Chapter 2
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AN1: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed or added to alerts. I'm glad that you like this story so far.
It takes a while but eventually Rachel falls asleep staring at the picture, though she only manages to sleep a couple of hours, a lot less than the amount of sleep she needs. The first thing she does once she wakes is turns to check on Connor, Charlie and Danny and the second she does she starts to panic as there are only two children sleeping near her.
"CONNOR." Rachel yells terrified as she stands up, "CONNOR." She yells again as she received no answer.
"Mom, what's going on?" Charlie ask confused, and clearly still half asleep.
"CONNOR." Rachel yells once more, panic and fear about to take over as she starts to imagine the worse
"MOM?" Connor yells worried coming running from the nearby woods. As soon as she sees her son Rachel runs to him and throws her arms around him, hugging him tight.
"Don't ever do that again." Rachel tells her son as she hugs him tightly.
"I'm sorry. I had to pee. I didn't mean to scare you." Connor responds feeling bad about scaring his mother as he thought about waking her but decided to let her sleep instead because he knows how rare it is for her to sleep.
"Wake me up and tell me next time." Rachel requests, "That goes for you two as well." She says to Charlie and Danny, "Tell me whenever you have to leave the campsite or our resting place to go to the toilet." She tells her children, "If I am asleep then wake me and tell me." She tells her kids knowing that it won't be often that she is sleeping because she has to watch her kids, as she speaks she never once removes her arms from around Connor.
"We will." Charlie says and Danny nods.
"Do we have to start walking again soon?" Danny asks, clearly not happy about it.
"Yeah Sweetie, we do." Rachel tells her son, "Do you want to give me a hand with breakfast while Charlie and Connor pack up the bedding?" She asks her son.
"Okay." Danny says standing up and walking over to his mother. As Danny does that Rachel gives Connor a kiss on the top of his head before removing her arms from around him and he walks over to his sister.
"You okay there Char?" Connor asks his sister curious as they work together to roll up the mats that they slept on.
"Yeah, I'm good." Charlie responds, "Is it odd that sleeping on the mats in the woods is the most comfortable I've been since, I don't know when, sleeping?" She ask her brother curious.
"Considering what Ben gave us to sleep on, no." Connor responds, "We've got to distract Danny today Char, the last thing that Mom needs is to worry that Danny doesn't like walking." He says to his sister.
"You're right there." She responds, "Did you notice the bruising on Mom's back?" Charlie asks curious as Rachel is currently only wearing a tank top and pants and not her jacket, which has resulted in a lot of brushing being visible on her upper back.
"Yeah, I saw." Connor responds, "It looks bad." He admits.
"Yeah, it does." Charlie confirms, worry clear, "You know what is also bad?" Charlie asks and Connor shrugs, "The fact that you were limping." She tells him.
"You noticed?" Connor asks.
"I noticed." Charlie responds, "How much pain are you in?" she ask concerned.
"A bit." He admits, purposely lowering his voice, "Not a lot, but a bit." He responds.
"Are you going to be able to walk today?" Charlie asks concerned.
"I have to." Connor responds, "There is something I need you to do for me Char."
"What?" Charlie asks unconsciously lowering her voice too.
"Don't tell Mom." Connor reveals, "She has enough to worry about without worrying about me to." He explains.
"You want to keep this from Mom? Our Mom?" Charlie asks surprised, "She notices everything Con." Charlie says, it being a combination of Rachel being a scientist and spending so many years under Ben's control, she notices everything, she's had to.
"I know." Connor admits, knowing that it is going to be difficult to hide the fact that he is in pain, "But we're way too close to where Ben is to stop for too long plus Mom's more hurt than me and she still walking, the least I can do is do the same." He says before giving Charlie a serious look, "Please Char, do this for me, keep my secret, help me" He asks.
"Don't I always?" Charlie responds with a sigh, "But how am I going to help?"
"Tell me if I'm obviously limping." He suggests.
"You think I can do that before Mom realises?" Charlie asks.
"I don't know." Connor responds honestly looking over at his little brother and mother.
"Connor, Charlie breakfast is ready." Rachel says and Connor and Charlie get up and walk over to their mother and brother.
As soon as they finish eating Charlie, Connor, Rachel, and Danny pack up the rest of their stuff and start to walk once more.
They have been walking for about six hours, taking small breaks between, when the family stops for their slightly longer lunch break.
"How bad does your ankle hurt right now?" Charlie asks curious as they sit down to eat.
"A lot, like a hell of a lot." Connor responds honestly.
"Are you two okay?" Rachel asks Connor and Charlie curious as she has noticed all morning that they have been whispering to each other.
"Fine." Charlie and Connor say in unison.
"Are you sure?" Rachel asks concerned as it is clear that they aren't telling her something.
"Yep." Connor responds, putting on his best lying face, "Danny, you okay?" He asks worried as because he is trying to avoid looking at his mother he has looked over at his brother who seems to be breathing more deeply than normal.
"Danny?" Rachel asks worried turning to look at her son, "Are you having an attack?" she asks worried.
"No." Danny says as he takes several deep breaths, "Not a full one." He responds as it seems like it is only slight, nowhere as bad as some of the attacks he has had.
"Here, drink." Rachel says pulling out a bottle water and handing it to her son. As she does she starts to cough and once she has finished she tries her best to ignore the small amount of blood that is on her hand that she used to cover her mouth, "Small sips." She says to Danny who nods.
"I'm okay." Danny says a couple of minutes later, "Really." He says, still clearly having the tiniest bit of difficulty breathing.
"Are you sure?" Charlie asks worried as she, Connor and Rachel are watching him with almost identical worried looks on their faces.
"Yes." Danny responds.
"We're resting for at least an hour to be sure." Rachel informs her children as while she would prefer to start to walk again as soon as possible her children's heath comes fist so she won't allow them to continue to walk again until she is sure that Danny can handle it.
At his mother's words Connor is slightly released as it means that he can rest his ankle a bit more, though he wishes that the reason wasn't because his brother had trouble breathing.
When the family of four finally start to continue to walk after lunch Rachel makes sure that they take more breaks, something which turns out to be a good idea because due to the fact that they were able to have more time to rest, albeit in smaller amounts at a time, the kids are able to walk for longer, so much longer in fact that Rachel thinks it's about eleven pm when they stop and make camp and once more basically straight after dinner, Connor, Charlie and Danny have fallen asleep.
Even though she is tired after her kids fall asleep Rachel herself won't let herself fall asleep because of three reasons; the first is because she wants to watch over her kids, make sure they are okay. The second is because she knows what coughing up blood likely means and she is worried about what will happen to Charlie, Connor and Danny if something happens to her before she can get them to Miles and Bass, and the third reason is the fact that tomorrow they will be walking through Chicago which these days is more dangerous than waking through the wood and she is worried about seeing the destruction that was caused because of her up close.
For about five minutes Rachel tries to keep her eyes from closing when she hears a 'no, don't hurt her' followed by a moan coming from Connor, the second she hears that she is completely awake.
"Connor, wake up Honey." Rachel says reaching over and shaking Connor awake, doing her best not to wake up Charlie or Danny. Thankfully tonight Connor is lying right next to her while Charlie is the furthest away, "Come on Connor, wake up." Rachel says trying to wake him up as whatever he is dreaming about clearly isn't pleasant.
"Mommy?" Connor asks waking up, fear in his voice.
"Yeah, it's okay, you're okay, you're safe." She informs her son, brushing his hair out of his face as even though many people wouldn't consider sleeping outside in the wilderness safe it is for them because it is a lot safer from where they came from.
At his mother's words Connor throws himself into her arms and hugs her tightly and to his surprise, because he can't remember the last time he did, he cries.
"It's okay, you're okay, I've got you." Rachel says holding Connor and starting to rock back and forth as she speaks.
"Are we really free of him?" Connor asks about ten minutes later.
"Yeah, we are." Rachel tells him, not needing to ask who he means, "And I promise you Connor I will do everything in my power to make sure he doesn't come near any of us again." She tells her son.
"I'm sorry."
"What for?" Rachel asks confused.
"For not protecting you." Connor says to his mother's shock, "I'm older now, bigger now, I should have stopped Ben from hurting you." He tells his mother, "But I didn't, and I even got you hurt a couple of times."
"Look at me Connor." Rachel requests and that's what her son does, "It isn't your job to protect me, it's my job as your mother to protect you and your siblings." She tells him, "I don't want you to blame yourself for me getting hurt, there was nothing you could have done to stop it." She tells him, "If you would have tried Ben just would have hurt you more and I've always done everything I could to make sure that didn't happen." Rachel tells her son, "I would always rather I was hurt than you or one of your siblings, so don't blame yourself."
"It's hard not to." Connor responds honestly.
Not sure what to say Rachel hugs her son once more, as she does Connor yawns.
"How about you try and get some more sleep." Rachel suggests.
"I will if you do." Connor informs his mother.
"Connor…" Rachel starts to say but Connor cuts her off before she can say anymore.
"Please Mom, you need sleep too." Connor informs his mother, "So please, for me, try to sleep." He asks pulling out the big guns.
"I'll try." Rachel tells her son, "Lay down." She says and that's what Connor does.
"You too." Connor says and that's what Rachel does. About five minutes after he laid down Connor is fast asleep and about twenty minutes later Rachel is.
It is once again an early morning for Connor, Charlie, Danny and Rachel and once again Rachel is the first awake thought this time, to her relief, all her children are lying next to her when she wakes. While Connor, Charlie and Danny continue to sleep Rachel gets started on breakfast, allowing them to have as much sleep as possible before waking them up.
After breakfast they pack up their campsite and once again start to walk Rachel planning on using the same strategy that she used the previous afternoon, taking more shorter breaks rather than less long ones.
It is about three in the afternoon when they reach the outskirts of Chicago and when they do Rachel stops walking and calls her children, who are about three steps a head off her over to her.
"What is it Mom?" Charlie asks curious.
"We're about to enter the city." She informs her children, "It will take as a couple of hours to walk through and while we do it's really important that you don't wonder off." She tells them, "There are going to be quite a few people and things that you haven't seen before but you need to stay by me, all of you." Rachel tells her kids giving them each a look, "Can you do that?" She asks.
"Yes." Connor, Charlie and Danny respond.
"Good." Rachel says, "Let's go." She tells them and the four of them start walking.
After walking though Chicago for about half an hour it becomes clear that Charlie, Connor and Danny are shocked by the sights that greet them, though it is also clear that even though they look like they want to none of them are wondering of to look at things, they are listening to their mother. Rachel on the other hand is feeling guilt as she looks around as she knows that everything that has been destroyed, ever life that has been lost and the fact that people are living the way they are is because of her.
As they walk Charlie and Connor exchange whispers and as they do Rachel hears something which makes her stop walking and when they see that she has Connor, Charlie and Danny do the same.
"Yeah, Matheson and Monroe, they're right in our backyard." A man near a stall says.
"Seriously?" The man who the other guy is talking to responds, "I thought they never left Philadelphia these days." He responds.
"They don't, so it must be something pretty big to bring them here." The first man responds.
"Are you sure that they're with the squad? It could just be a militia squadron."
"I'm sure." The first guy tells his friend, "I've got a buddy in the militia and when I saw the tents I asked him what was going on and he confirmed it, Matheson and Monroe are here."
"Stay right here." Rachel tells informs her children and she walks over to the two men, "Excuse me did you say that General' Matheson and Monroe are near here?" Rachel asks them.
"Yep about seventy miles away, this side of South Bend." The first man informs Rachel, "They've set up a whole camp just of the highway, it's huge, impossible to miss."
"Why are you so curious?" The second man asks curious, giving Rachel a suspicious look.
"My Brother is a militia solder but I haven't heard from him for over a year, I was hoping to get some answers." Rachel lies, "Thank you." She says before walking back over to Charlie, Connor and Danny, "Let's go." She tells them.
"Mom, does that mean?" Danny begins to ask but Rachel cuts him off.
"Not here, we'll talk once we are out of the city." She tells her son as they continue to walk, Rachel trying her best not to get her hopes up that she will get to see Miles and Bass again before she succumbs to her injuries, but honestly the fact that they are less than two days instead over two weeks away does fill Rachel with joy.
It is two hours later when Rachel, Connor, Danny and Charlie take their next break. They have made it through Chicago and resting out in the woods.
"Do you really think Dad and Pop are that close?" Charlie asks her mother, trying not to be excited as she doesn't want to be disappointed if they aren't.
"I don't know, I hope so." Rachel admits, "But there is only one way to find out." She tells her children, "And…" Rachel starts to say but she is cuts herself of with a coughing fit.
"Here drink." Charlie says racing over to her mother with a bottle of water, "Is that blood?" she asks worried when she see the hand Rachel used to cover her mouth.
"Yes." Rachel answers as she drinks the water.
"Why are you coughing up blood?" Danny asks, fear clear in his voice.
"Come here, both of you." She says to Danny and Connor as while Charlie is sitting next to her and has been since she gave her the water Connor and Charlie are several meters away.
Once they have walked over to their mother and sister Connor sits down next to his mother while Danny sits down in front of her.
"I'm coughing up blood because somewhere inside of me I'm bleeding." Rachel informs her children, trying to put it as delicately as possible.
"That's bad isn't it?" Danny asks.
"Yeah, It is." Rachel admits.
"Maybe we should rest for the rest of the day." Charlie suggests, "That will help right?" She asks.
"It might, but we can't." Rachel responds honestly, "We need to continue to walk, if Miles and Bass are close then we can't waste any time getting to them." She informs her children.
"Can you though?" Connor asks, "Wont more walking just hurt you more?" he asks worried.
"That's a possibility." Rachel says, even though she knows that it's more of a yes than anything else she doesn't want them to worry more than they are, "But we don't know how long they will stay, we need to get there as soon as possible." Rachel explains.
"So I guess we're walking through the night." Charlie comments.
"No." Rachel answers knowing that they all need rest, "We'll walk for longer tonight, but we will stop and rest for a few hours." She tells her children, all of whom nod, "Let's get going." She says and the all get up. The second Rachel is standing she finds herself being hugged by all three of her children.
"We love you Mom." Danny, Charlie and Connor say.
"I love you too." Rachel tells her children.
It is well after eleven pm when the family stop walking for the night and before quarter to twelve Charlie, Connor and Danny are asleep. Rachel on the other hand isn't. Once she is sure that her children are asleep she pulls out a map as well as notebook and pencil out of her bag.
The first thing Rachel does is use the notebook to write a long overdue letter. After about forty five minutes she has finished the letter and starts using the map to figure out and mark the quickest way to where Miles and Bass apparently are, the entire time she does that she tries to ignore the fact that she knows that she is getting weaker and that walking the rest of the way to Miles and Bass may not be possible for her.
Once she has finished marking the map Rachel genially shakes Charlie and Connor awake.
"Mom? What's going on?" Charlie asks confused.
"Over here." Rachel says in a quite whisper moving to the other side of the fire so that they whispers don't wake Danny but being sure that she can see him at all times.
Even though they are both confused what is going on Charlie and Connor walk across the campsite and sit across from their mother, waiting for her to explain what is going on.
"This is where we currently are." Rachel says laying down the map in front of her children and pointing to a position, "And this is where your Dad and Pop should be." She tells them pointing to another point on the map, "And this is the way that will get us there in the quickest time possible." She tells them.
"Why are you showing us that?" Connor asks curious, ignoring the sinking feeling he has which is telling him exactly why.
"Just in case." Rachel tells him, "And they aren't there, then following this will get you to Philadelphia." Rachel says pointing to another marked out path.
"In case of what Mom?" Charlie asks, positive that she doesn't want the answers, "Why do we need to know this?"
"Ben hurt me pretty bad before we left." Rachel tells her children, "Really bad, and just in case something happens to me I want to make sure you can get yourselves and your brother to your Dad and Pop." Rachel tells her children.
"They are a day away." Connor points out, "Do you really think you can't make it that far?" he asks worried.
"I don't know." Rachel admits, "But just in case I need to know that you will get to them." Rachel tells her children, "I also wrote this." Rachel says putting folded letter down on the map, "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure I am with you when you get to Dad and Pop but just in case I'm not I need you to give this to them." She tells them, "Tell them that it will explain everything, answer every one of their questions." She says, "And it's very important that the first thing they do once they see you is read this letter, can you make sure of that?" Rachel asks Connor and Charlie.
"Of course we can." Charlie tells her mother, "But we won't have to because you'll be with us, when we see Dad and Pop, you'll be there and you can tell them everything yourself." She tells her mother.
"I hope your right Charlie, I really do." She tells her daughter as the last thing she wants is to leave her kids, "You both need to know that I am so proud of you and that I love you and your brother more than anything." She tells her children.
"Mom, don't." Connor says, in a stern voice "That sounds like goodbye but this isn't goodbye. We're going to start walking in a few hours and we'll get to Dad and Pop, all of us. I won't accept anything else." He says getting a look on his face that Rachel has seen on both Miles and Bass's face a hundred times, the look of complete determination.
"I'm not giving up Connor." Rachel tells her son, "I just wanted to make sure that you and Charlie are prepared just in case." She tells him, "That you'll know what to do, that you'll look after Danny, and that you'll stick together." She tells them.
"Of course we will." Charlie tells her mother, "We promise you that." She says and Connor nods.
"I think it's enough talk of the bad things that might happen." Connor tells his mother, "I'll take the map." He says starting to fold it up.
"Why do you get to take the map?" Charlie asks.
"Because I'm older."
"By five minutes, that doesn't count."
"Yes it does."
"No it doesn't."
"Charlotte, Connor." Rachel says, ending the bickering, knowing all too well how long that argument can last, "Connor can take the map and Charlie you can take the letter." She says and the kids nod.
"We've still got a few more hours till we have to start walking again, we should get some more sleep." Rachel says and Charlie and Connor nod and the three of them head back over to their beds, once they are there Rachel lies down and both Connor and Charlie snuggle in close to her, neither of them wanting to think about the possibility of losing their mother.
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