To Be A Runner

Chapter 35: D-O-L-L-H-O-U-S-E

I stare at Aaron with wide eyes, and he simply stares back, but his face is completely neutral. After a few terrifyingly awkward moments of silence I scramble for my notebook, scribbling down my question as quickly as possible.

'What do you mean saw something through someone else's eyes?'

Aaron shrugs. "You know. You saw what she saw." He frowns slightly, showing emotion for the first time since I've met him. "It's because she looked like you, or maybe you're just special. I have dreams like that too."

I blink in confusion. Is this kid saying what I think he's saying?

'What do you mean by special?' I ask.

"It means you're special like me. Can I kiss you?" The words come out in a fast jumble of sounds and it takes me a few seconds to register his question. I give him a perplexed look that obviously tells him 'what?'

"Well, can I?" He asks. "You're pretty, and you're like me. I've never met anyone like me before so can I-"

By now I've already grabbed my things and am climbing down the loft. This kid's nuts, and would probably be put in an institution if it weren't for the zombie apocalypse.

I head straight for the house, looking back every few seconds to make sure that creepy little kid isn't just behind me. A part of me wonders if his parents are as odd as him, but they just hide it better. That's why I slept in the barn, since if they were planning on killing us and then eating us they'd have a harder time getting to me than Sarah. Selfish, yes, and also a bit paranoid, but Aaron's a strange child and most children get their parents' habits.

I climb over the fence, seeing as it's locked, and give it a raised brow. If it's locked how did Aaron get out? He's a little small to be climbing the fence.

I push the thought aside while simultaneously adding it to the list of weird things about that kid. Once I reach the door I barely even raise my hand to knock before it's swinging open, revealing to me a very alive and uneaten Sarah Smith.

"Morning, Five. Did you sleep well in that barn?" She grins slyly; It could almost be considered a smirk. I shrug in reply, my hands too full with my pillow, headset, notebook, and pen to write anything down in answer.

I briskly walk inside, sliding past Sarah and into the house. Drowsily, I shuffle into the kitchen, where Avery sits with her husband who is eating what looks to be very, very stale corn flakes with what probably is canned milk.

"Good morning, Runner Five," The woman says with a smile. "We have some different cereal that you can pick, or if you'd like I could cook you something."

I shake my head with a raised hand in thanks before grabbing one of the bowls placed on the counter. I pick out Lucky Charms, which is odd since I was never too fond of the sugary sweet breakfast before. Still I pour the cereal into my bowl and reach for the can of milk I see nearby, using only a little bit since I don't know how much they have left if this.

After sitting down at the table, and putting a spoonful of cereal in my mouth, I nearly gagging at the taste. It's almost too sweet, which tells me I've gone far too long without a Hershey bar, but still I chew and swallow, knowing I'll need the fuel for when we run back to Abel Township.

"Five, have you seen Aaron out anywhere?" Avery asks. I jerk my head towards the widow which shows the barn outside. I don't write anything down since I'd rather not talk about the little discussion he and I had earlier.

"Oh, of course. He does like to go out there quite a bit," Travis chuckles. "Hope he didn't scare you."

Yeah, that's totally not what he did,
I think as I take another bite of my cereal, but I want to get my mind off of that and my dream quickly so I change the subject to something else. I wonder if Sam's checked in yet. I'm sure he and Maxine will want us back soon so we can talk more about what we saw.