Hope On The Rocks/Issue 102

This is Issue 102 of Hope On The Rocks, entitled "He Can't Run".

This issue is Miles-centric.

802, He Can't Run
Al made me realize how wrong I have been. I don’t belong with Kristen, Lia is the one for me. She always was, and always will be. I am currently sitting in the room I got. We’ve split up in two houses. I’m sharing room with Tex. Lia is sitting next to me, looking at me. I’m not sure if she is mad or hopeful. Probably both. “Lia...” I begin, not looking at her, embarresed of my actions. “Al made me see something... I shouldn’t have got together with Kristen, it was a mistake. I’m sorry.” Lia doesn’t answer, she just continues looking at me. It makes me a little uncormfortable. “I want to be with you, Lia.” I say, now looking at her. Lia tries to hold back a smile, without success. She laughs, hugs me and says “I want to be wit you too.” I smile, hugging her.

So apparently the boat can’t hold more than ten people. That’s a problem since we’re 19 people. Everyone is sitting in the living room of the house I’m sleeping in. We’re discussing who should get spots, and who should stay behind. “Can’t we just go twice? Like, Kevin takes one group to Scotland and then go back to get the rest?” Ridley says, looking around. “That engine is busted, man.” Gord says, chewing on a piece of jerky. “Doubt it’ll even make it to Scotland.” “Well, can’t we just...” Ridley begins, insisting that they all should be on the boat. I agree with him about that. “Cut it out.” J-Tech barks, a smug grin on his face. “Room for 9 people excluding me.” “Fuck you.” Gord mutters. I look at Lia, not liking this discussion. I don’t really care if I get a spot or not. Of course I want to be with the others, but I’ll still be with some of them. “Wanna take a break?” I ask her, and she nods. We then discretely get up, leaving the house. Outside, Axel is sitting, looking at the boat. We go over to him, and he turns his head as he hears us. “Got tired of all that too?” Axel asks, turning his head to the boat agian. “Yeah.” I say, sitting down with Lia on the ground next to Axel. “You wanna know who gets those spots?” Axel mutters, not taking his eyes away from the boat. We don’t answer, but just look at Axel, awaiting his statement. “The young ones.” Axel continues. “They don’t care about us old people. Me, Geary, Doug, Chad, Margaret. They don’t care about us.” I look worried at Axel. “I’m sure you’ll get a spot, Axel.” Lia says, comforting her. “They can’t leave a man with no legs behind.” Axel fakes a laugh. “You think Chad’s in charge here? J-Tech is running this. He decides who comes with him on the boat. He’s got something on Chad, and that secret will be what kills me.” Axel says, and turns his head to us. “It’ll be what kills the two of you as well.” “Axel, I...” I say, not sure how to react to this. “I’ve been thinking of leaving the group.” Axel suddenly says. He is cleary depressed. “You wanna know why I haven’t? I have no legs. I can’t survive on my own. Hell, I can’t even survive in a group.” “Axel...” I try again, without success. “I’m useless, kids. Nobody would be sorry if I died.” Axel mutters, now sounding more sad than angry. “That’s not true.” Lia says, laying a hand on Axel’s arm. “You know a lot about medicine, tools, weapons. If it hadn’t been for you and your knowledge about asthma medication, Holly would be dead right now.” That’s true. Holly had something similair to what we think was an asthma attack a week ago. Axel saved her by giving her some pills he had stored. They were originally for nausea, but apparently Axel knew what was in them, and knew they could save Holly. Axel smiles, flattered. “Yeah, and you fixed my gun yesterday. You’re valuabe to the group.” I say, helping Lia comforting the man. Axel smiles, and looks at us. “Let’s get inside and see if there’s three free spots, shall we?”

Deaths

 * None

Credits

 * Miles Vance
 * Ridley Johnson
 * Lia Camper
 * Axel Durwin
 * Janick Teccer
 * Gord Rivera