remote control car that did cool tricks. His other brother had gotten him a horse of his own. He blindfolded him and brought him into the barn. Cyrus told me he couldn’t contain his excitement and once the blind fold was removed he saw the brown horse in front of him with a bow tied around her neck. He loved the horse, she was perfect. He named her Madeline.

This is the part that kills him deep inside everyday, but he tries to hide it. He turned to his mom who was smiling and asked her if he could ride Madeline. His mother tried to explain that he could ride her tomorrow and then he should get back to the party to spend time with family. Of course any five year old would get upset over this. Cyrus through a temper tantrum and told his mom he hated her. She left him in the barn to get out all of his anger.

I cried for Cyrus when he told me the next part. He told me once he was done throwing a fit; he went to go finish celebrating his birthday. It had gotten late and the sun was set, or so he thought. He walked out of the barn and into a thick fog. He called for his parents and family, but no one answered him. Through the dark he made his way to the house, finally finding it by the porch light. He called everyone’s names again, but no one had answered. He went up the three stairs to the porch and slipped on something. He looked down to see his mom’s glasses lying on a pile of ash. He told me he called her name for hours, until the men in orange suits came for him too.

The worst part of his story was the fact that he always blames himself. He hates that he never got to say goodbye to his mom and family, and that she died thinking he hated her. I think if that were my case I would try to forget too, but I just can’t. Maybe if I talked to Abs and Walt, maybe they’d help me. That had turned into my plan, before I fell asleep again I made sure in my head that first thing I would talk to them, maybe I’d have better luck.

Chapter 7
Spying sometimes pays off

My childhood is now like a blur to me, like most people we all remember snippets of our young life. For me the one thing that never left me was the memory of waking up on Sunday morning to the smell of eggs, sausage, and bacon. Mom also made her own OJ; of course she de-pulped it for me I hated getting the little strings of pulp stuck in my throat.

Another thing I’d always remember was waking up in the mornings and just lying there, I’d watch the sun dance along the comforter of my bed. Mom always said if you watch them long enough you could watch them take various shapes. We had a game that we’d usually play on Sunday mornings while dad cooked. It was kind of like that cloud game where you would guess what the shape of a cloud, except this was with the sunlight that danced around my room. I wonder if still at sixteen if we’d still be playing that game every Sunday. I probably would have ended up being a stubborn teenager who tells their parents they are embarrassing them. It really sucks that now all I can think about is how much I wanted that again, they just have to be okay… I have a smidge of faith that they are.

“Are you crazy Raine? The surface?” Abs held the corners of the table we sat at, practically digging a hole through with her nails.

“Why does no one believe me, I thought you guys were my friends?” I questioned eyeing them as I set my strawberry down on my plate.

“Because Raine, it’s not worth getting killed,” Walt added.

“Finding my parents is not worth it? Well to me it’s worth it I’ll die trying to find them.” I argued.

Bea and Cyrus had gone to the video library to return the movies; they promised they’d meet us down here in the cafeteria. This had been my perfect time to convince Walt and Abs to come with me, but they were being just as stubborn as the other two.

“We didn’t mean it like that, we just-,” Walt looked at Abs for help. I angled my head down at them with a hateful glare in my eyes.

“We don’t want-,”

“Me to get hurt,” I cut Walt off.

“Not just you, but all of us think about it, what if some of us died trying to get there; wouldn’t you feel the least bit upset?” Abby said.

“Of course I would, but I know we’d be fine, we were the first time what make’s the atmosphere any different then it was then?” I was trying so hard to keep my cool.

“There was another incident after the first, who knows what it did to the surface,” Walt said.

“Yes, but then why are normal people going up there to check it out? If it wasn’t safe they wouldn’t do it. Walt out of all the people I know I thought you would be the one with me, especially since we both think this whole thing was not mother-nature.” … still trying.

“I am not saying I don’t believe that anymore, I am just saying even if it was made by them (he meant the government) that doesn’t mean it’s safer,”

I jumped when cold hands touched my bare shoulder, today I wore my favorite purple tank top, and a chill ran up my spine. Cyrus sat down next to me with one hand still placed on my shoulder.

“What’s all the yelling about over here?” Cyrus questioned examining all of our faces. Bea scooted in next to me on the other side. Both of them were so close I could feel their body heat.

“Raine wants to go to the surface,” Abs said.
“You are still trying to get us to agree with you even after our conversation last night?” Cyrus looked hurt.

“You know what guys…” I wiped