Feel like this part might be rushed cuz of what happened with Chloe, but... I like that I have a certain two characters having to be together right now -.- Hope you like this :p Also... another two characters are back o.0
Days w/o Water: 46
You ever hear the joke where gamers are waiting for the day of the apocalypse to come? I have. I wonder how many of them actually survived the first week. I'm not a gamer or anything, I'm just curious. Funny, my mother said my curiosity would get me killed but… what would've gotten me killed was being in love. I don't know, I've been putting off talking about what happened to me. Especially to the kids, but I think it might be time too soon.
~Chloe
"Chloe." Chloe looked up at the small child in front of her. The small blonde held a jar out to her. Chloe looked at the jar, finding it was a jar of pickles. She gently smiled and grabbed the jar. "Where's your brother Cadence?" "Still sleeping." The young girl answered as Chloe handed the jar back after having opened it. Chloe stood up and looked at the tent before walking over and stepping into it. She smiled at the sight of the small boy with dark brown hair. When Chloe first saw him, his hair was fairly short, but now it was pushing over his ears.
"Everest." Chloe softly shook the kid. He groaned, turning and pulling the blanket further up to his face. "Hey, wake up bud." Everest huffed as he blinked his eyes opened.
"I'm heading to the falls, keep an eye on your sister okay?" He nodded, sitting up. "Be careful." "Right back at you buddy." Chloe smiled, leaning over and placing a kiss at his temple.
"What're you going to the falls for?" Cadence suddenly appeared. Chloe slightly jumped at this and looked at her. "Cadence, I'm very thankful that you're a quiet person when it comes to sneaking around, but you don't need to sneak up on me." Chloe said softly. "I didn't mean too." Cadence mumbled. Chloe hummed, grabbing the girl's hand. "Just clear your throat or something next time to let me know. Sound good?" Cadence nodded.
"Alright, you two don't go outside the line. You hear the noise trap, you signal." Chloe said, holding up a walkie in her hand. "Stay on channel seven." She added as she stood up and handed the walkie to Cadence. Cadence looked at it before looking up at Chloe. Chloe looked at her, bringing a hand to her head. "Behind the line kiddo." "Understood." Cadence said quietly as Chloe walked out of the tent.
"She'll be okay." Everest said softly, looking at his older sister. She looked at him before looking at the walkie talkie.
Chloe's brows furrowed as she looked down into the falls just to find about four Rotters. Currently she was holding onto her bow and an arrow. She saw it in a small hunting store and grabbed it. This was only a week ago that it happened. She was still learning to use the weapon so she only brought two arrows with her everytime she'd go out. One for Rotters, one for a person who may show up out of no where and threaten her. Then she had a hunting knife for anything just as necessary.
So, currently looking at the Rotters, she took a breath and aimed the arrow. "I'm sorry." She said quietly before letting the arrow fly straight into the Rotter that was roaming the very edge of shore. The sound of an echoing thud caused Chloe to turn around and look for any threats. The creature that she had just killed was next to the end of the falls so all you could hear from down their was the loud water crashing and the only sound you could hear from the Rotter hitting the ground was practically nothing. So whatever that thud was, it certainly was a threat.
Slowly standing up, Chloe placed the second arrow onto the string, drawing it back. She took a deep breath watching the bushes around her closely. "Come on." She said quietly.
Narrowing her eyes, she heard a stick snap to her left and turned, quickly letting the arrow fly.
"Ow!" She heard someone cry out. Her brows furrowed as she stood up, taking her knife out and walking over. Walking around a tree and a bush, she found a familiar brunette boy, more specifically a brunette jackass, laying on the ground, holding his shoulder.
"Jesse." She crossed her arms. Out of anyone in this broken world, of course it'd be this hateful asshole. Jesse looked at her with shock. "Chloe?" He breathed before looking back to the arrow. "You shot me!" He pointed. Chloe rolled her eyes at him, leaning down and grabbing the arrow just to yank it from his shoulder making him grunt and bite his lip to keep from screaming.
"Are you alone?" The redhead asked. "Yeah." He said, his teeth gritted. "Why'd you even shoot me?" He asked, holding his hand to his shoulder. "You were a threat." "You know me!" He shouted. "If that's what you want to say. Did everyone throw you out or are you on a run?" Chloe questioned, leading Jesse to the camp.
"No, a horde showed up. Ran us all out. I got split from them. I don't know what happened." Jesse explained. Chloe momentarily froze making Jesse roll his eyes. "Beca got away, from the last time I saw her." He assured. Chloe's jaw clenched. "How are you even alive?" He asked. Chloe shook her head. "I don't talk about that." She mumbled.
Jesse stopped as Chloe stepped over a just barely visible fishing line. He stepped over the line before looking around the tent only to notice two tents.
"Who else is here?" He questioned.
"Isn't this the dick who-?" "Wow you have a mouth." Jesse mumbled while Chloe just stared at Everest with raised brows. "That's… an interesting word choice from an eleven year old." She said with confusion. Jesse crossed his arms.
"Jesse, what even happened?" Chloe asked. Jesse shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is Beca was off doing her thing, grieving over you." He stopped. "Even though it's been weeks." He mumbled before continuing. "And suddenly she comes running down the street with Rotters right behind her. We all got stuck in a house. She came up with the idea of going up to the roof because we were surrounded. We did okay, at first." He said quietly. "We almost lost Emily, after that things went bad."
Chloe's jaw clenched as Cadence and Everest sat on her lap.
"Amy managed to catch Emily before she could fall over the side of the roof. Once we made it to the last roof, we all managed to get down just fine and run along the treeline, except before we could decide what to do, Flo was suddenly grabbed by a Stalker." "Stalker?" Cadence asked with wonder.
"A Rotter that stays hidden and picks off it's victim at any given time. They're pretty smart." Jesse shrugged. "All Rotters have been getting pretty smart lately." Chloe said softly. Jesse hummed in agreement.
"Anyway, after Flo, everything just went awol after that. Suddenly Beca, Aubrey, and Benji disappeared. Then next Emily and Stacie were nowhere to be seen. Then I don't know about the rest because I was grabbed by a Rotter. When I turned and killed it, I looked back and everyone was just… I was alone so I ran into the trees." He shrugged.
Chloe looked to the kids, wrapping her arms around them. "Well as long as you carry your weight like each of us do, you're welcome to stay here." She said quietly as she looked back to the Treble. "Really?" Jesse asked, taken aback.
"If there's anything I've learned after almost dying, it's that we need to stick together, no matter how much we might hate each other." The redhead shrugged. Jesse nodded. "Thanks." Chloe hummed.
"Alright kids, go pick something for dinner." Chloe sighed. The two jumped up from Chloe's lap and walked over to a small crate.
"So how'd you find those two?" Jesse pointed. Chloe smiled. "They found me." Jesse chuckled. Chloe looked at him, thinking back to when she met the kids.
"She's waking up." Chloe's brows furrowed as she blinked her eyes open, looking over she found a small boy standing over her as she laid on a blanket. "What the hell?" Chloe breathed, looking at him just before a girl walked up next to him.
"Hello." Chloe looked at the girl. "What the hell?" "I'm Cadence, this is my little brother Everest. We found you in the woods, we thought you were dead." Cadence shrugged. Chloe looked between the two with confusion before bringing her hand to her neck. "You gotta be kidding me." She breathed, sitting up. "Are you two alone?" She then asked. The two nodded. Chloe stared at them. "Damn. I'm Chloe." She said softly. Everest smiled, looking at her with hope. Chloe noticed this and sat up. She took a deep breath before pushing herself to her feet.
The two kids looked at her with wonder, not really sure what to say or do. "Alright, show me what you have for supplies." She breathed despite feeling very tired.
"They didn't have much and I owed them, plus, they're obviously kids." Chloe shrugged. Jesse nodded in understanding. "You look at them like they're your own." He said softly. "They're all I have." Chloe admitted. Jesse looked at her with guilt. Chloe sighed and stood up. "Alright, mac and cheese it is." She smiled, grabbing the box from Everest who smiled.
"Where should I sleep?" Jesse asked. "You can take my tent, I'll stay with the kids until we can get another." Chloe shrugged. "You don't have to, I'm alright sleeping out here. All I need is-." "Everest comes to me sometimes asking me to sleep in there anyways, it's cool." The redhead assured before Cadence tugged on her shirt.
"Alright, let's go kiddo." Chloe smiled. Cadence nodded and walked to her tent.
Chloe sighed, staring up at the ceiling of the tent.
Everyone… Out of everyone it had to be Jesse.
She thought. Suddenly feeling someone roll into her side, she looked over just to find Everest snuggling his face into her shoulder. "I've got you buddy." She assured. "I can't sleep." The small boy said quietly. Chloe hummed. "Wanna hear a story?" She asked. He nodded. Chloe gently smiled, pushing a small strand of hair behind his ear.
"Once upon a time there was a group of girls who sang acapella. Their group called the Bellas." She began as Everest listened intently.
"Good morning." Jesse smiled. Chloe's brows raised. "What's with you?" She asked. "Nothing, just carrying my weight. Here you go." The Treble handed a plate to her. Chloe looked at the peanut butter and jelly sandwich before looking at him. "This isn't exactly carrying your weight." She smirked. Jesse rolled his eyes. "Just eat it." He pointed.
The redhead sighed, picking the sandwich and taking a bite. Her brows furrowed. "This tastes…." "Delicious?" Jesse asked. Chloe nodded. "Very." "Secret recipe. Good to know you have some though. If we're going to be living in a world like this I'd like to have a few more pb and j's." Jesse admitted.
Chloe shook her head at him, continuing to eat her sandwich. "Since I was interrupted by you yesterday, I'm heading back to the falls. I don't exactly trust you, but… I'd rather have someone stay with the kids. It was already hard enough leaving them alone." She pointed. Jesse nodded. "I'm alright with that, gives me some time to know them." He shrugged. Chloe nodded. "Alright." She sighed.
Chloe carefully and quietly walked up to the falls, looking at all the dead Rotters with confusion. "Who…" She trailed off with her brows furrowed.
As much as she didn't trust nor like Jesse, she didn't believe it was him. She would've heard him leave last night… right? Yeah, she did finally fall asleep at some point but, she would have right? There's no way. Her jaw clenched as she gripped her bow tightly.
"I don't understand." She said quietly. Suddenly the sound of a loud growl grabbed her attention. Looking to the crashing water, she took a breath before walking behind it and into the cave. "Oh my God." She breathed at the sight in front of her.
So... Hope you liked :P I know there was not really any tension between Chloe and Jesse in this chapter but just wait. Also, I don't plan on bringing the dogs into the story like I originally did. I haven't updated the story as frequently as I wanted to lately because I've been really sleep deprived but I have written past this so I'm ahead and I will have an update very soon :D Please leave a review and have a good day/morning/night 3