Chapter 7 – Andie

This morning, Andie woke up in Kaid's arms. He was still asleep and taking slow, long breaths that gently blew her hair. Kaid was laying on his back with his head turned to her. One of his arms held her close while the other was folded on his chest. She was curled up next to him with her head resting in the nook of Kaid's shoulder and neck.

There were rays of sun and the shuffle of movement in the hallway. Every body else was getting ready for their daily jobs, which meant they had to start getting ready too.

They had taken Finn's advice and put a sheet over the cell door for more privacy. It seemed like second nature that they shared a bed/room, and Andie preferred it to sleeping in a strange cell all by her self. And since they only used one bed and one pair of sheets, they took the extra sheet and strung it above the door.

Using as little movement as possible, trying not to disturb Kaid as he slept, Andie inspected her unfamiliar surroundings once again. The cell they were in was small, only meant for one person, and had a cold cement floor. Their backpacks sat in one corner as well as a few layers of clothes.

"I know you're awake," Kaid's voice was husky from just waking up. He talked even though his eyes were still shut. Lazily, he took a big breath, filling his chest with air, and let a sigh come out as he began opening his eyes. His arms stretched out, flexing the muscles taught, and then curled them around Andie again.

"Did you get a good night's rest?" he asked.

"The best I've had in a long time." She responded, smiling and curling into Kaid's arms. "I think we're going to like this place."

Andie expected Kaid's famous frown of disapproval to appear, but instead he gave a small smile. "I think so too. No running. No fighting to find food. We could be safe here."

Andie's smile grew and her heart fluttered at the thought of safety.

Home. This could be home.

She leaned in to press her lips to Kaid's.

"Are you two going to make kissy faces at each other all day or are you going to come and eat breakfast?" A voice came from the cell door.

Both of them tilted their heads up to see who was at the door. A short, snickering, young boy giggled at them. He pursed his lips together and made wet kissing sounds. He laughed some more.

At this point Andie and Kaid had sat up. She pulled on the same shirt she had been wearing yesterday over her head and was pulling on pants and her boots. Kaid did the same.

Neither of them hurried, though. They weren't embarrassed. The boy was young and immature—and a little annoying for that matter, but they didn't care. They weren't doing anything wrong.

"Come on!" the boy yelled, cheery now. "They're serving pancakes and ham today!" The boy scampered off.

"Did I hear that right?" Andie cocked her head in confusion. Her stomach growled at the thought of the hearty meal. "I definitely heard that right."

Kaid, who was already standing and dressed, offered his hands to pull her up from the bed. "Let's go then," he threw his arm over her shoulder as they walked.

At first they followed the crowd of people to find their way, but soon they could follow the scent alone. The aroma of sweet syrup and warm pancakes and the saltiness of ham made Andie's mouth water.

As they entered the mess hall, Andie finally got an idea of how huge this place was. There were dozens upon dozens of circular tables with attached chairs, and people were sitting at all of them. There were people serving and standing in line for food. Andie hadn't seen this many people in one place in so long. She almost forgot how chaotic it was. She was a little nervous to suddenly be around so many people.

"This way," Kaid pulled them to the line, more confident than she was.

The two of them picked up old ceramic plates and began filling them with as much food as they could. Andie stacked a measly four pancakes on her plate while Kaid greedily took twelve. His eyes were as big as a kid in a candy store as he poured syrup on top. He offered the jug to Andie and she doused her plate as well. Some of the sticky liquid fell on her finger and she licked it up.

Oh my god.

It was amazing. Real, warm food. Not canned food. Meat, bread, sugar. It was all so good. Andie couldn't wait to eat it.

As they reached the end of the line they started looking for an empty spot to sit. Not too long after starting their search did the see a hand shoot up from the crowd. The blonde boy smiled and called to them.

"I think Finn wants us over there," Kaid grinned. The difference between Kaid and Finn was like a Golden Retriever and a German Shepard. One was loyal and always looking to please and the other was a fierce, fearless protector.

"Looks like there's room. Let's go." Andie started walking over to the table and saw another familiar face. Finn's twin brother Jamie. Great.

His was sitting to Finn's right giving him a betrayed look. Jamie didn't have a plate in front of him, but had a glass of water instead, which didn't even look like it had been touched. What was up with this kid?

"Everybody," Finn introduced. "This is Andie and Kaid. They are the ones that Jamie and I found yesterday." Andie gave a small wave as she sat down. Finn started introducing the strangers that sat around the table, all young faces. "This is Alissa, Tanner, Cory, Ben, and you know Jamie." They all smiled and said hello.

Andie smiled and thanked Finn for inviting them over. "This is all so amazing," She took a forkful of food that was almost too big for her mouth. "Mmmm. You guys made all of this?"

Finn, who had taken a smaller bite, swallowed before he spoke. "Yeah, we have a farm on the opposite side of the beach, so we harvest wheat, vegetables and fruit there. Tanner," he pointed with his fork to an older boy across the table. He had dark skin and hair, and yet he had freckles and light eyes. "Runs the butchery, and not too far from here we have some Maple trees tapped. It's amazing what the cooks can come up with here. Pancakes and ham are my favorite." Finn took another bite.

"You guys have a butchery?" Andie asked, incredulous.

Tanner answered now, shrugging his shoulders. "My dad taught me before everything happened. It was a family business." His voice dropped a little. He must've lost his parents when the Infection spread. Andie's heart went out to him. She could relate. Everyone lost someone when it had gotten bad. "We have cows, pigs, and chickens. A few goats too."

"I know how to gut wild game, but I've never done anything domestic." Kaid spoke. "I'm sure it's not that hard to learn since I already know the basics. Maybe I can give it a try sometime, help you out?" Kaid spoke up and then looked at Finn for approval.

Finn grinned. "If that's what you like then by all means try it out. What about you, Andie?"

"Huh?" Andie said smoothly. She had been paying attention to the conversation, but was looking at Jamie. He intrigued her. Even as he sat, staring at his glass of water, there was something there that pulled her attention to him. He cocked up an eyebrow at her once everyone else looked at her. His face softened when he noticed her staring, but only for a moment.

"What do you like to do?" Finn asked again.

It felt like all eyes were on her now. Finn's curious ones, Jamie's indifferent one's, Kaid's captivated one's, and the other strangers at the table. "Umm, I don't know? I'm not good at anything special."

"Andie really likes animals." Kaid spoke up for her.

"Yeah, wouldn't that be great?" Andie said sarcastically, slapping his arm with a playful punch. "I take care of the animals and then hand them over to you, just to have you kill them." Kaid, and even the whole table began to laugh. Even Jamie broke into a small grin, a real grin. And for once, Andie could see beyond his hard exterior, but only for a moment. A second later, as if he realized he had slipped, Jamie went back to his stoic expression.

Hearing everyone laugh made Andie feel good. It made her feel accepted. These people had known each other for so long, and accepting a stranger wasn't always easy, but they made her feel like she belonged there. And she realized they were all exactly the same. They were all survivors too, and they were just trying to live in the world that was forced upon them. They all went through the same thing and they had all lost loved ones.

"Well, like I said, you can try out a series of jobs before you pick one out that you like." Finn explained. Once again he had this aura about him that made him feel important, like he was the student body president, or a captain of a sport's team. A natural leader, Andie thought. "How about you start off as a Stockperson with Jamie for today?" Finn smiled, but his face quickly twisted into a yelp. His brother was giving him a hard look of betrayal. Finn whispered to Jamie, "I think it will be good for you. Don't worry."

Jamie rolled his eyes, took his untouched glass of water and stood up. "Fine,"

With his attention facing Andie again, Finn looked apologetic. "He doesn't usually work with anyone. That's why he's so grumpy. He's not always like this. I promise." Andie slowly got up to follow Jamie, who was now waiting in the doorway. At least he hadn't completely stormed off and left her to find her way on her own. But he still looked frustrated to be stuck with her.

She felt a warm hand touch hers. It was Kaid. He smiled up at her reassuringly. "Have fun."

"You too," she said as she emptied her plate and set it on a counter to be washed. She prayed she didn't get stuck with dishwasher duty. She hated dealing with leftover, wet food.

Andie caught up with Jamie and before she could say anything, he turned and wordlessly began walking. She took a centering breath. She would get through this. One cranky guy wasn't going to ruin all of this for her.

Making their way through the maze of hallways, Andie followed Jamie to the stockroom. He flipped on a flickering light and it lit up the giant room.

There were rows of shelves of food. "Oh my God," Andie heard herself say. There was canned food, bagged grains, extra blankets, toilet paper, and so much more. Everything that they had ever scavenged or collected was here. It was like they had their own personal shopping center.

Jamie sighed as he lifted a bag. "This is the bag we got from our last run. We need to organize all of it an put it in the right spots."

"Just one bag?"

"Just one bag," Jamie smiled sarcastically "Don't worry, we won't be together too long. There's not much left to do. Besides, we had more come in the other day. This is just from Finn and me." He first started unpacking the supplies on a main table. There were bottles of water, cans of food, candles, a few random plastic objects, and a medical kit. The thing with scavenging was you never questioned what you were grabbing. You just grabbed it and took what you found. You'd find a purpose for it later.

"So," Andie tried to break the awkward silence. It was too painful. "You guys have it all figured out don't you?" She started sorting through everything and organizing it into groups of similar objects.

"Pretty much," Jamie responded curtly. He had a handful of water bottles and started walking down the second aisle. Andie grabbed the waters that were left on the table and followed him. The shelf had five-gallon water jugs, water bottles, and empty canisters to fill water. They placed their bottles there.

"How is this enough for the entire hospital?" she asked as Jamie silently walked back to the main table.

"It's not. Look around. We're on an island. We are surrounded by freshwater. It's not that hard to come by. Those waters are for emergencies or trips." He didn't say it condescendingly or rudely. He almost sounded tired, with the ever-present undertone of annoyance. Jamie had been looking at Andie when he was talking, but as soon as he finished, his eyes flickered down to the table.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked softly. Jamie didn't look up as he mumbled a response. She took a breath. "Why are you trying to push me away?"

That got his attention. Jamie's brown eyes snapped up at her. His mouth was a tight line. "What?"

"Ever since I met you, you've been annoyed with me, or short with me. Either you're trying to push me away or you're a bigger dick than I thought."

Jamie gave an arrogant smile. It seemed faked though. Forced. "Maybe I am a dick."

"See," Andie started. "I don't think you are. You're brother, your identical twin, is so nice. He offered us a place to live, and you keep on acting like you are regretting that you didn't leave us on the streets. Yeah, it's true that I don't know you, and maybe you are just a dick who doesn't like me. Maybe you don't trust us, but I saw you at breakfast. I saw you smile; a real smile. I think that's who you really are, not this guy who is rude to everybody. You helped me when I almost fell off the motorcycle. There's a part of you that you're burying under this charade of dick-ness." Andie made herself smile. "I just don't understand why you hide the real you."

Jamie was hard to read. His face was lax, but his mouth was still a tight line. Once he finally leaned forward, Andie saw expression come over his face. He looked sad, but the proximity of their bodies made Andie feel intimidated. She could feel her heart begin to race. Maybe she crossed a line.

She could see his eyes now. They were more dilated than she expected. The small lines that made up the chocolate brown color were only a small band. And she could've sworn she saw something else in there. More colors. More colors that enhanced his own brown color. Gold? Amber? Red? Just before she could decide, his eyes snapped down.

Was he looking at her chest? Andie suddenly felt disgusted at him. But, no, he was looking at her neck. His expression wasn't hungry or lustful, as she expected; it was sad and tired.

"I guess that's what happens in this world." Jamie's eyes snapped back up to meet hers. "It changes people. Better learn that now."

After that, they spent they rest of the afternoon unpacking in silence.


I wanted to saw thank you to the few people who commented on the last chapter. Keep it up! I love reading what you have to say. Sorry this chapter wasn't too intense. Keep commenting! And this story is also posted on my Wattpad under the same username and title ;)