Chapter 5: A little help

Sarah sat in her living room, Birthday decorations still hanging on the walls. The police officers were bombarding her will questions she didn't know how to answer. She was lost in her mind, or maybe just lost her mind. She looked down at her hands, still stained. This room was filled with pictures of Max, she had never noticed how many there were until that very moment. She wished she could just jump into the pictures.

"Then what happened Miss?" The officer asked again more forcefully

"Then I went up and…" Tears filled her eyes; her face was still red and blotchy. "I hugged him and…the blood was all over…it was everywhere…and he…didn't…have a face" Sarah grabbed for the bucket she purposely had beside her and threw up again. Every time she thought about it she threw up. The officer didn't seem to care about how much it hurt her to talk about it.

"Blood from where?" he asked. Sarah pulled her face away from the bucket and looked at the officer with her nastiest scowl and got up and left the room. She went into the bathroom and locked herself in.

"Sarah sweetheart come out of the bathroom" it was an unfamiliar woman's voice "My name is Mrs. Carlos, I'm here from child services"

"Go away!" Sarah shouted

"I'm afraid I can't Sarah, we have to have a bit of a chat."

"I'm 17 I don't need child services!" Sarah opened the door and looked the beige suited woman square in the eyes "So I think you should get out of my house." Sarah tried to slam the door again but an officer forces it open again and grabbed her. Sarah shouted at screamed.

"No! Let me go!" she screamed, the officer picked her up and brought her back into the living room. This pushed her over the edge, she started shaking violently, it felt like all her muscles were being ripped apart, the world around her blacked out and her lungs felt like they were going to explode…all she could hear was screaming.

"A little to the left, No, No! My left! Your right" Sarah directed Charlie who was trying to knock coconuts out of a tree with a pole of bamboo

"Well make up your mind already!" Charlie struggled with the pole and it fell to the ground

"We are totally going to starve to death." Sarah stared at the pole

"We are not going to starve to death! Your being over dramatic" Charlie came and stood next to her.

"Man we couldn't even get a coconut out of a tree; do you know how pathetic that is?" Sarah laughed

"Yeah I guess that is pretty sad" Charlie looked over at Sarah and they gave each other a look and both burst out laughing.

Later that day Sarah was wandering the beach, Charlieless because he went off looking for his guitar. So Sarah went looking for her luggage, some people were dragging bangs around and clearing stuff away from the wreckage. A little ways away a Blonde haired woman was having a hard time pulling a bag, when she turned to her side it was obvious that she was very pregnant sp Sarah went over to help her

"Want some help?" she asked

"No, I'm doing just fine" the woman snapped back. Seeing her face up close Sarah noticed that this woman couldn't have been too much older then herself.

"I'm not asking out of pity" Sarah started quite bluntly, in an almost insulting tone as she watched the young woman pull on her suitcase

"Then why are you?"

"I don't like being alone, I wanted to help because you looked like you would accept my company"

"I'm Claire"

"Sarah" Sarah shook Claire's hand

"So are you going to help or what?" Claire pulled on the suitcase again and Sarah picked up the other end.

"Good lord, don't travel light I take it?" Sarah asked playfully, heaving the suitcase down the beach.

"What can I said, I had to pack for two. Also…I was moving"

"I was moving too" Sarah wanted to share because she just wanted to have anything in common with Claire. She needed someone to talk to.

"Why to America? If you don't mind me asking?"

"I was on the flight with my new guardian; he was taking me to the states to move in with him"

"That's nice; I'm guessing that he's the man you've been with since yesterday?"

"Oh no" Sarah giggled at the thought of Charlie being her guardian. "No that's Charlie; I met him in the airport actually."

"Really? You two seem like you know each other" Claire looked over her shoulder "Okay drop it hear" She let go of her side of the suitcase and sat down, Sarah did the same

"Were you on the plane with anyone?" Sarah knew that it was a fragile subject with so many people having died, but she hated the idea of Claire being alone.

"No just me and my belly" Claire smiled and rubbed her hand over her belly.

"So do you know anyone else here?" She asked obviously changing the subject which was a good idea.

"No just Charlie…Oh! And Jack, he's the doctor, I sat next to him on the plane him and…Rose" Sarah had forgotten about Rose until now, she hadn't seen her so she figured the worst had come to her and her husband.

"I was sitting next to a high school professor and a man named Johnny…I haven't seen either of them since".

"This really is just a complete catastrophe." Sarah thought about it. She had seen a few dead bodies. But not as many as would have been on the flight. This morning when she walked past a few people she heard them talking about it. About how many dead people they had seen and how they missed home.

"I'm really tired. I think I might take a nap" Clair said pulling on a blanket.

"I think I might do the same, I didn't sleep at all last night" Sarah got up and brushed off the sand

"Well you don't have to go you know…You could stick around here and have a nap…Just nice y'know…having someone around" Claire seemed a little hopeful that Sarah would stay

"Alright" Sarah said and sat down to lie next to Claire. She closed her eyes and surprisingly fell asleep.