13 – History (3)

Jake was still stuck on the fact that people in Jefferson were taught a different version of history. After leaving the store, Axel invited Jake into his van to hang out and cuddle for a bit. He accepted. The two laid in each other's arms on the bed as Jake grilled Axel on historical events.

“What did they teach you about 9/11?"

Axel rubbed his forehead. “The democrats were secretly working with the Taliban to destroy the US. They convinced them to hijack planes and crash them into the Twin Towers.”

“What!” That didn’t make any sense. “Why would democrats want to work with terrorists?”

“To destroy the United States and turn it into a communist country. They were terrible people.”

Jake agreed that democrats were terrible people- for everything they let republicans get away with. “All of that is wrong. If we want to point fingers, it’s republicans. They were the ones in charge. They kept bombing Iraq for no reason, so Iraq got back at us with 9/11.” Personally, Jake didn’t blame them.

“Who bombs countries for no reason?”

“Republicans. They started every war.”

“What wars?”

“The Cold War. The Vietnam War. The Iraq War. All four of the World Wars. They all started when a republican was in office.”

“Democrats were in office during the first two world wars, and the cold war,” Axel said.

“That was before the parties switched. Back then, democrats were technically republicans and republicans were democrats.”

“The parties never switched. That's just a myth the left uses to defend themselves."

“How are you defending the right?”

“I’m not. They both suck. Look where the extremes took us. We either live in a communist society, or a fascist one.”

“Communism’s great.” Free healthcare. Free housing. Free money. What was wrong with that?

“I’m not saying fascism is better. But there’s gotta be some catch to all that free stuff you get. Isn’t your government in so much debt, they can’t take in immigrants anymore?”

Jake had heard the news on that. “It’s only temporary.”

“And that people there are having more kids out of boredom, because they have nothing to work towards? And now there’s not enough housing to go around?”

There was still enough housing for everyone, but families now had to share their government-run apartments with other families. It was another reason why Jake’s father had wanted to leave. It had gotten to the point where the government forced people who owned houses to let other families move in. “They’re finding ways to accommodate everyone.”

“What’s living in that free government housing like, by the way?” There was a hint of snark in Axel’s voice. Like he assumed the conditions were awful.

Jake didn’t know. His father had always been able to afford a house. He said he grew up in government housing, and vowed to never go back to living in it. “I always lived in a house my dad owned. But if government housing is as bad as you think, more people would get jobs to buy their own houses.”

“Or they’ve become too lazy, because they never have to work.”

“You’re homeless. How are you against free housing?”

“I’m not. I’m just saying, no place is perfect.” Axel yawned.

At least they weren’t being fed misinformation. Or having crucial historical events omitted completely. “Did you learn about the Trail of Tears?”

“This again?” Axel sounded tired.

“Maple hadn’t heard of it.”

“Neither have I. It sounds depressing. Can we talk about something not depressing?”

“What about the Stonewall Riots?”

“What the hell is that?”

“You’re gay and you haven’t heard of Stonewall?”

“Is it part of gay history or something?”

“That’s one way of describing it.”

“Does Jefferson look like the kind of place that would teach people gay history?” But Axel typed it into his phone. He let out a chuckle, and showed Jake his blank screen. “Now I know you’re making stuff up.”

Jake gaped at the screen. This government was suppressing information on such a huge, pivotal event in the fight for gay rights? “That’s fucked up.” He searched Stonewall on his own phone, and showed Axel all the results and information that came up.

“Huh.” Axel read the blurb about it with a blank expression. “I guess our government really is rigging our searches.”

His nonchalance over it astounded Jake. How was he so calm about all of this? “Aren’t you upset?”

“A little. But it’s not surprising. That sounds like something our government would do.” Axel grabbed his box of 59.99 cereal, opened it, and shoved a handful of it in his mouth. He held it towards Jake. “Want some?”

Jake could smell the sugar wafting out of the box. “No thanks.”

~~~~~

An hour later, Sebastian and Ellie sat against pine trees. No sign of Tibby, and no sign of a trail. Also, the darkness was reaching a point where it would be too hard to see. Ellie had already turned on her flashlight. Sebastian would rather preserve his watch’s battery, on the off chance he got a signal and could call for help.

Hopefully his parents were looking for them. Sebastian had to close his eyes again. Pretend he wasn’t in the middle of the wilderness. Like at Camp Hope. He tried to forget about that place. Tried to fill his thoughts with Axel instead. With anything. But the memories kept intruding.

“Do you know what to do about food?” Ellie asked.

Sebastian had gone hunting with his father in this area when he was younger. He hated it. Not only that, but they didn’t have a gun anyway. They didn't even have a knife. “Starve, I guess.”

“Are we gonna have to sleep out here?”

“Probably.” Sebastian didn’t want to think about it. The only thing worse than having to sleep in The Hole, was having to sleep out in the middle of the forest alone. At least The Hole kept him away from predators, and he could call for help if a snake bit him. Sebastian’s breath hitched at the memory of that snake crawling over him in the night. No one would have been there to help him…

Like people were able to when he was actually bit on one of those hikes. His heart raced at the memory. That counselor sent him to the infirmary so he wouldn’t die, but not a single person showed sympathy. It served him right, they all said, for liking men. More shock treatment. More drugs. More lectures on how he was a disgusting piece of shit.

A heaviness filled Sebastian’s chest. He tried breathing deeply again, but he found that he couldn't. Instead, his breathing grew shallow. Like he was suffocating.

No. Not like. He was suffocating. Sebastian clutched at his chest, gasping. “I have to get out of here.”

“No shit.”

“Seriously. I have to get out of these woods. I can’t be in here anymore. I’m… I’m going to die!”

“Sebastian!”

Sebastian ran, heart pounding in his ears. He tried to escape the trees, but there were only more trees. His mouth was dry, like when he had to do those hikes. And now he was back, doing those hikes. He couldn’t stop to rest. What if he dropped down to Rank 1 and had to go back to not having a tent?

It was too dark to clearly see the ground. Sebastian tripped over something, and landed face-first in the dirt. His entire body ached. Always aching. No time to recover before being set to do some other physical activity.

Now he really couldn’t breathe. And the amplified sound of his heart beating must mean death was approaching. His mind flew through all the things he regretted. The biggest regret was the mistake that landed him in Camp Hope. The second biggest?

How he treated Axel. Hell, he wouldn’t even be in this mess if he hadn’t been such an asshole. How could he die, without apologizing first?

Sebastian pulled out his phone. If anyone found it, they might take it to somewhere with a signal. The texts would eventually go through.

A tear fell as he began typing a series of final messages to Axel.

I'm dying…