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THEY LOST COUNT of how long exactly they had been searching. It was long enough to where the night had turned to day and Taylor still wasn't done looking. She persistently insisted that she wasn't about to give up on family.
"Are you sure that she's even over here?" Atlas questioned for what felt like the millionth time. She took a deep breath to control how she responded to this, growing quite tired of his constant questions.
"If I was sure where she was, we wouldn't be out here looking right now," she responded in an irritated tone, trying to keep a calm attitude.
Lana stopped next to her, causing everyone else to follow suit. Her eyes were fixed on several imprints on the ground and she leaned over and raked her fingers across each one.
"Footprints," she pointed out.
"Octavia?" Miller questioned, wondering if this clue could possibly lead them to the girl. Taylor shook her head when she examined the dirt closer.
"These are too big to be Octavia's," she countered, knowing that Octavia wasn't exactly big and those looked like a man's footprints based on the size. Lana straightened back up and sighed, patting down her pants defeatedly. "Let's keep going."
Every single time the thought that she might not actually find Octavia popped into her mind, she pushed it away as far as she could, not willing to face it.
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five years ago june 12, 2144
It was hard for her to contain her excitement as she walked down the hall with her father at her side. Each of them carried a small box of things that they had managed to scrounge up at the redistribution center; most of it being what everyone else considered junk. Her father carried that box and Taylor carried the box of her old clothes that she had grown out of.
They reached the Blakes' door and she reached out a hand and knocked lightly. Aurora answered quickly, ushering them in with urgency. She had the usual stressed out aura that she typically possessed, so it was nothing new to them.
They set the boxes down on the table and were greeted by the smile of a now twelve-year-old girl. She rushed over and hugged Taylor first, who gladly pulled the girl into her arms. "Happy Birthday, O!" she greeted while beaming. The girl let go and laughed, moving to hug her father.
As she did this, Taylor turned around and grabbed what had been making her so excited about this visit out of the box she brought. Once she had said hello to Joseph, he went to speak with Aurora on the other side of the room.
