A/N: I kind of feel like 10K looks like a Nate, y'know?
"Hey!" My friend shouted, swatting my little brother's hand as he reached for her chocolate. He began to cry and I rolled my eyes. "What the hell, June?" I asked her, picking up my sibling quickly to rock him on my lap.
"I didn't want him to cry... Its just - He..." June tried to defend, I shook my head and smoothed his brown hair back. "Its alright, Mason." I whispered to him.
He looked up at me and stopped crying, I smiled down at his big brown eyes. "Here, you can have my candy." I told him, giving him the three bits of chocolate I had. He's only six, its no shocker he likes candy.
June was messing with the radio as we sat on a deck of sorts, June and I were on lawn chairs that had an umbrella over them. We were getting some shade as some Zs were walking around, groaning. "This is Citizen Z..." Came from the radio.
Mason sat still in my lap. June glanced to me and sighed. "Hey, Eli, do you think we'll find anyone?"
"What do you mean?" I asked her, turning my head slightly.
"Elliott, you know what I mean. Do you think we'll find anyone... We use to know?"
I laughed for a moment, shaking my head as Mason began to fall asleep. "I don't know, honestly. Its possible, June... I doubt it." I replied, shrugging my shoulders slightly.
June sighed loudly and stood up, dusting off her green cargo pants as she did. "We better get going." I nodded at what she said, and we both stood, except I stood with Mason. We walked into the house with some duffel bags and started loading them up. "Canned food, remember." I warned June.
We also got some unopened boxes of cereal we'd have to test later, some unopened jugs of water dated far before the apocalypse hit and a few other things. "You think these chips are stale?" June asked me, holding up some cheetoes. I shrugged.
"Man, I miss these..." She muttered. We got a few extra things, we went around the house and grabbed some knives, a bat, some toys from a kid's room and some clothing and baby wipes to help clean ourselves up.
"I think that's everything." I told June as we walked out to our truck. We threw everything in the back and got in, Mason in between us on a make-shit seat which was two pillows tied together with a pillow behind him against a piece of cardboard so it was comfortable but steady.
"We need to find you a car seat." I laughed, shaking my head as he bounced up and down. I started the truck and we began to drive, we had the windows down to keep cool and the radio on playing some old songs I'd never forget.
Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple was the song playing. We eventually came across a group of Zs in which June took a gun, hoisted herself up to sit on the window and shot them as I covered Mason's eyes. He didn't need to see that crap. "We almost there?" June asked.
"Do you ever know where 'there' is?" I questioned as she shook her head. "Do you think periods get in the way of killing things?" June asked me. I raised an eyebrow.
"Uh, yes? Pretty sure the Zs can smell the blood." I told her, shaking my head as we drove slow. June nodded her reply as we drove, I glanced to a house and blinked, it looked familiar... I wish it didn't.
"Tommy!" I squealed as he splashed water at me. "Cut it out!" I told him, trying to dodge the attacks in the water.
He splashed me in the face again before swimming right in front of me and whispering. "Make me."
My cheeks turned red and shook my head, only shoving his chest. "Ice cream!" My mom called as Tommy swam towards the deck, hopping over it quickly. I swam slowly and rolled onto the deck, making a weird sound.
"Tommy, help - I'm a beached whale!" I groaned as he stood over me with two ice cream sandwiches in his hands. "Beached whales need to be pushed back into the water." Tommy told me deviously.
"Wha - Tommy. I swear to God, if you -" I couldn't finish my sentence as he used his foot to shove me into the pool. I let out a scream before going underwater and quickly swimming up. "You dick!" I said as I came above water.
"Elliott Rose, watch the language." My mother warned. I rolled my eyes as Tommy laughed. "Yes, mom."
I pulled myself up on the deck, adjusting my swim trunks as Tommy handed my my ice cream, I held his as he jumped into the water, splashing me again. I groaned as he shook out his hair like a dog and took the ice cream from me.
Tommy stayed in the water as he ate it, smiling at me as I stuck my tongue out and splashed him. "You always wear trunks." He observed. I nodded.
"I'm not comfortable in bikinis, man. They're just colorful underwear." I told him, I've told him this before.
"So? You'd look good in them."
I shook my head and kicked my feet in the water, watching him finish his sandwich and throw the wrapper into the trashcan on deck. I ate mine quickly and got back in the water, watching him float on his back.
"If you wear a bikini, I'll wear a bikini." I told him as I stood in the water, it wasn't that deep and I'm not that short. He glanced at me and stopped floating, jumping out of the pool and falling over, he began to limp slash run inside my house.
"Oh no..." I muttered, watching in horror as my sister just looked at me and pointed him somewhere and he darted off. "No." I said to myself. I quickly realized my mistake and got out of the pool, running to hide somewhere.
"Mom, mom - Hide me."
"What, Elliott, no." My mom told me as she poured some Fritos into a bowl and I took a handful and ran to my dad.
"Dad - Daddy, hide me. Please!" I begged, chewing some Fritos. "Is Tommy trying to find you?"
"Hide me!" I pleaded quietly as my dad nodded and gestured under his desk and I took cover there as my dad moved his chair so I was hidden. I saw Tommy's feet by the office door as he spoke.
"Where's Eli?" He asked, my dad answered. "I don't know."
"I can't take my eyes off of her for a second." Tommy groaned, walking out of the room. My dad helped me up and I thanked him, running to the door before slamming into Nate. "Shit." I muttered against his chest as he cackled.
That day I ended up wearing a bright pink bikini. And so did he.
"Eli?" June asked me, shaking my shoulder. "Elliott... Elliott!" She yelled, smacking my arm. I turned to her and furrowed my eyebrows.
"What... I - Sorry." I apologized, not realizing I'd stopped the car. I shook my head and continued to drive until June broke the silence.
"Were you thinking about him?"
"What?"
"About him, y'know..." June prodded, watching me. I sighed and stopped the car as we reached a a subdivision. "Its not important." I replied, taking the keys from the ignition before jumping out and going up to a house. I had Mason on my hip as I went through the house.
June shook her head. "You know this place?"
"My grandma use to live here, uh, my parents were gonna get the house after her funeral but then the world went to shit." I told her as we took a few things into the house. June went and pulled the truck into the garage and locked it, coming inside so we could settle down for a bit.
We cleared the house and I went to check some things. "This use to be my room when I stayed here..." I told June as she brought one of the bags in there. "Really? Lot of green and black." June laughed.
"Its the only room my grandma changed the colors in... For me. Everything else is pale green, tan or white. My sister never stayed here, and Mason was always with a babysitter. Not my mom, y'know? She was busy."
"I know." June replied, looking at the bed. "I outgrew this thing fast." I informed June, sitting on the bed.
"My grandma got it when I was eleven, I kind of outgrew it by thirteen. I was 5'9 by then..." I muttered, shaking my head at the green blankets on it.
Mason messed with a few things around the room. "There are a lot of posters in here..." June observed, looking at all the bands, books, movies and show posters.
"I was obsessed, what can I say?" I laughed, glancing to the nightstand. There were a few pictures on the table, one of me and my family. Another was of me and my grandmother, me and my sister at camp and four of Tommy and I.
I clenched my jaw, going to pick up Mason and set him on the bed as June laid back. "Can I go sleep in your granny's bed?" She asked, and I nodded slowly. She grinned and ran off. I stared at the pictures and popped them from their frames, folding them and tucking them in my coat pocket before settling back on the bed.
I ran a hand through my brown hair and covered my mouth. I needed sleep... Desperately.