Chapter Two: A Whisper (pt2)

It wasn't easy convincing Isabella that coming out was our best option. Our parents had explicitly told us that in case something dangerous happened, we were to stay under the stage until one of them came for us... But I won that argument in the end. And soon enough we were all out. The sight of a cooing and wide awake Eva squirming in her basket as I pushed it out into the open had more than one grownup curse under their breath. Something that made me and Isabella glare up at them angrily when it scared Camila enough for her to try and crawl back under the stage.

It wasn't easy going upstairs. The entire auditorium and the hallways were filled with the downed bodies of people I'd gotten to know very well over the last month and a half... poor Isabella gagged at almost every single one until she resolutely looked up at the ceiling instead. Still, every body we passed that wasn't my Mom or Dad or cousin's was like having a weight lifted off my chest and hope breathed into my lungs.

The sheriff and his people decided that the best place to hunker down for the night would be the craft room -it was the only place without a body in it- and soon enough they were all spread out around the room. As soon as my sisters were all sitting comfortably together in a corner of the room I tugged onto Rick's arm.

"Can you help me now?"

He traded a look over my head at the mean man with dark hair, "We need to get everyone settled first, maybe find everyone something to eat and then I can take you around."

"What if we make a deal." I offered, fiddling with the buckles of my overalls, "You help me look for my mom now, and then I'll show you where we hid some of the emergency supplies."

"Why don't you just tell us where all of that is now?"

"Shane-"

"This ain't a game, Rick." the man, now revealed as Shane cut him off.

"Exactly." I piped up, "Those supplies are ours. We hid them. This is a trade."

Shane ran a hand through his hair angrily before shooting the sheriff an annoyed look, "Alright." Rick agreed, "Com'on. We'll help you look."

Triumph made a wide grin bloom on my face, I turned around to shoot Isabella a comforting look, "Stay here, look after the piohas, and I'll be back soon."

Isabella looked more than a little annoyed to be left behind again but she nodded, "Vale. Be careful."

"Can I come?" Camila asked suddenly as she realized I was leaving the room.

"No." me and Isabella replied in unison. Camila pouted angrily but was quickly roped into whatever it was that Olivia was playing with.

The sheriff took the lead as we walked out into the hall, he went towards the right but stopped when I tugged on his belt, "Wait. Can we go the other way?"

He looked confused and Shane seemed a little bit more than annoyed, "Alright, kid."

"The janitor's closet is this way." I jerked my head in the other direction as I started leading them to said closet.

"And why are we going to a closet?" Shane asked in a weird tone.

"Cause the door automatically locks when it closes, it's usually propped open with a cinder block... but if you're inside when it's shut, you can't get out." I explained, "There's only two keys that open that door. Mami has one of them. That's why, if los muertos ever got inside, us kids were supposed to go hide under the stage or in the closet. Mami was upstairs when..."

"So, you think your mom might be in the closet?" Rick asked, his voice dripping with understanding.

"Yup." I nodded before jogging a little as I turned the corner and spotted said closet. The door was predictably shut, but what wasn't normal was the prone bloodied body lying in front of it. It wasn't my mom. But it was Senor Jorge. He'd been Abuelita's friend.

A hand landed on my shoulder, and I couldn't help but flinch under the touch as Rick asked, "Is this it?"

"Yes." I whispered. Shane was the first one to move, without a word he dragged Sen- the body away so that nothing was blocking the door. I ignored the way that my sneakers squeaked when I stepped in the puddle of blood by the door, and pressed my ear against it. "Mami?" I whispered, "Estas ahi?"

It's quiet for a minute. The only sound that reached my ears was my own breathing before I finally heard something shuffling on the other side of the door.

"Mami, you in there? Es Pillar." I whispered desperately.

"Pilli?"

I swallowed down a sob, "Mami, I'm here. Do you have the key?"

"Mija!" she gasped from the other side, "What are you doing roaming the halls, it's not safe. I heard more people moving around. Where are your sisters? You were supposed to wait with them until your father and I came to get you."

"They're okay! We're not hurt." I reassured her, "There's some people here, but they're not bad. Do you remember the sheriff and Glenn? They came back."

A hand landed on top of my head gently, looking up revealed it to be Rick's once more, "Ma'am, my names Rick Grimes. I was here a few days ago. Do you have the key to open the door?"

"Yes..." I could hear my mom moving around before a key was slipped under the door frame.

The sheriff didn't waste any time before picking it up and unlocking the door. It only took a few seconds before my mother was wrapping her arms around me as I pressed my face into her shirt. Her hand rubbed my back gently before she pushed me away to pepper kisses on my face. I couldn't have stopped the relieved tears from streaming down my cheeks if I'd tried.

"Is it really safe? No muertos roamin' around?" I gasped as Alexander peeked his head out from behind the door. My cousin looked shaken, his eyes darting around the hall, before landing on the two unfamiliar men and staying there.

"Xander!" his name fell from my lips like a prayer before I threw my arms around him. He wrapped his arms around me before trying to push me behind him.

"I remember you." Alexander mumbled, "You're the guy that had Miguel."

Rick nodded, "Ye-"

The echo of a baby's cry cut him off.

Shane huffed, "Alright let's get you guys with the others. Kid, you promised to show us where ya'll hid the emergency-"

My mother practically ran towards the sound of the cries, Alexander and I were hot on her heels. Mami's sudden appearance seemed to have definitely startled some of the others... but it only caused my sisters to let out excited exclamations. She lifted Eva from the basket, instantly quelling her tears, before showering my younger sisters with hugs and kisses. Isabella was the first to break away and hug our wayward cousin before our mother made us all sit on the floor.

When Eva made another distressed whine, my mom hushed her before declaring, "She's hungry. Xander, pass me her blanket." since he was the closest to the basket. My cousin was quick to toss it over to her. Despite all the looks being directed our way, my mother held her ground and covered her chest and Eva's head so that she could adjust her shirt to breastfeed.

"Ma'am." Rick broke the awkward silence, "Like I said before, I'm Rick Grimes. Our group came here for shelter... I don't know what happened here, but-"

"It was a slaughter." Mami interrupted, "They came here for the medical supplies. Probably thought we were easy pickings... I'm Merina Ortega. These are my daughters and nephew. Did- have you seen anyone else alive?"

The entire group looked uncomfortable.

"No." it was the man with the crossbow that responded.

My mother let out a shaky breath as her eyes watered, "I see."

"Listen, I'm sorry for your loss." Shane started, "I really am, but it's getting dark and your daughter said that there are some supplies we could use. Some food we can use to make something to eat."

She nodded, "Yes. If they didn't find the girls, then it should all be there."

Understanding flooded unto their features.

"So it's under the stage." Shane rubbed his chin, looking like he was ready to bolt down the stairs right away.

"You're gonna need some help." Alexander piped up, "Grownups can't squeeze themselves underneath there."

"We can help." I agreed before shrugging, "I promised to show you anyway."

Mami doesn't look very happy with the idea of Alexander and I going downstairs with a bunch of strangers but when Camila whimpered, "Tengo hambre." she gave in. Besides... we accidentally left the diaper bag under the stage, and... well, we were going to need it sooner or later. Heck, I'd already had to change a diaper more than an hour ago, and it would only be a matter of time before Eva or Olivia needed another one.

Between me and Alexander it took a couple of minutes to move the dummy bags that had actually been things for the stage (like costumes and stuff) out of the way before we could start pushing the boxes with canned goods and medical supplies out. The men that'd come down to help seemed rather impressed with all the things we'd unearthed, they were practically giddy as we marched up the stairs.

Even that man, Shane, wasn't so grumpy when I asked the group if they could take Xander and I to the room where we'd been sleeping in with the rest of our family. It was a pretty good call, since the emergency "go-bags" Papi made us pack were all still in the closets with our clothes... and most importantly everyone's teddies. Heck, Camila's ratty brown monkey and Olivia's stretched-out purple teddy bear would have definitely come in handy hours ago when Isabella and I were struggling to keep the two of them quiet.

All the strangers in the craft room were pretty thrilled to see the boxes with food, but the sheriff was pretty strict with handing things out. Rationing it, so that everything would last longer was more important than everyone going to sleep with full bellies. At least they didn't say anything about us kids not being able to eat our fill. The other group had the two kids I'd seen earlier, a pale boy with dark hair that called the sheriff Dad and a tall dirty-blonde-haired girl that had a bunch of freckles on her face. It was weird to see other kids. Especially since the only kids I'd seen since the outbreak were my sisters and Alexander. I guess Miguel and Carlos sort of counted, but they were teenagers... and Miguel, who was the closest to Alexander's age, had already been sixteen. A whole four years older than me.

The boy kept looking at us. Which was a bit annoying. But he stopped after Alexander glared at him... at least for a little bit. The girl was pretty quiet, fear clear on her face, as she burrowed into the side of a skinny woman with really short hair. She was probably her Mom.

Water was a different story.

I'd had four water bottles underneath the stage, one of which was just for Eva... I'd had to make my baby sister a bottle with formula. And one that Olivia and Camila had been sharing. Isabella and I had been sharing the other one, leaving the final one as our last resort... but the other group had only found two other bottles of water... so we had to share. Not that it was any chore sharing with Mami and Alexander... still, I didn't really know what to feel.

The sheriff's group were strangers, and they were eating and drinking all of our emergency supplies. What would happen in the morning? Were they going to take all our stuff and leave like those- those bandidos did? What if when Papi came in the morning there were no more supplies? With all of the other vatos dead- well, no one's going to be able to go on runs now. Were we going to starve when they leave?

We were barely even halfway through eating when the woman with brown hair -that the boy had been sitting next to- stood up and approached the sheriff, "What's next? We need to decide."

Words 2192

Translation:

Piohas - ticks/lice/bugs... weird affectionate nickname, not an insult.

Vale - Okay

Los muertos - the dead [ones]

Senor - Mister

Abuelita - Grandma

Estas ahi? - You there?

Es Pillar - It's Pillar.

Mija! - (shorthand for) My daughter!

Tengo hambre - I'm hungry

Bandidos - bandits/thieves

(Pics for Xander and Merina are on A03, link for the fic is in my profile!)