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Chapter 4 - A trip down memory lane

Casey looked at the ground deep in thought. It had been two days since Dr Lyla had died. They had buried her and true to her word Casey carried the satchel close to her chest, she protected it at all costs. Kai and Stephanie had the packs on and Anna was walking by herself. They were all silent. The Grief that Kai and Stephanie had been feeling was now embedded on their faces. Anna, who hadn't really known Dr Lyla or Stella, was trying to make conversation. The others didn't feel like talking. Casey figured that Stephanie must have cried enough tears to last a lifetime but she was still crying herself to sleep. Kai seemed lost in his thoughts and Anna had to say his name three times to get him to pay attention when she asked if she could have some water. Anna had given up on conversation a few hours ago and was walking in silence. Dr Lylas funeral was playing in Casey's head she remembers digging a hole with her hands then Kai silently joined her Anna joined ten minutes later and then Stephanie helped together they put dr Lylas body in and covered it then they spoke a few words. "I didn't really know Dr Lyla very well but I know she was a great person to save Casey and sacrifice herself for us." Anna says. Kai clears his throat
"I've known Dr Lyla since we got to the bunker. We were exhausted and Stella was sick. She helped Stella and brought her back from being a small pale little girl to being almost healthy but the damage from the illness was enough to keep her progress slow most of the other doctors wanted to-to" He takes a deep shaky breath and continues. " To make more room for other patients, but Dr Lyla believed and stopped them. She was a kind person who believed in others and she saved Stellas life." He wiped his eyes and helped Casey put the dirt over the body. Now they were faced with a huge rock wall that stretched on for kilometers on each side. Anna grones. "More walking"
"Maybe" Kai says with a grin on his face "there is a cave" he points to a gap between the rocks. They enter the cave with caution. As soon as they enter Casey feels light headed. As they go further into the cave Casey feels like the world is  ebbing into black. Stephanies knees hit the ground as she falls into the black that Casey was fighting to stay out of. "Steph, are you ok?" Kai says faintly. His knees hiit the ground and he crawls towards Stephanie before he falls still. Anna slides down the rock screaming and crying. "What's going on!?" She yells, putting her hands to her head, and Reed till crying. Casey couldn't fight it anymore. As the world gives way to black.

She was back in Melbourne, It was exactly how she remembered it. Tall skyscrapers but it was before they had attacked. It was beautiful. She wanted more than anything to be six, eating her ice-cream while Amanda did dance class, then dad would take her to the Melbourne Museum. She smiled at the thought. Suddenly the scene changed and they were everywhere attacking people left and right. Casey didn't remember the terrible screams, baby's crying, kids screaming for their parents. Terror, she hadn't remembered the blood how they attacked the parents before grabbing the kids. A woman was pulled screaming away from a pram by one and enougher swoops down, seconds later flying up, the pram empty. Casey wanted it to stop. Using all her brain power she could muster and pull herself out of that reality.

Breathing heavily, Casey looks up, she is lying on the ground in a cave, light is streaming from a torch lying near Kai's head. He along with Anna and Stephanie were still out. Crawling forward she grabs the touch and shone it around. That's when she noticed the reddish tinge to the air. Some sort of gas. She stands up and hurry's over to Anna and shakes her, Anna's head lolls from side to side. Starting to panic she tries shaking Kai. He sits up breathing heavily. "What happened" Casey Shrugs. She then points to Stephanie and Anna with the torch. During the next few minutes they managed to wake Stephanie, she woke up screaming. They couldn't wake Anna up but they knew she was alive. Casey grabbed her legs and Kai her arms. The black was coming back; they had to get out and fast. Stephanie took the packs. They decided to go back. They didn't know how far the cave went. After five minutes they saw light. As soon as they were out they breathed in the nice cool crease air and slowly the black went away. Anna woke with a start, she then proceeded to cry. Kai and Stephanie were lost in their memory's, so Casey most reluctantly sits down beside Anna. That night when sitting around the fire. Anna blurts out "I want to talk about what I saw" This surprised Casey she didn't know how to respond. Stephanie and Kai also looked stumped.
"Ok then" Steph says calmly. "Come on tell us" Anna nods and gulps, opens her mouth and closes it again.

"To explain, I should start when they come. I was 8 and my brother Noah was 12. They took the men first then Noah whispered to me to take Mum and run. He was going to distract them." Silent tears were running down her face as she continued to tell the story. " They took him," Anna's voice broke but she continued. " I told Mum to run. I didn't tell her who was doing the distraction. We hid in an alleyway until we knew they were gone, so we decided it was safest to go to Victoria. It took us two years to get from New South Wales to Victoria. We met Kai, Stephanie, Stella and their mum. Stella was sick. Not very sick but getting there. She had a cold and it spread around quickly, our mums were in charge of getting food everyday. Leaving us to take care of her. One day when Kai got it. Kai couldn't help. Stephanie was too scared and I was too young. They took Stephanie and Kai's mum first" Kai and Stephanie looked away, tears welled up in Stephanie's eyes. "Then we watched as they.. they" Casey put her hand on Anna's lap and nodded. "They speared her, it was horrible," No one knew what to say. "Casey, why don't you go?" Kai eventently says. So Casey tells them what she saw.
"It must have been horrible," Stephanie says. Then Stephanie went.
"I saw the same thing as Anna"
Kai nods "Diddo, but I also saw," he broke off. Stephanie looks away obviously knowing what he was talking about. So he continues "When they attacked we were living in a small town. I was 10 and Steph was 9. We went out for ice cream to celebrate Stella going to 3 year old kinder. Steve stayed at home. He called us to tell us what was happening so we left, Without him. We traveled slowly because Stella was really sick."
They spent the rest of the night in silence. When it was finally dark Casey crawled into the tent and sat next to Anna.
"Are you ok?
"Yeah, I'll be alright"
Casey made a face
"Fine, I'm not ok. Whatever weird gas that was in the cave was horrible. It made me relive the day my brother and dad died while trying to save me. Then when my mum died. It was all my fault!
"I can promise you Anna this isn't your fault."
"They were going to spear me, but my mum stood in front of me.
Casey didn't know what to say, so she just hugged Anna while quiet sobs came from her.
"I'm going to bed"
"Ok goodnight"
"Goodnight"