— Beca —
When I finally awoke, the atmosphere in the warehouse had shifted once again. Aside from waking up briefly after Jesse and Donald's return to let Benji check me over and redress my wounds, I felt like I must have slept for at least 12 hours. Not that it was possible to tell in here, but nevertheless it was enough to totally disorient me, and it took me a few seconds to shake my initial panic as my eyes came into focus and I began to realise who was gently shaking my shoulder to rouse me.
"Beca, Beca are you awake?" It was Chloe, her voice terse and her eyes wild. I groaned, rubbing my face with my least injured hand and starting to sit up.
"What is it? Are we safe?" In my mind, being awoken like this meant danger, from the infected or another group. Adrenaline once again flooded my system, forcing out what remnants of sleep remained. Now fully alert, I swung my head around to take in my surroundings and check on the rest of the group. Everyone seemed very still, which was weird if we were under attack. Jesse and Aubrey were stood over by the door, and everyone else was dotted around the warehouse, looking confused and anxious.
"What the hell is going on Chloe?" I asked, fear bleeding into my voice as I thought through the possibilities. I started to count who was here: Amy, Donald, Benji, Aubrey, Jesse, Chloe-
"They're gone Beca. We woke up and they were gone." Ice drove its way into my chest, splintering and cold. My eyes widened in realisation.
"Mary and the kids? Oh god…" I could see now that she was right. Although the light in here was dim as ever, it was now clear to me that our group was suddenly alone within the warehouse. Mary and the kids were no longer huddled in their corner, nor were they apparently anywhere else. I could make out the members of our group scouting every other available inch of space, finding nothing. They really had gone. I staggered to my feet, the now familiar ache of my bruises rising to meet me. I ignored the pain, moving towards the door where Jesse and Aubrey turned to watch me approach. I couldn't read their expressions. Jesse seemed tired, and I wondered if what he'd had to do mere hours earlier had somehow pushed him over the edge.
"What happened?" I could hear the others now reconvening behind me, following me over as I came to a stop in front of my brother. He sighed, shaking his head and glancing at Aubrey who looked similarly tense.
"I guess somehow we were all asleep at once at some point. I woke up a few minutes ago and…." I could hear the emotion in his voice. This was too much for him, I could tell. I put a hand on his shoulder, ignoring the tightness of my skin as my various cuts and burns pulled and screamed in protest.
"It's okay. I know we normally all take shifts, but after everything over the last few days we can't be surprised that all of us needed the rest. It's nobody's fault." His jaw twitched, and I could tell that he disagreed. I couldn't fathom why he felt he could blame himself for this. How could any of us? I turned to see the rest of the group now loosely gathered behind me, the same fear and sorrow etched across their faces.
"Should we go after them? They can't have made it far." Stacie spoke up, her eyes darting between Jesse, Chloe and I. I too looked to Chloe, who was managing to remain surprisingly stoic.
"We have to at least try. I don't think any of us could ever forgive ourselves if we just did nothing." She finally replied, not breaking my stare as she did so. I nodded. She was right. The others murmured in collective assent, and I took a deep breath. Looks like I'm gonna just have to rest on the go.
I moved over to the door and carefully opened it a crack, just enough to feel the outside air on my cheek and allow a sliver of light to fall at my feet. It was daytime at least. I closed the door once again.
"Okay, we need to split up again. I know that's not what anyone wants right now but it's the only way we're gonna be able to cover every possible direction. Jesse, Chloe, Aubrey and I will take point, each going out in a straight line from this point with a partner. Jesse, you and Amy go North. Chloe, you and Benji go East. Aubrey, you and Donald can take South, and then Cynthia-Rose and I will go West. Stacie, I know that you're doing well at the moment but I think it would be a good idea to leave someone here with our supplies and the vehicles, just in case." Stacie looked a little put out to be called out as the one to stay behind, but it would be weeks before her shoulder would allow her to use any kind of weapon effectively again, and I wasn't lying when I said it would be good to have someone guard our things. At the very least it would hopefully ensure that we could at least keep hold of the truck if anything went wrong here while the rest of us were away. Everyone seemed satisfied with the plan, and so we began to prepare. If we wanted to sort this out quickly, we needed to get a move on. I waved Aubrey over to where I was stood with Jesse and Chloe.
"Have you got something substantial for a weapon yet?" I asked, and she shrugged.
"I've been using anything I can get my hands on, but if you've got something good I'll definitely take it." I gave a small half smile, gesturing to something leant up against the nearby wall.
"I found that section of pipe just now, I reckon it'd do some good damage." She seemed pleased with that, and went to retrieve it. Soon, we were all assembled by the door, as ready as we could ever be. We'd come so close to just having a moment to rest. I suppose Mary thought there was no harm in her leaving with the kids in the night, and in fact she probably thought it was best for all of us. And maybe it was, but I couldn't just accept that at face value. I knew we at least had to try. And so, weapons in hand we filed one by one out of the door, blinking into the bright mid-morning sunlight. Forward, again. Ever forward.