Lighter

Chapter 11

We sat in the middle of the field, wondering if they would ever come for us. A couple times a helicopter flew over us and dropped a bunch of big boxes. We opened them and they were blankets. They must have dropped hundreds of boxes filled with blankets. Each box contained at least 20 blankets. We passed them around to families and they passed them around to friends. We were all quiet in the stadium when I heard a scream. 

"Clara" a woman yelled not far up in the bleachers "Clara come to mommy. Where are you, honey"

I stood up and brushed myself off, walking towards the hysterical woman in the stands. She was still frantically looking around for her daughter. I climbed the stairs and made my way to her, other people around her began looking for her too. Pretty soon she had most of her side of the stadium looking for her daughter. 

"What does she look like" I asked her "I'll go back up the way I came and go look for her there"

"She's only 5 and she's got long brown hair. She's wearing a chiefs sweater and she's got a bag of cotton candy that her father got her" the woman said "she's not really shy so she should come to you if you should find her. Please find my daughter"

I felt someone behind me and turned around. Patrick was standing there listening to the whole conversation. I could tell her wasn't please about the whole ordeal with me going back up the way I had just come down from. I walked back up to the men who had helped me a few hours ago. I looked up in the little space and sighed, I had no idea how I was going to get back up in there. 

"Here just climbed to the top of the fallen stairs and grab that metal bar you lowered yourself down from" one of the men said. I turned around and Patrick was glaring at the man "then we can hoist you up there until you can pull yourself up the rest of the way"

"I'm going with you" Patrick stated boldly. I shook my head at him and pushed him back a little, he glared at me and sighed. His facial expressions went from glaring to soft. He gave me a little smile and urged me to the top of the stairs "if I can't go with you then I'm going to be the one to hoist you up, not people you don't know"

"Patrick there just trying to help. I can promise I will come back to you this time" I said and kissed his cheek. I climbed carefully to the top of the stairs, I could feel Patrick following me as I grabbed onto the metal bar, I barely hoisted myself up when I felt him put his hands on my back, pushing me the rest of the way up.

I stood up on the top of the stairs and looked down at Patrick, he reached his hand up and and I reached my hand down and we touched hands before I opened the door. I looked back one last time at Patrick and walked through the door. The door closed behind me and I looked at the mess in front of me. I made my way through the concrete slabs and broken glass.

"Clara" I called out through the empty food court. I was walking towards the Jumbotron room and decided to take a left, hoping she was down this way. I called her name multiple times. I was starting to lose hope and I turned around to go back towards the way I had come, when a little voice spoke up from the debris.

"Who are you"