"Anna? Where is Anna?" Freddie frantically searched the ground for the girl, while the rest of us nervously looked around. I had totally forgotten about the two quiet children. No wonder Anna was lost.
"We have to find her..." It sounded as if the boy was having a major panic attack. "She gets so scared of them!" He ran over to Joy and began pulling on her arm.
She looked down on the boy and nodded her head encouragingly. "Okay sweetie we will." The boy's facial expression switched from terrified to hopeful. I watched as Joy viciously eyed Vincent.
She turned from the boy, and started whispering loudly to Vincent.
"I don't know about this."
Chandler put his hand on my shoulder and lowered his voice. "This..this group. These people... It's just not safe."
"Well, we can't just leave. Brianna likes Luke, and is pretty attached to Sammy." I tried my best to whisper as I leant into him. "Plus that was what we were looking for, right? More people? More safety?"
"Yes, but not these people. That guys Homer was enough to stay awake at night." Chandler said. I was glad he felt the same about Homer's creepy self.
I thought about the poor boy who was helplessly asking for assistance with finding his sister. I thought about Sammy dying from her illness, Daniella's new relationship with Sean, and Vincent's danger to the rest of these innocent people.
But since the world went to shit, all that mattered was my safety, and the people I wanted to stay alive.
"Well, then what do we do?"
Chandler sighed, and nodded his head. "Tomorrow night."
"Tomorrow night what? We sneak out?" I looked around to make sure no one was eaves-dropping. Luckily, everyone was minding their own business.
"Exactly. We can try to gather some extra food for a few days tonight and in the morning. We leave before sunrise." Chandler silenced his words.
"What if someone decides to take watch? How are we gonna leave then?"
Did I really want to leave this group? Besides Vincent, I felt a bit more sure about staying. Joy was such a good mother figure, although we have barely met.
Luke and Sammy were our age, and hanging around Anna and Freddie would give me a good idea on how to remain - or at least seem to be happy.
I just had a feeling that everything would be quite fine here.
Clearly, Chandler disagreed. After a moment or two of silence, he opened his eyes and spoke in a muffled whisper that I could only hope to understand.
"Okay. I'll wake up tomorrow, and
get up to pee. I'll make sure to make noise so you know that I'm going.
I'll stay there for about five minutes, and tell whoever that you are going
to check on me. Then we go in a different direction."
I imagined what the scenario would look like in my head, and it seemed like it would work out well. The only thing I had to worry about now was if Brianna was willing to come with us.
"Got it. And what about Brianna?"
We both secretly glanced over to our
companion. She was crossing her arms in my purple shirt, looking at Sammy who was waving her thin arms drastically at her and Luke. It made me smile; her getting along with people so well. Me, not so much.
Chandler and I turned back at the same time. "What about her?"
A wave of despair crashed into my cheerful thoughts after realizing that Brianna wouldn't be missing much. "Never mind."
She wasn't that close with the two of us, even if we were the reason she was still breathing. She would have just kept on walking toward the airport; toward the deadly herd.
"Where do we go after that?"
His bright but tired eyes met mine, without explanation. "We restart."
Our faces were close, in fact they were almost too close. Our foreheads were just millimeters apart, until Chandler closed the space.
I closed my eyes as he lifted his arms to my neck, holding me in place. It wasn't the most appealing position, but it made me feel better. I gently wrapped my hands around his back, so we were almost in a secure hug.
I don't want to be with anyone else. He will keep me safe; the both of us safe. I know it.
But what if this life turns out just like the TV show? The cheating wife finds out her husband is actually alive? Chandler was so important to me now; in a mental and physical way. But an accident is just waiting to happen.
His girlfriend Hana could find us. It gave me the chills, to know that anything is possible. It made me want to pull away from Chandler and scream Freddie's name.
"I am never going to leave you." He still spoke quietly, but loud enough so I could fully understand and have a loud conversation. "We stick together now."
I nodded and agreed with him. Since the moment I saw Chandler in person, from the memories of pictures and videos, I knew I'd want him to protect me. What I didn't know was how different this would feel compared to my... 'ex-life.'
"I'm still here, you know. And I won't be going anywhere soon." It wasn't going to happen right now, not in front of all these people. We still weren't like that.
Chandler pushed my neck toward him, and to my surprise, rested my head on his shoulder. The frantic butterflies in my esophagus flew back down, relieved that we hadn't kissed. I don't think I would be ready for that sort of thing.
He patted my back in such a soothing way as we hugged each other tightly. I finally felt okay. Well, at least better.
"Let's go help the kid. Okay?" I asked him as we pulled apart. He nodded and I turned to look at Freddie. Or was it Freddy?
He was pulling on Daniella's arm, but she was too caught up with chatting with Sean. He had given up on Joy, for her and Vincent were still having a discussion. I could tell he needed some sort of assistance, although I am no good with kids.
I waved my hands for the boy to come see me. He was only about eleven, but he and his sister still acted like they were seven. He slowly walked toward me.
I slightly bent down to be eye level with him. "Hey, kiddo! How do you spell your first name?" The question was driving me insane. For some reason, I would think a whole lot different of the boy if his name was spelt with a 'y'.
"F-r-e-d-d-y." He spelt, looking me right in the eyes. He had very nice brown ones, "Freddy."
"Great! Do you know my name?" My tone wasn't too fake, because he clearly was smiling and trying to take his mind off of his sister.
"Your name is Riley. Will you please find Anna? She can't handle being alone." Freddy fiddled with his fingers but still glared at me. The boy acted very young for his age.
"And why's that? Isn't she your age? Ten? Eleven?" I questioned him.
"Yes, she is ten years old, but her brain is broken. It broke when our mom died. She doesn't know that those dead people can hurt her." Freddy's eyes were full of desperation and sleepiness.
"Oh." That was all I could say. Anna must be in a permanent shock if their mother is dead, they could have gone through something terrible. I guess her brain really is broken.
Chandler spoke for my thoughts; "Yeah we'll help."
Freddy's eyes lit up immediately as he smiled. "Oh thank you, she let go of my hand and then ran off somewhere..." He looked left to right in what seemed like a satisfied happiness, but the tone of his voice was still shaky with nervousness.
"Where were you standing when she let go?" Chandler asked him sweetly.
"Uh," Freddy's eyes shot back up so he was looking back and forth between Chandler and I. "Back over near where we saw that man, when everyone was helping Mr. Homer."
"Oh then let's go check over there!" Chandler suggested, and nudged my shoulder.
The two of us walked with Freddy away from the stream, back to the clearing where we heard the girl Kaitlyn's scream. Our tracks in the leaves still remained in a mess, it was definitely the same place.
The only thing different about the place was a small pocket knife buried underneath dirt and leaves.
Freddy bent over and picked up the knife, placing it in the palm of his hand to show it to us.
"This is Anna's knife." He said flatly as he pointed to the little 'A' on the red handle.