ᏟᎾᏒᏒuᏢᏆᎬᎠ ᎠᎬᏟᎥsᎥᎾᏁs

ChApTeR - 11

He licked his lips. "I'm smart and you're... smart in your own way. I think we're gonna be fine."

Zadia laughed. "Even when we're close to death, you can't give me a compliment without insulting." She dug into her sports bra, getting his cellphone. "Still no signal and the phone is almost dead."

"We were supposed to be home two hours ago. I'm sure Adam and Lynn are doing everything they can to find us." The ringing in his ear was getting worse each minute. "Do you know how to use a compass?" He asked and Zadia shook her head no. "This is what you do. Place the compass flat on your palm, with the direction of travel arrow pointing towards where you want to go." He explained, the compass in his hand. "We want to go north, so we're gonna twist the dial so that the orienting arrow lines up with the red end of the magnetic needle. Once both arrows align, you can walk in the direction it's telling you."

"Don't do that," Zadia whispered.

"Do what?"

"Teach me things that I don't know about, because you think you're gonna die. You can't die. You can't leave me out here all by myself. If you do, I'm gonna bring you back and kill you all over again."

"I'll be sure not to die then." He whispered as though he had a choice in the matter. They stared at each other quietly, their arms so close that they could feel the heat from each other's bodies. Zadia raised her hand, her fingertips brushing against his eyebrow.

"I missed a spot." She said lowly.

Roman gulped at their closeness, blurry eyes wandering to her lips and then her hair. She had dirt and twigs attached to it. He didn't know if he should point it out or not. "I can barely feel it." He backed away, letting her hand fall. "It's getting dark."

Zadia looked away, going straight for the duffel bag. "I'll take out the flashlight then." She said and did exactly that, turning it on, and placing it under the sheet so it wouldn't alert people of their surroundings. "What's it like having a sibling?"

"It's a lot of responsibility, especially if you're the eldest," Roman answered. "Making a bond it's easy... but keeping it for years on gets hard, mostly when you all grow up. You fight a lot and you go through a lot with them, and it's such a relief watching them grow into a better version of you. But it also hurts a lot when they make bad decisions."

"Do you consider yourself a good big brother?" She asked him.

"No." He replied truthfully. "I... I went through a lot as a child and somewhere down the road, I treated my siblings like shit. Though my trauma isn't an excuse... It fucked me up a lot." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know why I told you all that."

"Probably because you were tired of holding all that in." Zadia frowned. "Wait, you said siblings? I thought you only had one sister."

"I do and a little brother... or at least I think of him as one. We all grew up together. It's... complicated. My family is complicated."

Zadia snorted. "I get it. I come from a complicated family too, remember."

"How can I forget?" He chuckled.

Zadia tilted her head, suddenly thinking of something. "When we first met, you said I looked familiar. Did we meet or something? Did you know me from before this whole mess?"

The corners of Roman's lips raised into a small smile. "It's a funny and long story. I'll only tell you about it when we get out of here."

"I'll hold you to it then," Zadia said and picked the duffel bag up, placing it on the log so she could lean up onto it. She looked at the time on the phone and sighed. "It's officially eight o'clock. I was supposed to take my second insulin shot, an hour ago."

Roman moved his legs forward and scratched the back of his head. "I'll find you some berries to eat in the morning. Hopefully, it'll help balance out your sugar levels. How do you feel now?"

"I feel pain everywhere, but it's nothing I can't handle. How about you?"

"Just a little pain, I feel fine." He lied.

Zadia rolled her eyes. "Liar." She whispered. "You're eyes keep shutting, it's okay for you to sleep. I'll be fine staying up alone."

"No, you won't. You'll get paranoid and most likely do something stupid." He said. "I've seen plenty of people do it before. I'll stay up. You sleep."

"I'm not as stupid as you think I am, Roman. You said you could have a concussion, so I know you're in way more pain than you let on." Zadia put the phone back into her bra and covered herself with the blanket. "We'll both stay up. Four pairs of eyes are better than two, right?"

"I don't think you're stupid." He told her and then averted his gaze to the night sky, looking at the stars. Zadia smiled but said nothing so he wouldn't take it back. She followed his gaze and the both of them relaxed a bit, preparing for the strangest night they would ever have. They hoped they'd survived it.

Not edited. Excuse any errors and point them out. Thank you!