Jonas awoke from a restless sleep, filled with nightmares of faceless people attacking him and ripping Gabe from his arms. His clothes were stained with tears, but Gabe was still wrapped tight in his arms, shivering. The rain hadn’t stopped, but they had managed to find a tree with long arms stretching around them to keep them drier. Damp and shivering, Jonas attempted to stand but fell to his knees from exhaustion. Gabe whimpered, reaching weakly for an unseen figure. Jonas picked him up again, startled at how cold he had grown. Jonas tucked Gabe into his shirt as he had seen his father do so many times before.
His shirt was soaked with mud, but Gabe curled up to the little warmth Jonas could provide. The rain pattering against the leaves had a sort of rhythm to it. Jonas almost fell into an uneasy sleep, but forced himself to open his eyes. Leaning against the tree he struggled to rise and greet the impending day of endless walking. Since giving up his bike, progress had been slower, but he couldn’t risk falling and crushing Gabe. He tried to summon up memories of feasts and warmth, yet all he could draw up were fleeting glimpses. Leaning against the tree he started when he realized he couldn’t feel Gabe’s tiny chest rising and falling against his own.
He unwrapped Gabe and was horrified to find he was blue and limp. Shaking in panic he tried to recall memories of what they did when people stopped breathing. Memories of a machine and pressing pads to someone’s chest surfaced, but he couldn’t use those. From deep down in the sea of fading memories he pulled a memory of someone pressing their mouth to someone else's. He opened Gabe’s mouth and forced breath to him. But nothing happened. He ripped Gabe’s shirt off, now screaming in a frenzy for life to come back to the little boy. Gabe’s belly button had a small thorn poking out of it. Jonas’s chest was now heaving with sobs. He pulled out the thorn with trembling figures, and the clicking of gears could be heard. Gabe’s head turned and fell off, revealing complex machinery and cameras. A voice came through one of the speakers. “We’ve found you.”
His shirt was soaked with mud, but Gabe curled up to the little warmth Jonas could provide. The rain pattering against the leaves had a sort of rhythm to it. Jonas almost fell into an uneasy sleep, but forced himself to open his eyes. Leaning against the tree he struggled to rise and greet the impending day of endless walking. Since giving up his bike, progress had been slower, but he couldn’t risk falling and crushing Gabe. He tried to summon up memories of feasts and warmth, yet all he could draw up were fleeting glimpses. Leaning against the tree he started when he realized he couldn’t feel Gabe’s tiny chest rising and falling against his own.
He unwrapped Gabe and was horrified to find he was blue and limp. Shaking in panic he tried to recall memories of what they did when people stopped breathing. Memories of a machine and pressing pads to someone’s chest surfaced, but he couldn’t use those. From deep down in the sea of fading memories he pulled a memory of someone pressing their mouth to someone else's. He opened Gabe’s mouth and forced breath to him. But nothing happened. He ripped Gabe’s shirt off, now screaming in a frenzy for life to come back to the little boy. Gabe’s belly button had a small thorn poking out of it. Jonas’s chest was now heaving with sobs. He pulled out the thorn with trembling figures, and the clicking of gears could be heard. Gabe’s head turned and fell off, revealing complex machinery and cameras. A voice came through one of the speakers. “We’ve found you.”
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