Chapter 12: The Miracle
Grace Peters
The sunlight of the afternoon rushed through the window of the cabin, lighting up the dust particles in the air. Grace found it very pleasant; the feeling that ran down her spine actually seeing the rays of sunshine in the air. This feeling in a time such as this felt...dirty. Everyone was dropping dead around her. Leo was injured... No one knew where Jared was... Ashley was dead... And Grace almost felt happy.
Winston set a few paper plates that he had found around the dining room table, without a look of worry on his face. He gazed back to the rest of them, sitting on the couches around the room. Sebastien was still clutching his cheek. Katherine could only be seen staring blankly at the wall across from her. Noah was pacing back and forth next to the bookshelf next to the window. Laura was sitting next to Sebastien, asking him over and over if he wanted something for his face. He denied it every time.
"You know, it's dinner time." Winston spoke up, setting another of the plates on the table. "I found a bag of pretzels and some fruit roll-ups in the cabinet. The milk is all spoiled and the fruit is rotten, but most of the food is good." The only response he lifted out of anyone was a tender smile from Kate. Winston sighed. "Just because everyone's going crazy don't mean we don't get hungry. Come eat something guys!"
Surprisingly, Noah was the first one to approach the dinner table after a few seconds of waiting. He grabbed the bag of pretzels and poured a few of them out onto a paper plate, sitting down at the side of the table. As he shoved a few of them past his lips, he gave a glance to the rest of the people in the room.
"How many plates do I gotta set out?" Winston asked to anyone who would respond. "How many of us are there? Eight? Nine, I suppose...with Jared."
"Ten." Grace replied, getting up and approaching Noah at the table. She sat down beside him and could see the faintest of smiles on his mouth. "We have Leo too. And Natalie's probably not in an eating mood."
The boy smiled. "They'll all come back. I know it." He ran to the cupboard and set the ninth and tenth plates down on the table.
Gradually, one by one, the other members of the group stood up and approached the dinner table as their hungers increased passed the point of comfort. First Kate, then Laura, and finally Sebastien.
Grace, in a show of friendship, picked up the bag of pretzels and began to set a few of them on each of the peoples' plates. When Sebastien received his, he turned slightly to the side and sighed. "Sorry I called you a bitch. I was just angry."
"I forgive you." She replied, leaning in closer to him.
"That's good to hear." He said, turning back to his food. "It wasn't that great of a first impression."
Grace grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around again. "I'm letting it slide this once, but don't do it again. Regardless of what you think, I can hold my own."
He looked a bit angry once again, but passed it off and fought to pull himself away from her. "Aye aye, Cap'n."
When she sat back down, Winston called attention to the table before they all began to eat from their plates. "Ain't we gonna say grace?" He asked them all.
Grace was caught off guard for a moment, as she always was when her name was used as the word it came from. She raised her plate in the air, trying to compensate for the boy's misunderstanding. "Grace!" She exclaimed, trying to help him. Most likely, he was too young to understand that not everyone said grace.
"Grace." A few of them repeated, with Katherine among them. It was the first word Grace had heard the woman say. Her voice was weak, as if it were about to break. Something about her expression made her want to help the woman.
