The Unfortified We: Save Samuel

Chapter 5: The Barrier Slips

We sat there, sprawled out on the couch, my exasperated face staring up at the ceiling. My eyes were still plastered open after the last hour of frantic searching. Jes was asleep, his breathing deep and slow, his head hanging over the arm of the couch. He looked so peaceful; I envied him for that.

Samuel sat between Jes and I chewing contently on a shiny red apple. His blue eyes closed like he was savoring the taste as he took another giant bite with a loud crunch. I tore my gaze off the flat ceiling and watched Samuel chew; I swear I hadn't blinked in about thirty minutes. 

He paused his crunching and looked over at me to give me a simple shrug.

I let my head fall limply backward so I could stare at the ceiling again.

Five minutes ago he had appeared in the doorway to his bedroom, the room we had started searching for the third time. Tear filled eyes, he looked so innocent; it was impossible to blame him for disappearing. It really wasn't his fault anyway; the idiot named Jes had forgotten to check the downstairs bathroom.

"I spilled the soap all over the floor," Samuel told me when I had asked, he was still fighting back a few sobs then.

He had apparently come out of the bathroom after cleaning up the liquid soap while we were upstairs. He couldn't find either of us and had a little boy breakdown from the rush of fear.

He seemed fine now, the tear stains on his cheeks about faded and the red eyes less noticeable. Jes was smart enough to distract him a little... if handing the child and apple was very distracting at all. He had simply shoved it into Sam's hands when we got to the kitchen and commanded him to eat.

Maybe he actually doesn't have a soul...

I looked over at him sleeping on the other end of the couch beside Sam. His mouth was hung slightly open and his eyes were closed lightly. I smirked and took hold of his arm that was draped over the back of the couch and bent it at the elbow so that his open hand covered his face. 

People's faces are creepy when they're asleep, I don't care how peaceful they supposedly look.

They look kinda like...

Fish.

But now Jes' face just looked like a hand.... because his hand was indeed covering his face.

Sam was watching me with a weird expression on his face, probably because I was now giggling at how strange Jes looked, his hand draped over his face.

When my humor finally got a hold of itself, I looked up at the clock

7:14 PM

I groaned, time was moving so slowly, I needed something to do, something that would help me let go of all this stress. I leaned forward and picked up the TV remote from the coffee table and switched the screen on. Flipping through the channels until a news station showed up. Might as well stay on the same page as everyone else.

I pushed myself up off the couch and turned to walk into the kitchen. On the counter next to the sink was a basket full of apples. I picked one up, the smooth surface was cold to the touch and only grew colder when I ran it under a stream of water. 

Shutting off the faucet I walked back to the couch, my feet falling silent on the carpet. I bit into the apple and fell back down on my end of the sofa. I liked watching the news almost as much as I liked watching fictional shows. At least the news was informative and useful, not just a story.

The man on the screen was Caucasian, his graying hair participating in what we humans call a "receding hair-line." His slightly crooked nose was thin as were his lips; his eyes were blue and angled in a manner that made him look quite friendly. When the camera switched, I was left staring at a city home, the walls cracked and the windows bashed in.