All The Pretty Ghosts (The Never Series Book 1) Jamie Campbell (best life changing books .TXT) 📖

“Hey, Oliver,” I replied nonchalantly. My heart raced with him so close and so… alive. He was there, he was okay, he didn’t look to have any cuts or injuries. Oliver was whole, my venture into the city was worth that knowledge alone.

“I’m so glad to see you here,” he started, a grin spread wide across his face. “Are you staying? Please say yes.”

“I ran out of food, I’m only here for supplies.”

The lines around his eyes crinkled with disappointment. I hated doing that to him. He deserved so much more. “I can help you find supplies. But will you stay for a little bit? I want to show you around. You did come all this way, after all.” He smiled hopefully. How many times did I have to knock him down before he remained down?

Obviously once more, at least.

“I don’t want to be gone long. I really just need my stuff and then I’ll leave.”

“How about I do you a deal? You spend one hour with me, doing whatever I want, and I’ll get you food to take back. How does that sound?” He shoved his hands in his pockets as he waited for my answer.

The decision should have been easy. I didn’t know where I would find food in the broken city and I didn’t know what kind of negotiation was required to be able to take anything with me. Oliver did. I should have been all over the deal and ready to sign on the dotted line.

But I wasn’t.

Staying for even an hour in the city was akin to torture. I wouldn’t be able to ignore all the pain and suffering of the poor children left behind by the Event. I didn’t know if I was strong enough to handle it.

I probably wasn’t.

I would never be that strong.

But I did need food. And a part of me really did want to stay with Oliver and see what was so important he wanted to show me. We had been best friends once, I still felt a traitor by turning my back on him now.

“Deal,” I finally replied, not nearly as enthusiastically as he would have hoped. “But just for one hour. I have to get back.” I didn’t have to get back. There was nothing for me at the house on the hill, but it was far better than staying in the city.

“One hour it is, come on.” Oliver started walking in the same direction he had approached from. I followed closely, not wanting to lose him in the destruction that was once regal buildings.

We took the route that would have once taken us to our schools. In my mind I could picture how everything used to look. Brownstone buildings lined the perfectly tarred street with proud green trees lining the way.

Now, there was rubble to my right and rubble to my left as we walked down the center of the street avoiding loose debris. It was crazy to think so much damage could be done in little more than a year.

It would never have happened without the Event.

“We’re going to the school?” I asked as we entered through the old school gates. One had been torn off its hinges, the other screeched when it moved. If Principal Decky was still here to see it, he would have cried over the conditions. He was always so proud of his school.

“Not the school, but the hall at the side,” Oliver explained. He led me around the building, just like he said. The hall we entered used to be the performance center. It was a large building with a raised stage at one end and not much else. I had played the lead in two dance recital performances there.

Seeing the hall now made me want to break down and weep. There were children of all ages everywhere, somewhere amongst them an infant was crying with high-pitched screams. Makeshift beds and cardboard partitions had been set up haphazardly to give some semblance of privacy.

It didn’t work.

There was no escaping any of it.

We walked through as haunted faces stared back at me. Children as young as two and three were fending for themselves. They were far too young to know how to survive, especially in this world. Tears started to sting my eyes but I wouldn’t let them fall. I had to be numb, I just had to be.

It was the only way to survive.

A child of about five almost knocked me over as he ran past. I jumped out of the way and gripped the wall to keep my balance. He disappeared into the crowd just as quickly as he had buzzed by.

“It’s a bit chaotic in here,” Oliver said apologetically. He wasn’t kidding. There were people everywhere. Some were merely sitting in private misery on the floor with their meager possessions. Others were bustling about intent on some task or another. But it was the ones just standing, looking lost, that made my heart contract.

“Do all these kids live here?” I asked, because just the thought of it made me want to run in the other direction and forget everything I had seen.

“Some do. Some are just here for the food or company.”

“Is anyone looking out for the young kids?”

The sad look on Oliver’s face answered me before his words did. “Everyone’s doing their best but nobody was really equipped for this, you know? It’s pretty hard looking after others when you can’t even do it for yourself.”

We passed a set of double doors that were wide open. I jumped when I saw the ghost standing in the space between. She was probably about forty-something and staring intently at a little girl curled up asleep on the floor. The kid was aged about four, maybe five at the most.

I didn’t make eye contact with her, I couldn’t.