ο½’ VII ; rivers ο½£

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SEVEN ; RIVERS

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Β  Β  Β RAY STANDSΒ in the furnace room, looking around with the help of the light of dawn. Eleanor, Taron, and Robbie are all fast asleep against the wall, Eleanor's head laying on Robbie's shoulder and her hand entwined with Taron's, who's free hand is still wrapped around the handle of the baseball bat.

Ray wonders if in any other situation he would separate Taron and Eleanor, but given everything that is going on, he decides to leave it alone. Besides, he doesn't believe his daughter would ever have any feelings for him due to how long they have been friends; in his mind, they will always be the kids who constantly climbed trees, wrestled in the mud, and watched movies under a fort in Mary Ann's living room.

Ray quietly exits the room through the charred doors, finding most of the basement in complete ruins. The ground floor is now the top floor due to the fact that the second floor was completely torn off.

Walking through the wreckage of the house and finally into what could be considered the yard, Ray discovers that the commotion last night involved an airplane crashing a few hundred feet away. A burning engine is still attempting to wind down. Every house in the neighborhood is an absolute wreck; one would never believe that a perfect suburban neighborhood ever stood there at all.

An ominous noise resembling a monstrous vibration is heard from the distance. Realizing that one of the tripods are approaching, Ray promptly ends his moments of pondering and runs back to the basement to retrieve the teenagers.

☁

Taron has had a horrible nightmare.

In his fitful sleep, he dreamt that the modern apocalypse ended in him dying a very unheroic death β€” getting lung cancer, of all things β€” and Eleanor being whisked away by a dashing and daring Johnny Forester, complete with wind blowing in his curly, golden locks. He watched the sight from the perspective of his grave, looking up at the two of them as if the earth were transparent. He couldn't yell, he couldn't move; he couldn't even punch Johnny in the face.

Taron wakes with a start, his eyes wide as he stays still and looks around. He lets out a breath when he realizes that he most certainly is alive; after briefly considering the lung cancer bit, he decides he will deal with it later.

Taron looks down at Eleanor's fingers laced with his and a small smile spreads on his face. He turns his head to look at her face; she is sound asleep, her lips slightly parted and strands of her red hair falling over her eyes. He wishes she would have fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder, but he very much appreciates her hand in his.

His few seconds of pondering the uniqueness of her eyebrows is cut short by Ray bursting into the room; Taron barely even noticed that he was gone.

"Time to go," Ray says as Taron looks up at him. He claps twice as Eleanor and Robbie begin to stir and open their eyes. "C'mon. No time to lose." Ray decides he will use the fact that a tripod is nearby as a last resort.

Eleanor lifts her head up and Robbie stands. Rubbing her eyes with her free hand, Eleanor looks down at her and Taron's hands. She smiles.

"Thanks for not letting go," Eleanor says as she gives his hand a gentle squeeze before letting it go, part of her wishing she didn't have to; his hand is very warm, after all β€” a sharp contrast to her own constantly freezing hands.

"I promised, didn't I?" Taron replies with a smile as the two of them stand.

Eleanor slings the rucksack onto her back, hooking her thumbs on the straps. Taron rests the baseball bat on his shoulder and runs his fingers through his light brown hair.

The three teenagers follow Ray out of the furnace room and into what was once the basement, squinting their eyes as they adjust to the unsuspected light.

"Don't stop walking," Ray informs them, leading them to the van. Taron's jaw drops as he looks at the devastation and Eleanor covers her mouth. Robbie, on the other hand, walks past the car with his hands on his head while the other three manage to get inside.

"Fucking hell," Taron says as he shuts the sliding door, looking out of the window as he sits next to Eleanor in the backseat.

"Robbie, get in," Ray says after he starts the car, talking through the open window. Robbie doesn't react. "Robbie, get in!" Ray shouts.

"Why are you yelling?" Eleanor questions, concerned that they are already in danger once again. Robbie turns around and Ray stares him down.

"Get in," Ray says, his voice quieter yet demanding. Robbie finally jogs to the car and gets in the front seat. Ray drives away from the wreckage without notifying the teenagers of where he plans to take them.

☁

Ray glances between the map spread out on the steering wheel in front of him and the road ahead as Eleanor, Taron, and Robbie look out of the window. Ray is taking back roads and nothing but farmlands surround them.

"Why the hell aren't we on the turnpike?" Robbie asks.

"Because I don't want everybody to see we've got a working car," Ray replies. "We'll stay along the Hudson until we find an open bridge or ferry, then we're gonna cross the Hudson, then take the back roads across Connecticut all the way to Boston."

"Where is everybody?" Eleanor questions.

"I don't know, running. Hiding. Hiding in their basements."

"If we had any balls we'd go back there and find one of those things and kill it," Robbie says. Eleanor wonders if she mistook his earlier fear for determination.

"Yeah, well, why don't you just let me make the big decisions, okay?" Ray says, shoving the map on the floorboard.

"Which would be when? Never, Ray? Never's about your speed."

"Enough with the Ray shit!" Ray shouts. "It's dad, sir, or if you want, Mr. Ferrier. That sounds a little weird to me but you decide."

Eleanor waits a moment before saying, "Mr. Ferrier?"

Robbie suppresses a smile and Taron looks at her, wondering if she's pushing her limits. Ray slightly narrows his eyes at her via the rearview mirror before sighing.

"Yes, Eleanor?" Ray says. Eleanor scratches her head.

"I have to pee."

Ray glances back at her, saying, "Really?" Eleanor nods. He sighs once again, pulling over by the side of the road. Robbie moves to get out of the car, too, but Ray holds him in his seat by his sweatshirt sleeve. Ray looks back at Eleanor and Taron, giving them a look of warning in order to keep them in their place.

"C'mon, I gotta go, too!" Robbie says in agitation, attempting to yank his arm away.

"Not so fast, all right? Now, there are two things we have to watch out for, and the second is people who might want our car," Ray replies.

"There's nobody around!" Robbie replies, his voice breaking slightly.

"I gotta go," Eleanor says as she shakes her head, crawling over Taron and out of the van. Taron and Robbie soon follow her lead, and finally Ray, who supervises by the side of the van. Eleanor jogs across the sloping field by the side of the road, heading toward a nearby cluster of trees.

"Eleanor, that's good right there," Ray shouts.

"I'm not going in front of you guys!" Eleanor shouts back, looking at the three of them briefly. Taron chuckles.

"All right, then just go where I can see you!"

"Are you crazy?"

"Just stay in sight!" Ray responds. He gives up when Eleanor disappears behind a tree. Robbie and Taron, on the other hand, have already found spots roughly ten feet away by a small bridge. "Listen, every time you don't listen to me, I'm telling your mother, okay? I'm making a list. I'm making a list!"

Eleanor rolls her eyes.

Once she is finished, Eleanor looks around, spotting a stream through the trees only a few feet away. The idea of splashing water on her face draws her forward, eventually kneeling by the shore. Eleanor's hands hover just above the surface of the water before something catches her eye.

She assumed it was a log at first, or maybe a piece of debris from the city, but as the mass floats closer she realizes that it is, in fact, a dead body. Completely frozen, Eleanor watches as even more bodies float past her at an alarming rate.

Her fear doesn't allow her to contemplate why there are any dead bodies to begin with; those machines just disintegrate people, don't they? Or do they have other means of exterminating the population, as well?

Beginning to hyperventilate, Eleanor attempts to stand but only falls on her bum. She decides to crawl backward for a few feet with her eyes trained on the dozens of dead bodies floating by.

Near the tree where Eleanor first hid behind, Eleanor finally turns around and stands before running, nearly falling once again in the process. Taron, Robbie, and Ray watch as she sprints toward them, looking over her shoulder every few steps and slightly stumbling over her own feet.

"What? What is it?" Ray asks, the three boys ready to jump in the van and drive away from whatever Eleanor was running from.

Breathing heavily, Eleanor says, "I almost just washed my face in water that about fifty dead bodies are floating in." Taron and Robbie exchange a glance as Eleanor leans over, her hands resting on her knees. A moment later she groans before laying down and closing her eyes.

"Eleanor," Ray starts. She opens her eyes, looking up at the sky. She holds up her finger and takes a deep breath as to tell him to hold on. "Eleanor, come on. We gotta go."

"Fuck off," Eleanor mumbles.

"Did she just?" Ray asks, turning toward Robbie and Taron. Taron shrugs, putting his hands on his hips, and Robbie nods. "Did you just?" Ray continues as he looks back at Eleanor, completely taken aback.

"Please. Fuck off please, Mr. Ferrier sir."

Taron holds his breath and presses his lips together to prevent himself from cracking up.

"All right, you're grounded," Ray says.

"You can't ground me during the end of the world," Eleanor replies as she looks at him. "It's not plausible."

"Well, you're grounded once we get to your grandparents'."

"If I'm still alive," Eleanor declares as she stands up, her heart rate mostly back to normal.

"Hey, don't talk like that. We've survived this far, haven't we?"

Eleanor considers a response, her thoughtsΒ cut short by the sound of nearby hums growing louder.

"Should we be driving away?" Eleanor questions as the four of them look down the road.

"No, that's not one of them," Ray replies.

A minute later, a line of army trucks emerges from the slope in the road, driving past them one by one as the soldiers stare. Robbie immediately runs toward the road.

"Stop! Do you have room?" Robbie shouts at the men on the trucks, for he sees this as an opportunity to kill the tripods. The soldiers who pass give him blank stares. "Wait, stop! Let me on! Give me a hand!" Robbie eagerly reaches out his hands as the tires passing him splash his feet with water. "You have room! You have room!"

"Watch it, kid! You're gonna get yourself run over!" a passing soldier shouts at the teenager. Eleanor watches with horror, however she is thankful that Taron isn't joining her brother.

"Robbie, do you really want to go in that direction?" Ray asks his son, leaving Eleanor and Taron to watch on the side. Robbie ignores him and continues shouting for the soldiers to stop their trucks. "There's nothing living in that direction, Robbie!"

"What do you care? You never gave a shit before! You never gave a shit!" Robbie shouts back, turning to his father.

"Okay, hard ass, what's your plan? You're in charge now, you tell me what we're gonna do!"

"We catch up with these soldiers, we pick up whoever else isn't dead, and we get back at them! We get back at them! That's what we do!"

Taron steps in between Robbie and Ray in an attempt to break it up, but they both ignore him.

"Well, now let's try one that doesn't involve your little sister joining the army! You have anything like that?" Ray shouts. Tanks continue rolling by as Robbie and Ray look as if they were about to start throwing punches. If it weren't for Taron, they might.

"Why don't you just tell us the truth? You have no idea which way to go!" Robbie yells. "You wanna come off all wise and shit, but you only chose Boston because you hope mom is there, and if she is you can dump us on her! You can dump us on her then you'll only have to care about yourself! Which is exactly the way you like it!"

Robbie shivers due to his wet clothes, yet his adrenaline fuels his hate fire toward his father. Taron looks back and forth between him and Ray, wondering who needs to be subdued more. Finally, Eleanor runs up to Robbie.

"Robbie!" she screams, pushing his chest. "Where are you trying to go? What are you trying to do?" Robbie looks away from her and she promptly pushes his chest again. "Who's gonna keep me and Taron alive if you go?"

Robbie drags his gaze away from the trucks and looks at Eleanor, his heart dropping at the sight of her expression. A moment later he hugs her. Eleanor wraps her arms around his neck for a few seconds before he pulls her away from Ray and to the van. Taron, who was previously admiring the scenery, glances at Ray before following them.

Ray watches the last of the vehicles roll by, realizing how much his children have come to rely on each other and how truly insignificant he is in their lives.

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author's note ;

aw, poor ray. but he has been a shit dad until now so, y'know, he kind of deserves it. also i'm moving into my college dorms tomorrow and being a freshman i am slightly (really) freaking out. like packing has been a bitch and i just want to LEArn not have anxIETY PLEASE AND THANKS. the few comments and votes i'm getting are really boosting my mood, though, so thank you x10038439+ to those of you who are!

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