Fallout: Chapter 1

Fallout: Chapter 1, The Journey Begins

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Town of Brutto, United States, February 17 2091
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It was a quiet and somewhat calm morning in the town of Brutto, the town's residents were either going about their daily routines or just wandering around aimlessly. One individual stood out from the rest though, as he wasn’t a resident at all, but a traveler.

His name was Mark, a young man of nineteen years of age, he wore a blue flannel shirt with dark blue jeans. He had black shaved hair and blue eyes. Mark had been traveling from town to town, desperately searching for someone who could safely chaperone him to Diamond City, a city so safe, secure and heavily guarded that most people who lived there considered it to be a haven in the middle of a chaotic and unforgiving world.

In the previous town Mark had ventured to, he was told that there was a man in Brutto that could assist him in reaching the city safely. After speaking with a few peppery people Mark was informed that the man he was looking for was currently drinking at the Brutto Saloon, and after some walking and exploring he finally found the place.

Mark climbed the large flight of stairs that led to the saloons entrance, once at the top he stood in front of the door, took a deep breath and entered the saloon.

As soon as he walked inside a strong grotesque stench filled his nose, the smell of alcohol and stale vomit filled the air, the awful smell was so intense it caused him to gag slightly.

Once he had regained his composure his semi watering eyes examined the place for his target. The floorboards were crooked, cracked and had years worth of liquor and puke stains covering them. There was a wooden candle holding a chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

In the front right corner of the saloon three middle aged men were playing some sort of card game, Mark couldn’t quite figure out what it was exactly but judging by his facial expressions the middle one was winning.

In the back left a man was sitting at a small pedestal table, drinking coffee and reading a newspaper.

After inspecting the place he found who he was looking for, there were two men sitting at the bar, a rugged looking middle-aged man and an individual who looked to be in their early twenties.

Mark exhaled nervously and cautiously approached the rugged man before tapping him on the shoulder. “Um…e-excuse me, I’m looking for someone to take me to Diamond City and I heard you could help me?”.

The man lazily looked over his right shoulder at Mark. He groaned and turned his head back towards his drink. “Piss off kid, I’m not taking you anywhere.” The man wrapped his right hand around the beer and took a drink from his half empty mug.

“P-Please, I’ll pay you, I have twenty caps,” Mark tried his best to sound confident and calm, but his voice came out shaky and nervous. He reached into his pocket and showed the man the caps he had.

The man didn’t even look at Mark. He just scoffed and wiped the alcohol off his mouth and yellow stained beard. “You really think you’re going to buy me with twenty caps, get the fuck outta my sight kid!”

Mark sighed and placed his caps and hands in his pockets. “Sorry for bothering you.” He slumped his shoulders, turned away from the man and made his way towards the door. It creaked loudly as it was pushed open.

Mark walked down the creaky wooden stairs, and once he reached bottom he lowered his head and sighed. “What the hell am I gonna do now?” he whispered to himself.

“Hey kid, heard you we’re going to Diamond City,” the voice caused Mark to quickly snap back to reality. Mark swiftly looked behind him and saw the person who spoke. He was taken back by his appearance.

The man came from the saloon but looked sober and was clean shaved. He was wearing a red flannel shirt over a white T-shirt and blue jeans, and his eyes were emerald green.

Mark cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck, which was something he often did whenever he was nervous.

“Yeah, well…been trying to, can’t find anyone who wants to escort me down there though.” he gave a slight smile and chuckled nervously, hoping that he didn’t look like an idiot in front of this possibly new companion.

The man studied Mark with his eyes for a moment which caused Mark to gulp nervously. After a few seconds, the man crossed his arms. “I can take you there,” he said with a calm but somewhat serious voice.

“You…You will?” Mark’s voice came out a bit more cheerful and louder than he wanted it to. He felt relieved but surprised at the same time. After weeks of searching he finally found someone who was volunteering to escort him to Diamond City.

The man shrugged his shoulders and placed his thumbs in his pockets. “Yeah, I’m heading there as well so you might as well tag along.”

“Thank you so much, here um…all I got is twenty.” Mark reached into his left pocket and grabbed a handful of caps then held them in front of him.

The gentleman held up his hand rejecting Mark’s offering. “Don’t worry about it, I don’t want your caps, besides…” He turned his head and looked at the somewhat decent looking people walking around “…you’re not going to buy anyone in this place, not with that much.”

“Yeah,” Mark chuckled nervously. “I learned that a lot, it’s hard finding an escort in this place, I’m Mark,” He responded, reaching out his hand politely while smiling nervously.

“Nick.” Nick reached out his hand and gently shook Mark’s. “It's nice to meet you, we should probably get moving before the sun sets.”

They both looked up at the slowly darkening sky. Mark noticed that the sun was significantly lower than when he first entered the town. “Lead the way, I kinda don't really know my way around this area”

“It’s ok, not very many people do.” Nick chuckled.

They both began making their way out of the town, neither of them speaking for most of the way. The only sound that could be heard was their footsteps and the wind blowing through the trees.

Mark was too afraid to talk or even ask questions. He was afraid that doing so would upset Nick and ruin his chances of getting across the Commonwealth safely, as for Nick he didn't talk because he either had a lot on his mind or just didn't feel like it.

“So um…may I ask you something?” Mark inquired, twiddling his thumbs nervously, hoping conversation wasn’t going to cost anything.

Nick glared at him cautiously from the corner of his eye, he considered the question before answering “Sure, as long as it’s not about my past” he said with a serious tone.

Mark sighed in relief then looked Nick up and down “There’s no alcohol on your breath and…you seem sober so…what were you doing in a saloon?” Mark asked curiously.

“I don’t drink, never have never will, sadly that was the only place in town that had Nuka Cola” Nick said calmly, relieved that the question was somewhat normal, well compared to the questions he had been asked in the past.

“You like Nuka Cola?” Mark cheerfully looked at Nick and smiled without even realizing it.

“Yep, been drinking it since i was a ki- '' Nick immediately stopped himself mid sentence and sighed, he became silent once again.

“What do you do for a living? If you don’t mind me asking” Mark questioned.

Nick looked at him for a second then looked straight again.

“Basically any job I can find,” he replied.

“You don’t just stick with one?” Mark questioned, hoping he wasn’t asking too many questions.

“I like to travel so sticking with only one doesn’t really work for me,” Nick replied.

Mark nodded “That makes sense, I like to travel too, especially with my frie-”

“Mark your back!” A blonde-haired girl wearing a jean jacket suddenly called out, interrupting him.

The girl came out of a nearby heavily damaged abandoned house and scurried towards them. She approached Mark and gave him a hug “I missed you so much!”

He chuckled and hugged the girl back “Come on Ash, I wasn’t gone that long” he teased.

The girl giggled and smiled “I know, but sometimes a minute feels like an hour out here”

Mark smirked “Tell me about it”

“What took you so long?” Another girl came out of the house, this one had black hair and a black tank top.

“Couldn’t find anyone to take us, well until the last second” Mark looked at Nick and introduced him to his friends.

“Ashley and Rebeca, this is Nick, he’ll be taking us to Diamond City” they both didn’t say anything and just looked at him curiously.

Nick looked back and forth between the two girls “Um..hi..you didn’t tell me you brought company” he looked at Mark with a calm yet disappointed expression.

Mark was about to rub the back of his neck but stopped himself before he did, trying his best to break the habit he had become so accustomed to “Y-Yeah sorry, forgot to mention that earlier, is that going to be a problem?” He asked worriedly, hoping Nick would be ok with it.

Even though it did trouble him greatly Nick tried his hardest to hide how upset he really was “No, the more people the better, especially if we get into a gunfight”

Ashley kneaded her upper arm and laughed shyly “Um…m~me and Rebeca have never used a gun before…like ever” she said nervously.

Nick sighed and crossed his arms “Well that’s no good, just…stay behind me…how the hell did you three survive so long without guns?” He was tempted to leave the three of them behind, but he knew they wouldn’t survive the trip.

“Well we usually try our best to avoid conflict,” Rebeca responded.

“How, by sweet talking your way out?” Nick exhaled loudly and rubbed his temple “Never mind, let’s just get moving, and stay close to me”

They started moving again, none of them spoke or made a sound, except Ashley who was humming “Don’t sit under the apple tree” by the Andrew Sisters, without realizing it.

Nick started humming along as well. Until he finally realized he was doing so he stopped himself immediately.

“So um…Mister Johnson…if you don’t mind me asking..are you a vault dweller?” Ashley asked nervously.

“Ashley!” Rebeca shouted.

“It’s fine, you're not the first person to ask me that, and please call me Nick. No I am not a… I never came from a vault.” Nick replied.

“So…where did you come from? I-If you don’t mind me asking” Ashley asked curiously.

“Well…” Nick sighed “my parents couldn’t afford to live in a vault so instead me and my dad built a bunker in our backyard, we went to a scrapyard and gathered up some metal, my dad did most of the work but I helped out where I could”

“Oh, where are your parents now?”

Nick didn’t respond, instead he decided to change the subject “We should probably get some sleep soon” he said while looking up at the now quickly darkening sky. “It's probably gonna get really dark here in a few hours”

“Sounds like a plan, are there any hotels around here?” Rebeca asked while inspecting the area, looking for any houses or buildings they could stay in.

The area was completely barren of any man made structures. Hills, trees and small bushes filled every direction, but there wasn’t a single house or building in sight.

Nick smirked and stopped walking “We aren’t sleeping in a hotel, tonight we are sleeping in there” he pointed to a medium sized cave that was off in the distance.

“A cave, are you fucking kidding me?! those things are filled with bats, spiders and mole rats!” Rebeca said with disgust.

“Just be happy you will have a roof over your head to keep you out of the rain” Nick said as he quickly started heading towards the cave.

“What are you talking about? There’s no rain” Rebeca said, while looking up at the sky.

Nick stopped after realizing what he had just said “there will be, trust me”

Once they made it to the cave the four of them entered it and looked around. The cave was about twenty seven feet by twenty three. There were no creatures roaming around inside. The only thing that filled the cave was darkness and silence.

“Can’t believe I’m stuck sleeping in this stupid cold cave” Rebeca sighed and kicked a small rock that was laying on the cave floor.

Nick placed his bag on the ground “Lighten up princess, it’s only for one night, I’m sure you can handle it, or would you rather sleep outside?”

Rebecca shivered and rubbed her shoulders “It’s dark and cold as shit, how is anyone supposed to be able to sleep in here!”

“After doing it for so long you get used to it, you three make yourselves comfortable. I’m gonna go out and grab some firewood. Stay here and don’t leave the cave unless you absolutely have too” Nick started walking towards the entrance of the cave when a voice called out to him “Wait, I’ll go with you” he turned around to see Mark who by his surprise looked very eager to go with him.

“Alright, just stay close to me and don’t go wandering off,” Nick demanded.

“Yes sir”

They exited the cave and began walking through the forest.

“So um…” Mark coughed then cleared his throat. “how are we supposed to get firewood without an axe?”

“Sometimes people will chop down trees and leave piles of logs just lying around, hopefully we get lucky and find some”

“Wait, they just leave them lying around?” Mark asked, confused.

“Would you want to carry a bunch of heavy logs with you everywhere you went?” He said jokingly.

Nick went off trail towards a tree “Stay here and keep an eye out, I’m gonna take a piss. If you see anyone or anything give me a shout”

“Will do,” Mark replied.

Nick looked around the area then made his way towards a nearby tall bush.

Mark couldn’t help but look around, admiring the trees that surrounded him.

He looked down and saw some footprints on the trail. He kneeled down and inspected the footprints. They looked fresh, as if they had been there for only a few minutes or so. He wondered who they belonged to.

“Put your hands where I can see them!” a man came out from behind a tree.

Mark was startled, he didn’t think there was anyone else around. The man was holding what looked to be a vintage 44. Snub Nose Magnum with a five round chamber.

Mark quickly stood up and without hesitating he quickly raised his hands high above his head. He swallowed hard and slightly started shaking.

The man, to Mark’s surprise, let out a relieved sigh “ah finally someone who knows how to listen, thank fucking god! Empty your pockets kid, and don’t be sloppy about it, i ain’t got all fucking day”

Mark quickly reached into his pockets and fumbled with the items he had stored in them. He pulled out twenty caps, a broken fortune cookie, two pennies and a shoelace.

The man stared at him in disbelief, he slowly shook his head “That’s all you got? The fuck am I supposed to do with that?” The man sighed and pulled something out of his pocket “it will have to do, put all your shit in this sack then toss it back to me” the man tossed the old ragged sack to Mark who quickly put all of his belongings inside it, nearly dropping the sack a few times.

Luckily for him the man wasn't impatient. Once he had completely placed all of his belongings in the sack he tossed it back to the man.

The man caught the sack in midair. He smiled and inspected for a few seconds; he then placed the sack in his pocket “Pleasure doing business with you kid”

He raised his magnum towards Mark, placed his thumb on the hammer and pulled it back, but before he could pull the trigger a bullet hit him in the eye, penetrating his flesh and bone, going clean through his head. The man stood there for a moment; blood slowly poured out of his wound and ran down his cheek. He collapsed to the floor and an excessive amount of blood gushed out of his wound and created a puddle on the dirt path.

Mark was frozen in fear. He was in too much shock to move. Once he had calmed down he looked around to see where the shot had come from. To his left he could see Nick holding a pistol. Smoke was emanating from the barrel

“Are you alright?”

“Y-Yeah, uh…t~thanks” Mark sighed in relief. He placed his right hand on the left side of his chest and tried his best to control his heart rate. His body shook a little from the adrenaline.

Nick holstered his gun in his pocket and walked towards the man's dead body “I thought I told you to keep an eye out” he nudged the man’s lifeless body with his foot. “Did you not listen to a word I said?”

Mark rubbed his forearm nervously “S-Sorry, I was distracted”

“Distracted? How the fuck did you survive this long in the commonwealth?” Nick kneeled over the body, trying his best to avoid the blood and brain matter. He quickly patted it down then opened the man’s jacket up and took some items out of his inside pockets.

“Whoa whoa what the hell are you doing?!” Mark asked, disgusted by Nick’s behavior and the body in front of him.

“I’m checking the body for items that might be useful for us, what do you think?” Nick said while continuing to search the body.

“Most of that stuff is probably stolen” Mark replied, still looking a bit shocked at the sight in front of him.

“If you want to return it to the owners then go ahead, but good luck finding them” Nick said while continuing to search the man “Let’s see what we have here, seven caps, some bobby pins, a paperclip and a rusty silver watch, who wears watches anymore?”

“W-We should get going, someone probably heard the gunshot” Mark said while inspecting the area.

Nick placed the items in his pocket then stood up “Good point, your friends are probably getting impatient, let's go scout for wood then we can return to the cave”

Mark looked at the man’s body and gagged a little “S-Shouldn’t we cover up the body or something?” Mark asked.

“You're right, it’s quite the eyesore isn’t it?” Nick looked at Mark and smirked.

Mark crossed his arms and looked at Nick with a very disappointed and upset expression.

“What?” Nick asked sarcastically while smirking.

“Really? You really think making jokes at a time like this is funny?” Mark said, upset.

“Wow your no fun” Nick looked over towards the east and pointed to a couple of trees “I see some logs and a tent over there, let's go check it out” Nick hummed happily and started walking towards it.

Mark just stood there looked towards the dark blue sky and sighed “this is going to be a long week”
The two inspected the tent and returned to the cave shortly after. Nick was carrying several logs while Mark carried four sleeping bags.
“We’re back, found some logs and sleeping bags” Nick dropped the logs on the ground while Mark gently placed the sleeping bags down.

“Thank god, I’m freezing my ass off in here” Rebeca breathed on her hands and rubbed them together, she grabbed a sleeping bag and handed it to Ashley, she then grabbed another one for herself.

“I’ll try to get a fire started, the rest of you get supper ready” Nick ordered while putting the logs in a pile.

“What’s for dinner?” Rebeca asked curiously while getting her sleeping bag ready.

“Bat stew” Nick smirked at her and tried his best not to laugh.

Rebeca sighed and rolled her eyes “You are so fucking gross, no wonder you travel alone”

“canned beans, take it or leave it” He said somewhat annoyed, he then looked over at Mark and whistled to him “Mark that bag beside you has some food in it, grab out some cans”

Mark nodded and opened the bag and looked inside, he found cans of corn, peas and beans, there was also a container of Cram “Oh hey there’s some Cram in here” Mark said while inspecting the can.

“Touch it and you lose that hand” Nick responded with a serious tone, while glaring at him from the corner of his eye.

Mark quickly put the Cram back in the bag and took out some beans then passed them around, once they all had their cans they sat around Nick and watched as he tried making a fire.

Nick cursed and swore angrily as he banged two rocks together, desperately trying to get a fire going “god damn it, start you fucking piece of shit”

With every passing second he became more aggressive with the rocks and with one final hit a few sparks landed on the pile of logs and a small fire began to form.

Nick sighed, tilted his head back and sighed in relief “thank fucking god” he tossed the rocks to the side and crossed his arms.

“I really need to buy some matches”

Once the fire hat got to a decent size the three friends sat around it. Joking, laughing and talking about the adventures they had during the past few months.

Ashley placed her can on the ground and looked over at Nick “So um…Mr John… I mean Nick, how long do you think it will take us to get to Diamond city? I-Including breaks and all”

Nick swallowed his food then spoke “About a month, but with all the raiders, creatures and assholes around the area it may take longer, don’t worry though, we’ll get there” he replied.

“I hope so” Ashley said while smiling “I heard Diamond City is the safest place to be right now”

Nick sighed and looked down at the cave floor for a second and whispered quietly to himself “it sure is”

Moments later, the girls had finished eating and went to bed. Mark, however, decided to stay up a little longer, he sat near the fire and just stared into it, thinking about his life and his future, after a while he stood up and stretched, he looked over at Nick who was still as a statue. “Are you going to bed too?” Mark asked.

Nick didn’t move or turn around to look at Mark. He just continued staring out into the rain, he was silent for a moment before responding “No, I’ll stay up and keep guard in case any raiders come”

Mark found it hard to believe any raiders would be out in this weather but he also felt safe with someone keeping guard “You really think you can stay awake that long?”

“I haven’t slept in seven days, so yes I think I can,” Nick replied.

“Ok…goodnight”

Nick didn’t respond. He just sat there and watched the rain fall. Mark climbed into his red sleeping bag. Once he Was comfortable he closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep.

(12:27 am)

Mark woke to the sound of light rain and the crackling of the fire. He sat up, rubbed his eyes and stretched. Once he felt more awake he got out of his sleeping bag and made his way to the fire. He sat beside it and stared out into the rain. His mind was full of thoughts and memories. He was too distracted by his thoughts to even notice the figure slowly approaching behind him.

“Hey, isn’t it past your bedtime?”

Mark nearly jumped and quickly looked behind him. He sighed in relief when he saw Nick standing behind him. “S-Sorry I couldn’t sleep, just got a lot on my mind…thought you we’re gonna sit here all night and keep guard?”

Nick took a seat near the fire on the opposite side of Mark “I was but decided to try and sleep for once, whatcha thinking about?” He asked curiously.

Mark sighed “Just about how long and dangerous this journey is going to be”

Nick crossed his arms and looked at Mark sternly “That’s not what you’re thinking”

“Yes it is,” Mark said defensively.

“I’m pretty sure you're lying,” Nick said confidently.

“How do you know I’m lying?” Mark replied, somewhat annoyed.

Nick looked out of the cave and stared into the rain “I just..do… be honest, what’s got you awake this late?”

Mark slumped his shoulders “Ok you wanna know the truth?” Nick didn’t respond, he just sat there staring into Mark’s eyes blankly “the truth is… I miss my family, my girlfriend and my…” he took a deep breath then let out a long sigh “I miss my dog S-Sadie”

Nick looked down for a second then back up at Mark “What happened to her? If you don’t mind me asking”

“I um…went to pick some berries for my mom one morning and decided to bring her with me. She was so happy to be outside, she was jumping and running and chasing butterflies…everything was perfect…until…” Mark sniffled and tried to ignore the pain the lump in his throat was causing him. “A feral dog came out of nowhere and attacked me and Sadie, I was able to put the feral down, luckily It didn’t scratch or bite me…but…Sadie didn’t…she had claw marks and bite marks on her, we had enough medical supplies in the house to patch her up but…even if we did…the infection would have still gotten to her and she would have become a feral as well so I…”

Mark wiped away a tear that was slowly running down his cheek. He took a deep breath and sighed “I grabbed my shotgun and I…I made sure she wouldn’t have to suffer…everyday I wonder why it couldn’t have been me that got bit instead of her, why couldn’t I have been the one who is six feet underground beneath a twelve foot tall apple tree?” He placed his hands over his face and began crying into them.

Nick sat there and thought about what to say “I’m…I’m sorry, losing a best friend is the most painful experience a person can experience”

Once Mark was able to control his crying, he stared at the cave floor “H-Have you ever lost a friend?”

Nick was silent for a moment, he just stared into the fire and watched the logs smolder and burn, he let out a long sigh before responding “I’ve lost many friends, more than I can count”

“What was that l-like for you?” Mark asked while wiping away a tear with his sleeve.

Nick didn’t want to answer, his past was the last thing he wanted to talk about, but he knew he couldn’t just say nothing “It was terrible at first…but then…I became used to it”

Mark sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve “I’m sorry” He said apologetically. “Must be scary living that kind of life”

“Not really, I got used to it after a while” Nick sighed and slumped his shoulders, he placed his hands in his lap and stared at the ground “Nothing really scares me…not anymore”

“Come on, there must be something that scares you, what's one thing that really terrifies you?”

“Fine…don’t tell anyone I told you this but um…” Nick sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, he looked out into the rain “I have… Chamelephobia”

Mark looked at him confused “Cham-eel-aphobia? What’s that?”

“Chamelephobia” Nick sighed in embarrassment and regretted even saying the word “It’s a fear of Deathclaws, I’m scared shitless of them”

Mark couldn't help but chuckle a little, he smiled and looked at Nick “That’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Deathclaws are pretty terrifying, you wanna know my biggest fear?”

Nick hesitated at first, but he was hoping it would be something more embarrassing then his “Sure”

Mark’s smile slowly faded away, and he looked back into the fire “I’m afraid of losing the ones I love”

“You want my advice?” Nick asked.

Mark nodded, hoping that whatever Nick would say could help him feel better.

“Don’t love anyone, if you spend the rest of your life not loving or caring about anyone or anything you will never get hurt, trust me”

“Is that why you are the way you are, you have no emotions or feelings?” Mark said a little more aggressively than he wanted.

“I shut my emotions off years ago when I lost my… look, I’m not trying to control your life, but the commonwealth isn’t the kind of place to be emotional in, this place makes Hell look like Heaven, if you like living here your a fucking idiot, people die just so they can get away from it all”

Mark sighed and crossed his arms “I guess that depends on how you look at it” he said sternly.

“I guess so” Nick responded “The commonwealth is the worst!” Nick sighed and rested his chin on the palm of his right hand.

Mark chuckled and gave a slight smile “Even worse than Deathclaws?” He said jokingly.

Nick smirked “Fuck no, nothing is worse than Deatclaws!”

They both laughed, and Nick started to smile “I’ll tell you what, if we survive long enough out here, which would be a miracle, I’ll…I’ll take you to see your parents”

Mark looked at him in disbelief then shook his head “N-No you don’t have to”

“I want to,” Nick said.

“But why?” Mark asked curiously.

Nick took a deep breath “Because I…everyone should spend as much time with their parents as possible” Nick sighed “because you never know if one day…you'll wake up and…they won't be there…and you’ll spend the rest of your life thinking it’s your fault…” a tear slowly ran down his cheek but it was quickly wiped away by his sleeve, he sniffled and tried to smile “anyway what are your parents like?”

“My parents are great” Mark smiled as childhood memories came flooding back to his mind “what about yours, what are your parents like?” Mark asked.

Nick didn’t answer the question, instead he quickly changed the subject “we’ve got a long day ahead of us, you should get some sleep”

“Oh…sure” Mark stood up, yawned and stretched, he began walking towards his sleeping bag, before he could make it five feet away Nick called out to him.

“Mark, if you tell anyone about the Deathclaw thing I will shoot you in the foot, understood?”

Mark laughed and did a two finger salute “Yes sir”

Nick nodded and smiled slightly “Good, now get some sleep, tomorrows gonna be a long journey”

“Hey Nick…thanks” Mark smiled “for helping us, I really appreciate it”

Nick smiled back and nodded “No problem”

(2:48 am)

Mark was having a peaceful sleep, until he was woken up to what sounded like panicked breathing. He couldn’t see anything in the dark but from the sounds of it the person was close by. He felt a little nervous at first, not knowing who the breathing was coming from. But after a few seconds a familiar voice spoke.

“No, please no!” Nick shivered and shook in his sleeping bag “I can’t lose you!” He sat up fast, his breathing was quick and his body was covered in sweat. After a while, he was able to calm himself. His breathing started to slowly calm down.

Once he was relaxed he placed both of his hands on his face and sighed loudly. He just sat there for a moment, after a few seconds he laid down again, before falling asleep he whispered to himself.

“Why does God hate me!”