All that had lead to where we were now. This elegant, beautiful, abandoned, basement. A shiver ran down my spine, reminding me of the reality of our situation. I closed my eyes, thinking of my dream. The warm sun on my cheek, the soft breeze. The carefree feeling of the summer, the excitement for college. We'd been in hiding for so long, on the run everyday, I'd forgotten what it was like to not have a care in the world.
"Erin?" The whisper snapped me back to reality. I opened my eyes to see Simon leaning over me. "I thought Maddie was on watch tonight?" He asked, tilting his head. I shrugged. I couldn't tell him the truth, that Maddie wanted to leave.
"She was tired. I wasn't." I shivered again.
"Geez, Erin, you look freezing." He said while taking off his jacket and offering it to me. I shook my head. "Erin. Take it."
"No, I'm fine. You'll freeze."
"Your lips are turning blue. Take it." I couldn't resist the warm and fuzziness of it. I smiled gratefully at him as he wrapped it around me. "I was going to go up and see what we have for breakfast. Want to come with?"
"Anything to not be in this creepy place anymore." I said, standing up to follow him up the stairs. We walked up a set of creaky wooden stairs that opened into the kitchen of the small house above. We had already checked the whole house for Walkers the night before and boarded up the windows and doors so no more could come in. We still took precautions as we came up though, Simon with his knife and me with my gun. Once we decided it was clear, I tucked the gun away. Simon watched me. "What?" I asked after a few seconds. He just shook his head.
"I need to get me one of those," he said with a chuckle.
"Yep. Because you aren't getting this one." I said, raising my eyebrows, one hand protectively hovering over it. He laughed.
"Of course not." He then turned, dropped his pack on the table, and shuffled through it, looking for breakfast. "Mm...how about.." He spun around, holding two cans. "Canned corn for breakfast?" I groaned.
"Yum. Can't wait." I said, rolling my eyes. He smirked.
"Go look through those drawers for a pot." I raised my eyebrow at him, putting a hand on my hip. He rolled his eyes. "Please?" I smiled.
"There we go." I started rifling through the drawers until I found a pot. I put it on the stove and, after a few tries, it lit. "Woo! No cold corn for us!" Simon rolled his eyes yet again.
"You know, you-" He was cut off by footsteps on the stairs, and Sasha and Liam bursting through the door.
"Did we hear no cold corn?" Liam asked excitedly.
"Yep. This morning, it's gonna be hot!" I said with fake enthusiasm. The boys groaned.
"I thought you meant we had something other than corn." Liam complained.
"At least it's food," Julia said as she appeared at the top of the stairs, followed closely by Emma and Becca. Last to arise was Maddie and Miles. They appeared at the top of the stairs together whispering.
"What are you two on about?" I asked, smirking and glancing at Simon. We exchanged faces, but he made no comment. "Erin! The corn!" Julia suddenly yells. I spun around to see it starting to smoke. I stupidly grabbed the pot, burning my palm.
"Fuck!" I screamed and dropped the pot, spilling corn everywhere. All I could do is stare at the pot on the ground. "Shit." Everyone silently stared. My stomach started sinking down to my toes, but suddenly, Simon burst out laughing. I looked up, confused. Soon, all of them were laughing. I couldn't help but smile, and eventually started laughing along.
"Good job, Erin," Maddie said sarcastically. I bent down and started picking it up and putting it back into the pot. None could be wasted.
"Sorry guys," I said, still laughing. I picked up the last piece and stood up. "Who wants corn?" Everyone laughed again.
"Sounds delicious," Miles said, smirking. Simon reached up and grabbed a few plates from the cupboards, dusting them off.
"Lovely." Liam muttered, causing another round of giggles. I found the silverware drawer, and, once I found one that I deemed to be the least dirty and dusty, I started to spoon a bit of corn onto each plate, handing them out.
"Yum. Luke-warm, slightly dusty, corn. My favorite," Sasha said through a mouthful. All too soon, we had all gobbled it up. No one would admit it, but ours stomachs still grumbled for more. We were all silent, staring at our plates. I quietly stood up and started collecting plates. I walked them to the sink, and turned on the water. After a few seconds, water with a slightly brown tinge started flowing out of the faucet. I picked up a similarly browned sponge and started scrubbing the dishes. After about a minute or two, Simon finally broke the silence.
"Erin, what are you doing?" I stayed silent. "Erin, seriously. You know we're leaving, you don't have to do that." I continued. I didn't know why, but I felt compelled to clean. I had to. "Erin." I felt his hand on my shoulder as he reached over and turned off the water. I froze, the plate and sponge in mid air as if we were playing a game of freeze tag. He slowly pulled the plate and sponge from my hands, gently putting them down in the sink. I could feel everybody's eyes on me, but I still couldn't move. Simon tilted his head at Miles, gesturing for him to take everyone into the other room.
"Alright guys, let's go make a plan for today." Without another word, he walked into the adjoining dining room. After a moment of hesitation, the others followed until all that was left was me, Simon, and Maddie. Simon nodded to her.
"Go ahead. I got this one." I could feel her standing behind me, not completely trusting him, a war in her mind. Finally, one side won out, and she walked into the other room. We were both silent, the only sounds being muttering in the other room and my own heartbeat. Eventually, I couldn't take the quiet anymore, but I couldn't find the will to speak. Thankfully, Simon spoke first. "Erin." I slowly turned around to face him. He just stared at me, waiting for me to talk. I took a deep breath.
"I just..I...I realized something." My voice was shaking. He nodded, waiting for me to continue. "I realized that that moment," I pointed at the ground where the corn had fallen as if I could point into the past. "That moment was the first time I've actually laughed since my...my parents..." I couldn't bring myself to say it, but Simon understood. Without a word, he pulled me into his arms. For some reason I felt like I had to go on. "I haven't cried," I blurted out. "I mean, at all. Not when they were bitten. Not when they killed themselves. Never. I don't know what's wrong with me. All I can do is wonder if there was something I could've done. Something that could've saved them." Simon pulled back and looked me in the eye.
"That wasn't your fault Erin. You can't keep blaming yourself for something you had no control over. Keeping yourself from having any happiness isn't what your parents would've wanted." I nodded, but looked down. He sighed. "Hey." He put a finger under my chin, tilting my head up. "I've known you for so long. You're one of the strongest people I know. You've helped lead this group to safety several times, and a lot of them look up to you. Your parents would be proud of what you've done." The familiar swelling feeling of my throat and burning sensation behind my eyes returned. I was completely frozen, staring back into his mossy green eyes. I could suddenly feel the tension in the room as if it were pushing down on me from every angle. I quickly took a deep breath and looked away, causing his finger to slip away. He coughed and leaned his arm against the counter. I gave him a small smile, and put my hand on his shoulder.
"Thank you." It was all I could muster. He tilted his head towards the other room.
"Ready?" I nodded, and followed him into the dining room where the rest of the group was in deep conversation, pointing at a map.
"We should be going north," Miles was arguing.
"North is colder, why would we want to go where we're going to freeze?" Liam said incredulously.
"Miles is right. It may be colder, but there's going to be less Walkers up there. They're not a fan of the cold." Julia said, a hand on her hip.
"It'll also cause them to move slower," I added. Everyone turned to stare at me. I felt my cheeks warm up a little, but I continued. "Think about it. They don't have blood flowing through them anymore. Even with blood, humans move slower in the cold. It's locks up the joints and muscles." They were all quiet for a moment.
"That makes sense and all, but what about food? I mean, if we plan on settling down anywhere, we're going to have to start a garden at some point. How'll we do that in the snow?" Sasha asked.
"Settle down?" I asked, slightly stunned. I'd never thought about it before, but it was true. Canned food would only carry us so far. Simon echoed those thoughts.
"We're going to run out of food eventually. Sasha's right. We need to find somewhere we can settle and grow our own." He said, crossing his arms.
"Erin, sidebar." Maddie grabbed my arm and pulled me back into the kitchen.
"Woah, what?" I asked, surprised. She sighed, frowning.
"If we go with them, we'll never see Ian again. Ever." My heart sank. I hadn't thought about that. The last time we'd seen our cousin was the night before the epidemic had broken out. We had tried contacting him and my aunt and uncle the next day, but couldn't reach them. When we visited their house, they had disappeared with most of the food out of their pantry, their dog, and their car. No note. Just gone.
"You don't know that Maddie. They're smart. Ian's smart. He might know to go up north too."
"You can't just guess that! North could be anywhere upwards."
"What do you expect? They just left!" I tried to keep my voice down, but it was hard. "Are we just supposed to search the entire United States? They could be dead for all we know!" I hadn't meant to say the last part. I immediately wanted to take it back after I saw the effect on her face. My voice softened. "Maddie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that."
"No. You're right. We don't know. It's not worth it." Her voice had gone stone cold. She pushed past me, going back towards the basement.
"Where are you going now?" I called after her.
"Someone has to pack everything up," she snipped. I groaned and walked back into the dining room.
"Everything alright?" Sasha asked. I shrugged.
"Yeah. Maddie just really wants to go after our cousin, but we have no clue as to where he is."
"Ian?" Simon asked. I nodded.
"Yeah. Right after the epidemic hit, we went to their house, but they were long gone."
"I'm sorry, Erin. I wish we could find him. But with nothing to go on..." Miles said, frowning. I shook my head.
"No, I totally get it. That's what I told her. It's just hard. He's like a brother. But we all have some sort of family out there." I glanced around the room as everyone nodded solemnly. And it was true. Everyone had to know someone who was missing, dead, or had become a Walker. It was a way of life now. "Alright." I said, clapping my hands together, shocking everyone back to reality. "We need to make a-". There was a scream from the basement, cutting me off mid-sentence. My heart dropped to my toes. "Maddie."
**Thank you so much for the reviews I've already received and the advice given! It is all extremely helpful in making this a better story and me a better writer. Any reviews would be very appreciated! I LOVE hearing back from you! Sorry about the cliffhanger here, but chapter three will be up soon. Thanks again!**