Chapter 2 (Feels Like Falling)

Chapter 2: Feels like Falling

Rudolph Alinsky

Estimated, April 2025

About 35 months after outbreak

California

Season 1

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We pulled off of the road somewhere in practically the middle of nowhere. You could tell it was still California by the feel of the humid air. I carried Airianna as we went to have lunch under the trees in the shade. Juna ran in front of me, excited to finally get out of the car. To her, this was just a road trip. I knew to Airianna it meant more. I know now that it was wrong of me to take her from her home like that. She was powerless to even run away, I practically kidnapped her. I just needed a break. I needed to be in a place where her safety was only in my hands and no one else's.

We ate canned beans like we had been for the past three days. I tried to encourage Airianna to eat her meal but she refused. It brought back memories of our time after Loveland, before The Circus. Bittersweet memories.

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Airianna Alinsky

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Evelyn had me on oxycodone for the pain but we were out of that now, Dad hadn't brought much with in fear that I might end up becoming addicted. Being without the painkillers made everything feel so much slower, like every step I tried to take or every breath of air that went through my lungs took years. I lost my sense of time and the whole world became a blur. I wonder how many times I ended up passing out or if I instead just had this lifeless look on my face. I didn't know that any of this would affect Juna the way that it did. I thought she'd been too young to even notice, but it scared her. Seeing her sister, someone she looks up to, in so much pain and not being able to do anything to help her, she'd carry those memories for her whole life.