July 24, 2004

My first full day at Howe's starts early in the hours of the morning, when Evie wakes me crying. I feed her and expect her to calm down quickly like she always does, but no such thing happens in this instance. I figure it's due to her sleeping in a tent for the first time in her life. She's not used to feeling the cold breeze overnight, or much at all really. I expect she'll adjust soon enough. Either that, or hopefully we'll get moved into actual bedrooms soon.

Nick offers to try and calm her down, while the guard outside the pen lets me go take a shower even though it's probably about three in the morning. After all, Bill gave me permission to shower whenever and as often as I'd like.

I'm shocked to see that there is a guard outside of the showers despite hardly anyone being awake in the compound. I'm aware that there is a limited water supply and we shouldn't waste it, but does it really need to be guarded around the clock?

I take my shower, and still abide by the ten minute time limit, though I would love to stay under the warm water for an hour. It feels amazing to feel clean for the first time in a while. But even though I've been given some special privileges, I don't want to take too much of an advantage of them. For starters, I don't want to seem higher than anyone else. And secondly, I don't want to become too reliant on any one privilege. I can't forget how it is out there.

Once I make it back, Evie and Nick are both fast asleep, so I join them.

I'm awoken not even two hours later, just as the sun is starting to rise. Someone throws open the gate to the pen rather loudly and haphazardly as if they are doing so in hope that it will wake everyone up. They succeed in waking Evie, Nick, and I up. I pull the tent flap open to see Troy and Tavia strutting across the pen. Everyone else was awoken by the sound of the gate, everyone except for Alvin. He lies on his 'bed,' softly snoring. If there's one thing I've learned about Alvin in the time I've known him, it's that he's an exceptionally deep sleeper.

Before Rebecca can gently wake him, Troy stomps up to his bed and kicks the post. It takes two kicks before Alvin stirs awake.

"Oops," Troy mutters unapologetically.

"Troy, be nice. They've only just got here," says Tavia.

"Yeah, yeah," he gripes. "Everyone get ready, and do it quick. Y'all got work to do."

Nick, Luke, Pete, Martha and I get ready quickly. All of us are used to getting up early and putting in work since we spent so much time on the farm. Carlos readies himself quickly too, while managing to hurry a whining Sarah along. I imagine he had to work long hours as a doctor. Rebecca and Alvin on the other hand, well, I don't think they're morning people.

We gather in the center of the pen once Rebecca and Alvin join us. I put Evie in the baby wearing device that I found, that way I can work without having to hold her in my arms the whole time.

Tavia comes back, this time without Troy. Instead, she has several people with her, some faces familiar, some unfamiliar.

"So I've got some jobs assigned for y'all. These are your only jobs for today, so when you're done depends on how quickly or slowly you perform your job. Lunch is at noon, and dinner is at five-thirty tonight. There's a big clock out in the main area so you can tell the time. On your way to your assignments you can stop by and see Carlo for some breakfast. He'll have some granola bars waiting for everyone."

Tavia looks down at her clipboard as we await further instruction. She continues, "Okay for starters we have Carlos and Sarah on kitchen duty. You'll be cleaning up the kitchen and dining ware to get ready for today's meals. And as always, Carlos you'll be on call in case any one gets any injuries, but hopefully we'll avoid all that."

"Oh, cleaning up after last night's dinner… That's not bad!" Sarah says to me from my side. "I used to help my dad put the dishes in the dishwasher after we ate!"

"Well, you'll have to clean the kitchens, all the equipment, and all of the dishes from both meals yesterday. And there isn't a dishwasher."

"Aww…" Sarah frowns.

"This is Stacey, who you probably remember from the armory yesterday. She's gonna take you to the kitchen and show you how to do everything."

Carlos and Sarah take off with Stacey, who still looks as uninterested as she did the day before.

Tavia says, "Nick and Martha: you're on bathroom duty. We have some cleaning supplies that've been hiding in the catch all room for a while. I dug 'em out so y'all can get on that. But be warned they haven't been cleaned since before all this, so they're pretty nasty…"

I can tell by the look on Nick's face that he isn't too thrilled about his job placement, but will do what he has to. I tug on his shirt to bring him down for a quick kiss. I recall the showers being pretty grimy from my shower earlier. I was glad that I had a pair of cheap plastic sandals with me to wear in the shower. Even in the apocalypse I'd prefer not to contract a foot fungus.

"This is Jerry, he'll show you what to do," Tavia says about the man standing next to her. He's an older man with white-grey hair, and a pair of blue-jean overalls.

Jerry, Nick, and Martha take off toward the bathrooms, dragging a bright red wagon full of cleaning supplies behind them.

"Lastly, Luke, Pete, Alvin, and Rebecca you'll be working in the gardens and greenhouse up on the roof. Watering, planting, and so forth. Lora will take you and show you how to do all that. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to be off…"

Tavia turns on her heels to hurry off, but I stop her. "Sorry, Tavia, but I think you might have missed me. You didn't call my name."

"Oh, yeah, I can't believe I forgot to give you this." She rustles around through several of her pockets before she ultimately produces a folded up letter from the side pocket of her cargo pants. "It's from Bill."

I take it in my hands and discover that my name is scribbled across the front of it. I'm confused as to why this letter has been addressed to me. "Why'd he give this to me?"

"I don't know; I didn't read it, but I've really got to go!" She scurries off without a word.

Lora steps up and gestures for the others to follow her out.

"Lora, thank you for the offer, but I think we can manage to work in the gardens on our own. I mean, Pete and I used to work on a farm," Luke says.

Luke is right; I don't see why they would need to be taught how to plant tomato plants. Nor do I see the need for Nick and Martha to be taught how to clean toilets. But all of us have quickly learned that these people are extremely particular about how things are done.

Lora's face falls. She glances over her shoulder, her brow furrowed. She's looking around to see if Tavia or anyone else is nearby. When she realizes that we're alone in the pen, she relaxes. "Please, it would be best if you just came with me."

The urgency in Lora's voice causes Luke to shoot me a look of doubt. It's almost as if Lora is afraid. The remnants of the group scurry off, leaving Evie and I alone in the vast area of the pen.

I take a seat in the nearest lawn chair. I give Evie a little bounce once I'm seated, which causes her to give me a toothless grin. I open the letter slowly. My heart races ever so slightly as I unfurl the letter. Why would Bill give me-and only me-a letter regarding work?

The letter reads:

Bea,

I haven't assigned you a job because you don't need one right now. You need to spend your time with little Evie and make sure that the both of you stay happy and healthy. Feel free to spend your time however you like. If there's anything that you need, don't hesitate to ask.

Bill

I fold the letter up and slide it into the back pocket of my jeans. I really wish he'd just give me a job like the others. With all of them busy constantly, it's not like I have anything else to do. I hope that soon I will feel healthier after I'm able to eat regularly. Then, maybe, Bill will give me a job.

"Hi, sweetie!" Dorothea, the older woman from the day before beams at me while she walks into the pen. She's wearing a pale yellow dress, and I realize that it's the first time in a year that I've seen a living person in a dress.

"Hi! Bill gave me this letter saying that he's not giving me a job right now so that I can take care of Evie. Though I wish he would give me a job. I don't like feeling useless, and it's not like I have anything else to do."

"Oh, dear, I figured he wouldn't give you a job for the time being. He doesn't often give me jobs either. Though, I believe it's for entirely the opposite reason. But it's not all bad. I can try to keep you company, if you'd like." She takes a seat next to me.

"What do you mean by all that?"

"Well, I figured he'd just adore you and Evie. He doesn't come down from that office of his often, but when he does, I have heard him several times talk about how we need to raise a strong next generation if we want society to ever have a chance. Everyone who lives around here knows that he feels passionately about it. This is the first time he's actually ever come across a child and her mother, so by default, he'd treat the two of you as of utmost importance. Oh, I almost forgot! I nabbed us these from Carlo this morning. I figured you would be starving."

She happily hands me a granola bar while she begins to eat her own. I unwrap the packaging in a stupor, waiting for her to continue.

"I don't often find myself with a job around here because… well, I'm considered a 'weak link' around here. I enjoy cooking, but I've never been assigned to help in the kitchens. When I was asked to help get y'all sorted last night I jumped at the opportunity to finally have something to do. Boy, it sure is hot in here, isn't it?" She branches off of her soliloquy to fan herself.

"Didn't you have to stay here once?"

"No, not really. Lora and I got here shortly after the fall, when this place had just started. Back then it was just Bill, Tavia, Troy and a couple others. There weren't many rules."

I lean forward a bit, careful to not move a now sleeping Evie around too much. I have a question for Dorothea on the tip of my tongue, but I'm anxious to ask. Asking it could be a violation of privacy, and could potentially cause some trouble. But Dorothea seems like a reasonable woman, and I have to ask.

"Yesterday, everyone kept writing something down whenever we would speak. What was that about?"

At first she looks taken aback, but then she gives a small laugh. "You sure are observant. I figured you'd catch on." She scans the area for any eavesdroppers, before leaning close to me and whispering in a serious tone. "I'd get in a lot of trouble for telling you this, so you should keep this information to yourself. Bill asked us all to keep track of all the times your group asked questions instead of just going along with instructions."

"But why would he do that?"

She shrugs. "That I can't answer because I don't exactly know myself. But I'll say this much: sometimes around here, it's better to just go along with things and not ask too many questions."

Though ironic, I start to ask another question. I'm interrupted when Lora hurries in to collect her mother to go take care of something undisclosed. I'm left alone yet again with only Evie and my concerns of what we've gotten ourselves into to keep me company.

August 15, 2004

The past few weeks have been a breath of fresh air during the hardships of the end of the world. Despite my earlier concerns, there haven't been any major problems. I took what Dorothea told me with a grain of salt. I have kept the information in mind in case a problem arises. So far, that hasn't been the case. Our lives have become pretty mundane. Those who have jobs work, we eat, we sleep. We have a bit of time in the evenings to spend time together inside the pen, although there's little for us to do in terms of fun. But we have food, shelter, and medical supplies. We have our lives, and in a world like this, that's all I can ask for.

I've spent quite a bit of time with Dorothea, considering that we are some of the few people that don't have a job. She's become a good friend, despite our large age gap and differences in life experiences. It's been nice to have some company, but I want a job.

I sit up from my spot on the cot and stretch. In the corner of the tent, Nick sits in a lawn chair, snoozing away. Evie lies against his chest, fast asleep as well. Nick finished with his job yesterday, so today he has the day off. At some point during the early hours of the morning, Evie awoke and needed a diaper change. After taking care of it, Nick decided to ease her back into sleep in the chair, and I guess he never left that position.

I carefully pull Evie from Nick's arms. The both of them stir but do not wake. I gently rock Evie awake so that I can feed her, and once I finish, I begin to strap her into the baby carrier. As I start to do so, Nick flutters his eyes open. He's disorientated at first, but he shoots up and takes Evie from me when he gains his bearings.

"I got her," he says. "What are you up to?"

"I was thinking about going to talk to Bill about letting me have a job around here."

"You sure that's a good idea? I mean they have been pretty clear that we're not supposed to bother him in his office while he's doing whatever it is that he does all day."

I shrug. "Maybe it's not a good idea, but I have to try at least. In his letter to me he did say I could do whatever I wanted, so I'm hoping this is included in that."

Bill rarely comes out of his office, and when he does, he rarely speaks to most of the people that live here. The few times that I have seen him, he's always waved at me. I'm still not certain of what he does all day up in his office, but maybe there's a lot more to running this place than I know of.

"Well, if you get a chance, maybe you could ask him when we can move out of here and into the housing addition. There's plenty of rooms up there, so I don't get what the problem is. Especially since those one dudes just got here last week and they're already moved out of the pen."

I nod, but I don't have the intention to ask Bill that question just yet. I have kept Dorothea's information in mind, and I believe that I've seen the effects of it. Just last week, two dudes-Emmett and Joshua-got brought in by Tavia. They used to be professional bodybuilders, and although they had lost some of their muscle mass in the last year, they are still considerably strong. Dorothea told me that they asked not a single question during intake. Lo and behold, they stayed in the pen for not even two full days before they were moved into the permanent housing. Just a couple days after that, they were employed as guards. Those events made me realize that Dorothea's advice of complying without questioning is logical, though I don't agree with it. This isn't a prison, and we are not prisoners. Bill is not our warden. For the time being I will ignore it, and see how things go. But if this goes on for too long, we might encounter some problems.

I give Nick a kiss on the lips and Evie a kiss on the forehead before departing from our tent. The inside of the pen is devoid of people, as everyone else is busy at their jobs for the day. The gate to the pen is open as it always is during the day. A guard is stationed outside; guards are stationed all over the place at all times. With how well this place is protected on the inside, you'd think we had the meaning of life stashed somewhere around here.

On my walk to Bill's office I pass many people doing their various chores, and I hope that soon that will be me. I pass Sarah who is sweeping the floor. She waves at me excitedly and I wave back, laughing a bit to myself at all the dirty places on the floor that she's missed.

I reach the staircase to Bill's office and take a deep breath. I've never seen anyone go inside except for Bill, Tavia, Troy, and a few other guards on rare occasions. I creep up the steps, each stair creaking beneath me as dread builds up in my gut. Please don't let this be a mistake.

I reach the top and knock before I can second guess myself. It's now or never.

I hear steps on the other side and Bill's gruff voice speaking, "Troy, I told you to figure it out yourself and not come back here until-"

The door swings open. Bill stops talking immediately and flashes a quick smile onto his face. "Sorry about that," he says. "Troy's been bugging me about something all morning. Please come in."

I enter through the door and take a first look at his office. In one corner of the room is a desk with an office chair, but it looks like it hasn't been used for awhile. A counter of sorts is situated directly beneath the large window that looks over the main area of the compound. Toward the center of the room is Bill's large wooden desk and a few chairs. On his desk is a variety of items: papers, books, and a game of chess that's mid game. A small screened TV on the counter is playing an older Western movie.

Huh, so that's what he does all day.

He gestures for me to sit and I comply. I expect him to take his seat in the chair behind his desk, but instead he clears a spot on the edge of his desk. He sits on the ledge, making himself taller than me and forcing me to look up at him.

"Where's Evie?"

"She's with her dad."

"Doesn't he have work?" Bill asks.

"He finished up his job yesterday and hasn't gotten another assignment yet." Shouldn't he know that, considering he's the one that assigns our jobs?

"Ah yes, I remember. So, what brings you in?"

"Thanks for inviting me in. I know we're not supposed to interrupt you, but your letter did say I could do whatever I wanted-"

"You're welcome here anytime, Bea."

My brow furrows. "Oh, well Tavia said no one should ever interrupt you up here-"

"The others aren't supposed to interrupt me, but you're different from the others."

I'm not quite sure what he means, but I move past it to talk about what I came here for. "I came here to talk to you about letting me have a job. I appreciate you giving me some time off, but I would like to help out around here. I have a wearable baby carrier so I can have Evie with me while I work, or Nick could. Of course, Luke, Martha, and everyone else in our group would help out too if necessary."

He takes a deep sigh. "I suppose we can get you set up with a job that's not too strenuous if that's what you'd like…"

I shoot up from my seat and shake his hand. "Thank you, Bill! I really appreciate it. I'll be going now to let you get back to it." Though from the looks of his office, it doesn't seem that he's been working too hard.

I walk toward the door and pull it slightly ajar, before Bill calls out to me and stops me in my tracks. His hand connects with the door and he softly pushes it shut. He leaves his one hand propped against the door slightly above my head. He towers over me, and I feel a bit trapped in between him and the door.

"Yes?" I ask, a fierce look dances in my eyes. I've learned that you can never let yourself appear nervous around people like him, even if you feel like your heart is in your throat.

He stays silent for a moment, just staring at me. The silence is so strong and suffocating and it wraps around me, trying to trip me up. But I won't let it. He leans forward and wipes his thumb across my cheek, just under my eye.

He pulls away and winks. "You had an eyelash. See you around, Bea."

I simply nod, pull open the door, and leave. On the walk back to the pen, I think about how odd the two significant interactions I've had with Bill have been. I'm still not entirely sure of his intentions, but this place keeps us safe and fed. I choose not to mention any of the oddities to Nick, Luke, or anyone in the group. For now I will continue to give him the benefit of the doubt, until he gives me more evidence to prove otherwise. Besides, I rarely see the guy.

Inside the pen, Luke and Nick are sitting on the ground on Evie's play mat. Evie lies on the mat, asleep.

"Hey, I finished my work early today. Nick said you went to talk to Bill about getting a job. How'd that go?" Luke says.

I take a seat next to Nick on the mat. "He said he'll get me a job, so it went well." I smile to hide the bit of concern that I harbor.

August 23, 2004

The stack of cans, boxes, and bags on the table in front of me occupy my thoughts, as they have been for a couple hours now. But I've spent the better part of the last hour fighting to stay awake. I've been awake for a little over twenty four hours now, except for the short nap I was able to sneak in yesterday afternoon. Evie kept me up for a bit during the night, but a killer headache was the main culprit. The headache has since subsided, but the fatigue still lingers. I still don't regret asking Bill for a job.

I return to sorting through and documenting the stack of food items in front of me. Bill went out yesterday and found an untouched former food pantry stocked with all of these items that we are now tasked with inventorying. I suppose in the end the food pantry succeeded with providing food to those that need it, just not in the way that the people that donated probably would have thought.

I put a tally mark next to the 'breadcrumbs' category on my sheet of paper and place it in the box of food that's already been documented. That makes thirteen boxes of breadcrumbs documented so far. I glance at the pile of undocumented food and inwardly groan. It's twice the size as the documented food pile, and we've been at it for hours.

Nick's foot nudges mine beneath the table. He sits across from me grinning, and nodding his head toward the other side of the room. I follow his line of sight to see Stacey. She's sitting in her perch across the room. Her eyes are sealed shut, her mouth gaped open. A half-chewed piece of gum hangs on the edge of her mouth, about to fall at any given moment. Nick and I both hold in a snort of laughter. She's not doing a very good job of watching over us, now is she? I'm not sure why Nick and I were given a proctor to watch over us sort through canned goods. It's like Bill thought we were going to jump at each other and tear each other's clothes off the second we're put on the same job together. If Bill didn't want us to ever do that then, well, he shouldn't have given us our own tent.

I record another item-this time it's a can of vegetable soup. Nick nudges me again with his foot. I look over at Stacey to see that the piece of gum has finally fallen to the floor, along with a couple dribbles of drool.

The funny moment is interrupted by Bill storming into the room abruptly. He swings the door open with such umph, like he was expecting to catch us in the act of something naughty. He scowls at Stacey, who has just startled awake and is trying to figure out where her gum went.

"Real good job you were doing watching over them," he says. "Luckily, you're being relieved of your position. Go find Carlos and tell him to get to the infirmary area, and do it quickly."

"You two," he addresses us next. "Stop playing footsie. Bea I need you to take the new people around and train them for their new jobs. Lora was supposed to do it, but she's just gone and stepped on a nail. You're the only other person who has met them so I need you to do it."

"Is she okay?"

"Fine," Bill grunts. "It barely made it through the sole of her shoe, but she's whining about it all the same. Can you train the new people?"

"Of course," I tell him. The new people were brought in late last night, when everyone else was asleep except for me, so I'm one of the few that has met them. They were allowed to sleep in this morning, something that we weren't afforded on our first day.

"Thanks," Bill says, before tossing a clipboard on the table and exiting the room without another word. I wonder why he seems to be in such an agitated mood today, but I imagine it has to do with Tavia waking up with a nasty head cold this morning after bringing the new people in. She does a lot around here, and with her out of commission for the day, he probably has double or triple the workload he usually does.

I lean down and pick up Evie from her little baby swing. The baby swing was another item found at the food pantry yesterday by Bill and his crew. I'm incredibly grateful for it. Before, we really only had the option of holding Evie or putting her in her crib or on her play mat. That scenario nearly always ended up with us having to hold her almost constantly. Now, she has a safe, comfortable, and fun place for her to lie while we're busy.

I start to strap her into the wearable baby carrier. Nick says, "You know she can stay here."

"I know," I respond. "But she probably wants a walk anyway, so I'll take her. Besides, these jobs barely require any training." I scan the paper and find out that their assigned job will require little to no training. But it will be good to help them get to the required areas of the compound, considering they got a tour of the place at three in the morning.

I bid Nick farewell for the time being and head to the pen to pick up the newcomers. On the way I pass the infirmary area. I see Lora being tended to by Carlos. Even from a distance I can tell right away that Lora's injury is way more severe than Bill said it was, but with Carlos' help she should be faring better shortly.

The new group is standing in the center of the pen, looking well rested and ready to start the day. I familiarize myself with them more, considering I met them only briefly the night before, during which I had a killer headache.

There's Vince, who I'm quite sure is the 'leader' of their group. There's Bonnie, the red-headed lady. There's Wyatt, who smells vaguely of weed, even though I didn't know anyone was still growing weed these days. There's Russell, who's probably just a year or two younger than me. Finally there's Shel and Becca, the two sisters.

"Good morning, everyone! I think we could get started by-"

"Is that your baby?" Becca interrupts, her eyes narrowed.

"Yes, her name is Evie. If you want to follow me we can-"

"Why do you have a baby?"

"Because I got pregnant?" I answer, but it's more of a question. I'm not really sure what kind of answer she's looking for, but to me, the answer seems kind of obvious. I try to determine if she's just being a curious kid, or if she's trying to be rude.

"Well, why-"

"Becca, enough." Shel cuts off whatever personal or inappropriate question her sister was about to ask.

I compose myself and start again, hoping not to be interrupted this time. "So you've just got a couple easy jobs to do this morning. I'll take you to where you need to be to get started." I don't bother telling them that the real reason I'm here is to 'train' them. It'll just go over better this way.

I lead them up the staircase to the roof first. They follow with no complaints or questions for me. On the journey, I hear them chattering amongst each other about various things they notice around the compound. The compound is obviously more bustling now than it was last night when they got here, so it's a lot more for them to take in.

Luke sits on a barrel around the back of the greenhouse. We maneuver through the ever growing maze of planter boxes to meet up with him.

"Hey, what's up? These the new people?" He wipes his brow with his forearm, careful to not smear his skin with the dirt that's on his hands.

I let the newcomers and Luke get to briefly know each other. When they finish, I explain to Luke what we're here for. "Bill assigned them to work up here with the plants so I was just going to show them around so they can get started."

His brow furrows. "Pete, Martha, and I have been up here for hours. All the watering, planting, and pruning for today is done. I'm not sure why he'd assign them here, because honestly there's nothing to do."

Bill does seem off today with his scheduling, but I chalk it up to Tavia being under the weather. I also realize that there is a lot of work to be done around here, but it would be a bit difficult in my opinion to find a job for every single person every single day. My solution would be to give people more days off more often, but Bill likes to keep everyone occupied.

I see Pete and Martha's figures through the cloudy glass of the greenhouse, and I formulate a plan. "Maybe Pete and Martha could show them around a bit so that they know what to do in the future. Then I could take a few others to go help out in the kitchens."

"Sounds good."

"You all can follow me."

We all file into the greenhouse, which is a tight squeeze. Martha and Pete are cleaning up the tools. Everyone introduces themselves. "Nice to meet you folks," Pete says.

"Some of them were accidentally assigned to this job for today. Do you think you could show them around a bit and how to do things so they know for next time?"

"Sure!" Martha says.

"Wyatt, Russell, and Vince: you're up here in the greenhouse."

Wyatt, Russell, and Vince stay behind with Martha and Pete, while the rest of us bid them farewell and head back to the main floor of the compound. Luke tags along.

"So you two are siblings?" Bonnie asks as we creep down the stairs.

"How'd you guess?" Luke and I both grin.

"Well if it weren't for the height and the age difference I would'a thought you two were twins," she says.

"That's actually the first time we've heard that one. Everyone could always tell we were related growing up, obviously. But Bea here always looked a bit younger than she actually was so we've never heard twins before. Once when Bea was 15 and I was 18 a new farm hand thought that we were joking when we told him Bea was about to be a Junior in high school. I think it was because she was always shorter than everyone else." Luke smirks and I roll my eyes. He's always rubbing that in.

Bonnie and Shel both laugh.

"Then that creep went and dated you anyway," he mutters under his breath so quietly that I barely hear, but I still do. I pretend like I don't hear him, and he should be glad that I do. Bringing up my asshole ex-boyfriend is quite irritating to me. Though the memory of Nick pummeling him shortly before I graduated college is definitely a good one. Even though I shouldn't praise him for losing his temper and beating someone up, my ex definitely deserved it. And that was the pivotal moment that made me realize that my ex's empty threats against my family and Nick would never go anywhere, which ultimately led to me freeing myself of that relationship.

I brush it off once we reach the kitchens. Carlo is behind the counter furiously scrubbing away at a dirty pan. A stack sits on the counter beside him that could probably rival me in height. Sarah sits on a stool, swinging her legs back and forth. A smile is on her face, despite a very frustrated Carlo being only feet away from her.

She jumps up and runs to us when we walk in. "Bea! Luke! I was helping clean the dishes earlier with Carlo and my dad, but then this lady came in here and took my dad. Then, Bill came in here. He got all mad before he left because he said I wasn't cleaning right, which made me sad." Her face falls for a moment, but then quickly turns back into a bright smile. "So he told me to just sit here and watch."

"Ah, two hours until lunch. Haven't even been able to start yet because I have all this to clean! First, Bill won't give me any help to cook, now I don't even have help to clean! The girl was doing fine. He comes in here, he tells her to stop! Can you believe it?" Carlo says. He doesn't pull away from cleaning the dishes once.

"I brought you help, actually. These are some of the new people who just got here last night. This is Becca, Shel, and Bonnie."

Carlo turns and notices the new people. His demeanor immediately changes, afraid of giving off a bad first impression. "Sorry, my darlings. It's been a rough morning. Welcome, welcome. My name is Carlo!"

"Woah, you're like the only person I've met that's actually my age! We can be best friends! I'm Sarah!" Sarah exclaims to Becca.

Becca starts to open her mouth with a sour look on her face, but Shel elbows her. "Uhh, okay," she ultimately mutters.

Becca, Shel, and Bonnie start cleaning dishes. Sarah goes back to watching with a bright smile on her face.

"Bea, haven't you been up for a long time? You should sleep," Luke says.

"Well Evie needs fed, Nick needs help with sorting the new food, and if I go to sleep now I'll sleep through lunch-"

"How about you go feed Evie, then I can take her and help Nick," Luke interrupts me.

"And I have two eggs left over for today that I can make for you whenever you wake up!" Carlo adds.

I sigh and give in, but honestly I'm so tired that it doesn't take much to convince me. Luke follows me back to the pen. I feed Evie in the tent, and Luke comes to get her when I finish. I'm fast asleep before Luke even closes the tent on his way out.

Author's Note: First, I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read this story at any point in time. And I want to give a special thank you to anyone who has favorited, followed, and/or left a review. It means so much to me!

Secondly, I just want to say that I am extremely disappointed with this new "Clementine" comic that has been published (with more to follow in the future). I personally feel that it is incredibly out of character for our beloved Clem, and it completely diminishes so many aspects from all seasons of the game. I know that I'm not the only one who feels this way. I will just pretend that it does not exist. But I am really excited to see Clem show up in this fic eventually (Spoiler Alert! (but not really)).