Not Unique

Family

As I crawl my way to a path I think should get me to the second main office, I pass another entrance to the vent and it shows a classroom with no one in it. As I drag my body to go over the enclosed vent, my lights catch the silhouette of a girl. I call out to her without even thinking.

She turns around me, her eyes in panic and she looks around frantically, looking for my voice and she visibly relaxes when she sees me.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Help"

Okay, so the girl's name is Fiona and she said she was quick enough to get herself a classroom while other students had run out of their classes. She had covered the blinds, set some tables to block the entrance, and then secured the blinds. It seemed someone hadn't forgotten the school drills.

She had set up a small fortress and looked through her mate's stuff and found a blankie, snacks, and water.

"You can stay here with me, I don't have anyone else anyway," Fiona said as she crossed her legs and shrugged her shoulders. The only light coming from my torch was now set on the floor between us. I take the torch and I'm about to put it off when she stops me "Can you leave it on? It's better than the dark" Her voice breaks as she looks at the torch like it's her last line of hope. We should probably not be wasting battery but I set the torch back down and reduced it to low light.

"Happy?" I tilt my head to look for her face and I see her let out a content hmm and settle back down. I love seeing people smile, it gives me a sense of happiness.

"My mom would be making baked potato and Tahini sauce with rice right now" Fiona started as she looked at the torch, longingly. "Mom makes the best Tahini sauce and her curry is the best" She smiles at this. I feel like I need to add something so I say, "My ma..." Pa is the one to actually make food and I won't ever tell Ma but Pa's cooking's better". "My ma would cut the turkey while my pa would make the best sauce for it and yummy pork back short ribs" I'm not sure what I'm saying but I continue, "My dad would be coming back home from work in 2 hours while Ma would be on the couch watching King's will".

"King's Will, *pshh, my mom watched that stuff a few days ago and still hasn't stopped talking about it, the show is so stupid, it makes me want to cry she even watches it, I thought it was for horny teenagers" Fiona snorted.

"Yes, Ma has some weird taste, she would listen to endless hours of Jazz or 20th-century indie pop"

"What?!" She squeaks "Mine too and then she would force me to listen to some oldie's music from the 19th century, sometimes I wonder how she gets access to those...taps? Tay-"

"Tapes you mean, my personal favorites are Dolly and Lion, they are good musicians"

"Oh my gosh, as much as I hate my mom, I have to say her taste in music is quite good, and I totally agree with Dolly and Lion, sometimes, I feel like I'm becoming more like her" She grumbles but I can tell she's worried.

"Hey it'll be fine, I'm sure our parents must be well at home" I take her hands into mine and it shakes so bad, much worse than mine did. "We just have to believe in the best because what would thinking of bad things do for us right now? It'll be fine" I squeeze her hands and the small tears that gather in her eyes, fall down. She pulls me into a hug and holds me tight. I'm surprised but I let her. Sometimes a little bit of love and care does the trick

"I'm worried about my friends, what if they've been killed" Her lips break out into a sob, Family isn't all that matters, your friends matter too, and sometimes your friends are your family. And school as horrible as it is can be a home, but the home was now being ravaged by bloodthirsty people.