Strongest Survivors

Reunited

I opened my eyes, letting out a small groan. My leg was stiff, and I was alone in a tent, surrounded by medical equipment. All of a sudden, Lucy burst through the entrance, rushing over to me, crying as she did. "Hey, I'm okay. It's alright. Shhhh, it's okay." I ran a hand through her hair, wrapping my arms around her as I sat up. "I'm not going anywhere, alright?" I whispered, gently soothing her. That's when the light was let in again, and Murphy walked through.

Like Lucy, he rushed over and wrapped his arms around me. "I thought I'd lost you." He whispered. I sat, frozen as I began to cry.
"I could say the same to you." I whispered back, allowing my head to fall on his shoulder. "How are you here?" I asked, pulling away and allowing Lucy to sit on the bed beside me.
"Zona." Murphy replied. Lucy scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"Lucy, what's wrong?" I asked, falling silent as I looked between the two of them. Lucy was blocking him out, I knew it. She was just as stubborn as him, worse from mentally being a young girl. Somehow I just felt her pain, more than I ever had in the last few years. "Lucy, I want to talk with Dad for a second. I'll be out in a minute, okay?" I turned to face her, and she folded her arms. "Go." I said, kissing her head, and pushing her off the bed.

As soon as she left the tent, I broke down completely, crying into Murphy's arms. "It was so hard." I whispered, wrapping my arms around him.
"I know. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I never should have let you go. I never should have done what I did." He admitted. It was strange looking at him and seeing a human, instead of a blue man. His hair had also grown back, and his eyes were no longer the familiar red. "Dad, how did I survive?" I asked, looking down at my healed leg, although I already had a slight hunch. Murphy looked away, refusing to meet my eyes. "Dad?" I questioned again.
"She gave some blood." He confessed, it all made sense. I stood up, "and you let her!?"
"Well, as you can see, we're not exactly on good terms! She wasn't going to let you die, Jordan. And neither was I." Murphy argued. I slowly sank back down, my eyes being drawn to the light again when another man appeared.

"No freaking way, Doc!" I jumped up again, wrapping my arms around him.
"Hey there, kiddo." He smiled, "I knew they wouldn't get you. You and him survive anything. Cockroaches." My face fell, and I pulled back.
"10k is alive?" I asked, looking him in the eyes.
"Yeah." His face lit up, and I ran out, ignoring the way my leg protested, looking around. He was nowhere to be found. I looked back at Doc and Murphy. "He's gone south." A man spoke up from a table across the grass. "Good to see you up and moving. Didn't think you'd pull through." He admitted. My smile faded and I walked over. "Lieutenant Mueller. This is Sergeant Lilley." He introduced, holding out a hand. I slowly shook it.
"Jordan." I responded, sitting down and looking around.

That's when my eyes landed on a woman, blonde hair, but that didn't change her. I would recognise Warren anywhere. "Warren!" I was about to run to her when Murphy grabbed my arm.
"She's...busy." He informed, I looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. "I dunno, she's been off since we left Zona."
"Great." I sighed, looking over at the far tent, knowing Lucy was inside.
"She hates me." Murphy spoke up, sitting beside me. I shook my head.
"She's afraid. These past two years have been tough on us, to get here, we had to leave her behind." I thought about Addy, she was so far away, yet she felt so close.

"Well, the past is best left as that. Now it's about getting all of you to Newmerica." At Mueller's words, my eyes widened.
"It is real?" I asked, he nodded. Murphy looked over.
"Yeah, about this Newmerica thing. Why are we all going there again?" He questioned.
"It's the only place to go. Actual civilisation. Fortified. They have food, munitions, a growing society." Mueller told us, Murphy scoffed.
"That sounds familiar." He remarked.
"What do you mean by that?" Mueller asked him.
"And here we go." I mumbled.
"I mean, I have heard that a hundred times before. And every time we'd get there it's some Utopium cult freakshow blah, blah, blah. And then by the time we leave, it's on fire." Murphy explained. I laughed slightly, we may have missed two years, but he was exactly the same. "Right, I'm going to check on Lucy." I stated, hugging Murphy lightly and going towards the tent.