literature

The Unknown - Chapter Two

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    As Naomi got closer to the two strangers, she noticed two odd things about them. One, they were both wearing gas masks. The girl was wearing a pink one, which was was even weirder than just seeing a gas mask.. Naomi had never seen a pink one before. Really, they were rare due to many people wanting one. They weren’t needed for breathing the normal air, but many wanted them if they were going into a damaged building. It helped protect their lungs from the dust particles.

    The other thing that was strange about the two was their hair. They had white hair.  It wasn’t like light blonde hair, it was white! Naomi had never seen anyone in all of her 19 years of life with white hair. They looked like they had never seen sunlight before.

    The two tensed up as Naomi got closer.  She didn’t blame them, she knew that she looked intimidating. Her huge backpack on her back, junk of a bike, and her messy hair flowing behind her, she resembled someone who was crazy. Who knows, maybe she was. She couldn’t remember the last time that she had a real talk with another human being. Whenever she did talk, it would only be to trade.

    She hit her brakes when she was a few feet away from them. She wanted to be close to talk to them, but she also wanted to be far enough away that she didn’t scare them and that she could run away if need be.

    “Hey, do you need some help?” Naomi asked, clearing her throat. Her voice was slightly scratchy but it was still understandable. When you don’t talk as much as the normal person, your voice gets a little rusty. You needed to let it warm up a bit before expecting anything major.

    The two just stared at her, as if they were unsure of what to do. The taller girl pushed the smaller boy behind her before speaking. Her voice was slightly muffled due to the gas mask. Guess all of their voices weren’t going to be perfect today.

    “W-We are lost and were wondering where the closest town is.”

    “Well, the closest town is over there.” Naomi pointed, before shrugging, “It is a about a day's walk away though. I wouldn’t head over there now because you don’t want to be out there when it is dark. It can get quite dangerous. Plus you look like you don’t have a light source. Don’t want to travel at night and get lost.”

    The girl’s eyes widened and the gears seemed to be turning in her head, as if she was trying to come up with a plan. Naomi knew that helpless look the girl was giving her. She must have no idea what she is doing. She needed someone to swoop in and help get her back on her feet.

    “Where are you from?” Naomi asked, breaking the girl from her thoughts.

    “Oh, a shelter, but something happened and we had to leave.”

    “Are there any more of you?” The girl didn’t respond.

    Once again, Naomi felt a pain in her heart for these two. If they lived in a shelter (like the ones that she heard of), maybe they didn’t even know what the outside world around here looked like. If she just left them out here, they would die. It might not be quick and it might take a while, but they would surely die. You needed certain skills to survive out here.

    “So, you were planning on going to the town?” The girl nodded, “Then what?”

    “What do you mean?”

    “Well, then what are you going to do? I mean, you have to have a plan once you get there, right?”

    “W-Well, we were going to see if someone could help us. They might have known our shelter.”

    Naomi nodded. She didn’t want to burst this girl's bubble since it seems like she has already gone through so much today. She would wait to tell them about the city. Now she needed to figure out what to do with them. She couldn’t just let them stay out here alone. That would be too dangerous. She would never be able to forgive herself. Sighing, Naomi realized that she was too nice of a person.

    “Do you have a place to stay tonight?” She asked. The girl shook her head.

    “Do you want to stay at my home for tonight? I can take you too the town tomorrow and you can find someone who can help you there.” The girl’s eyes lit up, as if Naomi had made her day. She probably just  did.

    “Yes, please. Oh, thank you! Are you sure that it isn’t too much trouble?” The girl asked, smiling before a worried look crossed her face.

    “No, don’t worry about it. It wasn’t like I had any other plans.” Naomi joked.

    “Come on then, I’ll lead you guys.” Naomi hopped off her bike, holding onto her handlebars. She began to walk, pushing her bike beside her. She didn’t mind having to go slow, since only one more person could fit on her bike, and even that would be a stretch.

    Plus her home wasn’t too far away, even if you walked. They would get back before it began to get dark. On her bike, it took her around fifteen minutes to get to the town from her home. This wouldn’t be too bad, since it would give them more time to talk. If she was going to be staying with these two, she would want to know at least a little about them. Learn some stuff, like if they were murderers or not. You know, the basics.

    “So, what are your names?” Naomi asked, glancing over at the pair.

    “I’m Elizabeth and that is Joshua, my little brother. And you are?” She seemed to be getting more comfortable around Naomi, though she continued to glance around. It was as if she was worried they were going to be jumped any second. It wouldn’t be surprising if she thought that if this really was her first time outside.

    “I’m Naomi. It’s nice to meet you.” Naomi wasn’t sure if she was speaking the truth when she said this. They could ruin her life, but it was nice to talk to someone other than herself and the trading men. Her mother told her that it was safer to be by yourself and family instead of others. Well, now she didn’t have any family so it was just her. This was a nice surprise.

    They walked in silence for a few moments, their shoes crunching against the rocks. Elizabeth continue to look around and glancing over at Naomi with slightly wide eyes. This gave Naomi time to look them over. The girl looked to be around 16 and unlike Naomi’s dark caramel skin, she had pale skin. The boy looked just like his sister; white hair, blue eyes, pale skin. He seemed to be around ten. They both looked as if they had never seen the light of day before.

    Naomi couldn’t remember the last time that she had talked to someone around her age. When she went to trade items in the town, they were always older men. Even in the city, it was rare to see a child walking around. She wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t care. She didn’t live in the town, so why should she care? She probably just wasn’t paying enough attention.

    “Can I ask you a question?” Elizabeth asked, breaking the silence.

    “Sure.”

    “Why aren’t you wearing a mask? Isn’t the air toxic? Shouldn’t you be sick or something?” This confused Naomi, because she had never heard these things before. Everyone that she had ever met breathed the air as it was, and they never got sick. I mean, yeah, if you went into a ruined building, but what were you going to expect? For the air to smell like daisies?

    “What are talking about? You don’t need a gas mask. The air is fine.” Naomi explained, “I have been breathing this air my entire life and it hasn’t caused me to get sick yet.”

    Joshua looked up at Naomi before glancing at his sister. The look in his eyes was one of a little boy who just got told something that brightened his world. He quickly grabbed his gas mask and yanked it off, taking a deep breath of the fresh air. Elizabeth’s eyes widened and she tried to grab his mask and put it back on him.

    “Joshua! You need to put it back on! She could be lying!” The two of them struggled with each other, leaving Naomi conflicted as to what she should do. They were siblings and she shouldn’t step in, but let the kid breath. Wearing a gasmask can feel suffocating at times.

    Dropping her bike, she hurried over and pulled Elizabeth away gently. Her arms were wrapped around her waist, as it was the easiest way to keep her in her grasp. The girl continued to struggle, though she obviously wasn't trying to injure Naomi.

    “Hey! Hey, calm down kid. The air is safe,” Naomi said.

    “Who are you calling kid?” Elizabeth struggled out of her grasp and spun around, her eyes narrowed, “I’m not a kid!”

    “What are you, like, fourteen?” Naomi said, her snarky attitude coming out.

    “I am sixteen, thank you very much.” Elizabeth glared, cheeks red in anger and embarrassment.

    “Oh, I’m so sorry. You are two years older than fourteen. You are so much more adult with two more years under your belt. Still, you are a kid compared to me. I’m nineteen and I’ll call you whatever I want.” Naomi bent down and picked up her bike, “And since you are staying with me tonight, I wouldn’t complain much. I didn’t have to do this.” With that, she began to walk again.

    Elizabeth began to follow her, staying quiet. She knew that Naomi was right. She shouldn’t talk back to someone who was nice enough to let them stay for the night. She would have to remember to try and not lose her temper again.

    “Fine, but I’m keeping my mask on.”



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ThatOneKawaii's avatar
This is really great! So different from the usual stuff. Im loving Naomi and her character development and im super stoked to whats gonna happen with her and the two kids La la la la