"You can open your eyes now," a soft voice spoke.
I snapped my eyes open as the baby in my arms cooed. I'm on the floor. I am alive. I'm still holding the baby.
"Oh my gosh, you're alive!" I burst. Folding away a part of the blanket to reveal a smiling baby!
"It's fine. What about you?"
I startled as I looked up. Bent down on his knees in front of me is a boy. He smiled at me, making dirt fall down his messy head of brown hair.
"I'm fine," I said uncomfortably. I shifted the baby away from him as I stood up. Catching a glimpse of his back
"Oh my goodness!" I yelled. Grabbing his shoulder and spinning his back to face me. It's bleeding and pelted with stones. That's why I'm not bruised and beaten by the ruble.
"I would think my face is my most handsome feature. But if you find my back more attractive, I won't complain." He shrugged, flinching in pain before turning back to face me.
I gave him a confused smile. "I don't get what you're trying to do, but let me clean that up for you." I handed him the baby and made him sit down. There's no point in taking his shirt off since it's practically ripped off him. What is wrong with him? Why did he do that?
I found a painkiller in the medical bag and handed it to him. Wishing I had something else for him instead of letting him dry swallow it. I glanced at the baby, softly sleeping, all coddled up in his lap.
Did he come from the nursery downstairs? Are there more people there?
It took me a bit of time to clean up his back. Most of the bleeding was from large scrapes and cuts, but nothing majorly deep.
"Is it a boy?" I pointed at the baby as I finished putting left over gauze in my pack. I sat against the wall, watching him.
"I don't know," he said. I must have looked confused since he started to explain. "I was on the third floor when the earthquake happened. One of the women kept trying to get everyone to take one of the babies from the infirmary. This one was given to me."
"What happened to everyone else?" Where are they? Did everyone already find a way out of the building?
"Let's just say this baby is lucky. The others..." His sentence failed to continue as he tried to find the word to describe what he saw.
My stomach hollowed out. "Everyone?"
"That's what I thought until I met you," he smiled. "I really thought I was the only one left. What about you?"
This can't be real. There's way to many people, there has to be more survivors. I covered my mouth, before I woke the baby. Those children are dead? All of them. Gone.
Carefully, he put down the baby and quietly hugged me. I feel sick. I shook my head as he looked painfully at me. What did we do for this to happen?
That can't be real. He's lying. I need to just focus on everyone else so we can get out of here. I sat up straighter, pulling away from him.
"I'm not the only one," I said, remembering Crete and the others.
"Who?" He asked quietly.
"Crete. He's looking for me. He's going to find us. He'll find us, and you can come with us to find the others. Lorelei, Dowin, Leo, Alice, they all are alive, and we're going to get them."
He still sounds skeptical. "Your not joking."
"Why would I do that?" The baby's adorable coo made me smile as I picked it up. I'm almost laughing now at the thought that we were the only ones alive.
"What's your name?" I asked the baby as it tugged at my shirt with chubby fingers.
"Laurent," the boy answered.
"You're so cute, Laurent!" I said in a baby voice as I cuddled the baby. The boy stared blankly at me, then smiled.
"I'm going to pretend you meant to say that to me. Nice to meet you; my name," he emphasized, "is Laurent. And I fully agree with you; I am adorable." He ruffled his hair.
"How very humble of you to admit," I said, laughing as I felt my cheeks burn.
"It's your turn, oh cutest and most beautiful maiden, to reveal your name," he joked.
"Anna!" Crete's call rang out, and Laurent jumped to a stand.
The baby startled, crying as Crete ran into the room. Choking on the dust as he tried to regulate his breathing, he stumbled over. Laurent looked over at me questioningly, and I handed him the baby and ran over to Crete.
What's wrong? What happened? What did you do? All of these questions chocked before getting past my throat.
Crete collapsed and fell onto my side. His hands scraped and bloody.
At this point, despite all this gore, I don't feel revolted by it anymore. I just want to help. I just want us to get out of here.
Laurent carefully held the baby in one hand and helped me get Crete to lie down. I wasted no time looking him over for injuries. Finding no severe problems, I did what I could for the smaller cuts on his hand.
Laurent pulled out a bottle of milk and started feeding the baby. "Where did you even get that bottle from?" I looked back at him.
He smirked. "I made sure I got whatever the kid needed from the wreckage. I'm not just cute but very resourceful."
His joking tone feels out of place here. Is he a part of Crete's group? I thought Alice would be the only playful person to fit in their circle
"Make him change all the diapers," Crete groaned as he sat up. He put his head in his hands and bent over as he dry-retched.
"Are you okay? You kind of blacked out a moment after storming in here," Laurent asked.
"Fine. Who the heck is he?" Crete turned to me.
"He's a very good person," I said.
"A good person with a baby?" Crete stated judgmentally.
"He saved me and that baby's life," I advocated. Crete only stared blankly at Laurent and looked back at me unfazed.
I guess he would be one of Dowin's friends then.
"Are you feeling alright?" I asked.
"I'm fine now; let's get to the others and out of this place. I found a way all the way up to the roof while looking for a way over here," he stated as he stood.
I glanced over at Laurent as Crete strode out the room. The both of us followed quietly behind him. Laurent kept doing the dumbest things while Crete's back was turned, making me and the baby laugh.
Crete had marked arrows into visible parts of the walls, pointing where to go. Soon, we found ourselves going upward. Stairs started to peek from parts of the debris as we kept walking.
The boys stopped talking at one point, the sound of other people some distance away filling me with relief.
"You guys should wait out here," Crete said more to Laurent than me.
He tried to stop me but I pushed him out of my way "You can wait; I'm going to find Lorelei." Running to where the others were gathered in a room.
Everyone's okay. Were alive.
Leo saw me first as I scanned whoever I could see. Dowin, Ells, Leo, and a beaten-up girl who's lying down. Weren't there supposed to be more people? I came over to Alice as she tried to care for the girl.
"Where is Lorelei?" I rushed. I don't care if I sound demanding; I need to find her. Where is everyone?
"Ann." She's not looking at me, no one in the room is. I started to tear up. Grabbing her head in my hands, I forced her to look at me as my voice shook.
"W-where. Is. Lorelei?" I practically spelled it out for her.
"Ow!" she scowled. Someone grabbed my wrists so tightly I'm forced to let go of her.
I turned to glare at Leo.
I expected Crete or even Ells to piss me off not the stranger of the group. He loosened his grip but still held on as he made me walk with him. I tripped as I was practically dragged behind him.
"Where is she?" I yelled out as he kept walking. I tried to squirm away from him, tripping over myself. My eyes are stinging, and I can't see straight but he's not stopping.
Where is she? Where are they all? This can't be it.
Leo finally stopped after getting away from everyone else. I yanked my hand from his grasp, glaring.
His quietness is scarring me and making my pulse jump out of control. He put his hands on my shoulders before I could turn and run back. I'm looking everywhere but at him, scared at what expression I would find.
I wanted to run back, but his hand held me in place.
Not another one dead. Travis is enough blood split, she can't be dead. Not her. I wish he said something so I don't have to keep listening to my thoughts. There were only two things that could have happened to her.
She could have just run away from them to look for me. I just need to find her.
Finally I glared up at him through watery eyes. His expression didn't give me any answers, as he kept waiting for something. Sighing reluctantly, he let me go.
I feel cold as he took my hand and turned down a corner. Where is he taking me?
I'm hit with a sickening dejavu as I see two pale hands in a puddle of red. I felt Leo squeeze my shaking hand, stopping me from getting any closer.
She's dead. "That's—it can't be." I shook my head. It can't be her. No. No, not her.
"After we got her out of the tunnel, we wandered around looking for the others. We found the group Crete was talking about here. She had run to a boy she already knew. It happened so quickly. Not even in a blink of an eye." He looked down at me as I stared at her hand. She's holding onto the other, fingers intertwined in a gentle caress.
I want him to stop talking. This isn't her. She's not dead.
"It was faster than the others," he grimaced, recalling something.
"I should have just taken her with me," I muttered. I should have left all of them and went looking for my kids with her. I should have done something.
Leo stepped in front of me, blocking my sight as he led me away.
"I don't want to go back to the others yet," I whispered, pulling away from him as I sat down. I want to be alone with her, I don't want to be away from her. She didn't want to go. She didn't want to leave me.
I stared blankly at the wall opposite me. I can't bring myself to wipe my face. I'm shaking silently. It's my fault. She was supposed to be my responsibility. It's all my fault. I should have never made her go with the others.
I thought Leo had left me alone to grieve, but instead he sat down next to me in silence.
He sounds just as broken as I feel. His words making everything so much more painful. "She died happy."
She shouldn't have had to die, happy or sad. Not her. Not any of my kids. They still have to live out the rest of there lives. They need to live. They were a better future. Not them. Why did it have to be them? Why couldn't fate kill off anyone else instead?
I'm to tired to think straight as I lay down. I'm weighed down by all these emotion. I'm exhausted by it all; my bones feel brittle, with the cold.
I woke up every few minutes just to remember what happened. It's like torture.
It's quiet as I open my burning eyes.
I'm grateful nobody came to see me. I sat up straighter, my head pounding in my skull with the effort. What the hell am I supposed to do now? The kids were everything to me.
Leo stayed with me through the hours. I pushed off him and stood. He's awake. Blue eyes sweeping over me quietly as he stood up. I don't try to smile as I followed him away from where Lorelei was buried.
Laurent's helping Dowin with something in the room as I walked in. Alice is still by that girl's side, with Crete next to her. She's practically dead anyways so I don't get why they bother.
I ignored Ells and wandered over to a clean corner. Dropping down, I laid on the cold floor. Were all practically dead. I should have just died.