READJUSTMENT- CHAPTER EIGHT

The next day at about noon, Jessie stood in the main lobby of the mall, with Lex, Pride, Ellie, and Amber there to see her off. She shook Amber's hand when the girl approached her.

"Good luck," Amber said sincerely. Patting the small brown pack Jessie had slung over her arm, she added, "That should hold you until you get home."

"Thank you," Jessie said. She then turned to Pride, who shook her hand warmly before putting his arm around her. "Thank you for everything," she said gratefully to him.

"No problem," Pride replied softly.

Jessie then turned to Lex, who stood against a pillar with his arms crossed. She held out a hand to him. "It was nice to meet you, Lex," she told him.

Lex looked at her hand for a brief moment, and then extended his own to shake. "You too," he said, and he actually meant it too.

Finally, Jessie turned to Ellie. She had saved her best friend for last, because Ellie was the hardest to say goodbye to. They shared another hug- one of many the last two days- and then held hands as they said their goodbyes.

"I'll miss you," Ellie said, as if reminding her.

Jessie smiled. "You too," she agreed. "But I think you were right- the only way for me to start a new life is to go home." She squeezed her friend's hand. "Thanks," she said.

Ellie gave her another hug before Jessie turned to walk out of the mall. Before leaving she announced, "I'll come back one day." Then, with a wave mostly to Ellie, she went out the door and into the streets that led her home.

~*~*~*~*~

Flashback: Jessie's city, a couple of years earlier (same setting as Chapter 2)

They were going to pick the lock to the door of her apartment, as they had done for all the others on the floor- not having the heart to break them down- but found it already unlocked. With flashlights to help them see in the dark of night, they made a quick sweep of the rooms. They were looking not for survivors, but for the opposite- the bodies that their fellow teenagers had been too scared or sad to deal with.

The previous owners had obviously abandoned this apartment, so there was no need to leave some kind of explanation for someone who might return. Careful to not disturb anything in the house, they finally opened the door to the master bedroom. There, lying on the bed, was the body of a man in his late thirties. He still looked almost as though he was sleeping- the death couldn't have occurred more than two days prior to the discovery of the body.

With a quick signal to one another, the teenagers gently lifted the body off of the bed and carried it out to the hall. They laid it in a cart that, so far, only held one other body- that of an older woman from a neighboring apartment. The boys closed the door of apartment 108C behind them and moved on to the three other empty residences on that floor. Their mission completed (and one other body found), they took the cart to the elevator that a friend was operating and exited the building.

These bodies would be cremated in a mass grave with dozens of other recently deceased adults. This was horrible, gruesome- all the teenagers knew that. But it was the only way to get rid of all the corpses, to keep them from rotting away in abandoned houses. They could start a new life after this.

~*~*~*~*~

Present day setting

Jessie stood at the entrance to her hometown. All in all, it looked mostly the same as before. No new buildings had been erected, and nothing out of the ordinary was occurring.

But then again, what did I expect? She thought. Soldiers at the outskirts of town and half the city torn to pieces?

Gathering up her strength, Jessie started moving into the city again. The streets weren't crowded, but they were different than they had been when she'd left years ago. Instead of all the passersby running in a panic, they walked calmly in the streets, talking to each other and going about their business. Nothing was really different- except for the startling lack of adults about the place.

Jessie finally found herself in front of Apartment 108C, her old home. At first, she reached to her secret hiding place for a key, but then realized she'd probably left the door unlocked in her hurry. Trying the doorknob, she found she was right.

The door opened in what seemed like slow motion, and for a few moments Jessie just stared inside at her apartment. Everything was the same, with the exception of a few opened doors that had been closed when she departed so long ago. Even the brick, and the window glass surrounding it, still littered the white carpeted living room floor.

Jessie couldn't stand out in the hallway forever. No one really expected her to go back to living her life exactly the way she had before, but that was just what she intended to do. She walked purposefully into the apartment and shut the door behind her.

No one knew what would happen next. But for now, being home was the only thing that counted. And Jessie was finally home.

AN: I'm done! And right on schedule too (yeah, I had a planned ending date all along). I really hope you liked it. Please give me feedback, and when I ever write another story, I hope to see you there!

Saena/ Seashell (depending on where you're reading this)