"I used to be pretty selfish, and I'll admit, I still am in some ways," Bella began as she stared into the fire pit, the burning embers flared at her words. "But, when this all started, when everything went to shit," Sophia flinched slightly at her crude word choice, but didn't say anything. "It was me, Ren, and my mother." Ren looked down at the mention of their mother, even if he was supposed to be out of hearing shot.
It made her wonder where her mother was, and how she was doing now that she had lost her husband and her daughter. Blinking away her own tears, she instead focused on Bella. This was important, she was about to tell her something personal.
"Our dad died when Ren was two, and my mom had to learn to make it work. She did a fantastic job too. Handling a teenager and a young boy couldn't have been easy as a single mom. She worked over time, held two jobs, and still managed to pull together two different savings accounts for Ren and I. Of course, that means nothing now." The older girl frowned, but shook her head as if to push away the terrible memories. "It all seems pretty stupid now. My mom had devoted almost 20 years of her life putting away money that would never be used, it's just gone. And for what?"
The ten year old continued to examine the ground, she didn't understand. Her mother clearly loved them, why did Bella sound so angry? But, the way her words sounded made Sophia notice the chills and fears creeping up her spine.
"But, when everything happened, my mom packed us both up in the car, taking everything we could carry that could be helpful. She was smart like that, the first thing she did as fill every canister in the house full of water." She laughed lightly, throwing a small branch into the fire pit. "We moved quickly, trying to get away from everyone. We ended up in an abandoned hotel. The top floors were completely empty." Ren came to sit beside the girls, but Bella didn't say anything. Instead, she just gave Ren the saddest look Sophia had ever seen. It was like her eyes were made of pure sorrow, but no tears fell.
It took Bella few moments to say anything after that, the silence chilling the blonde haired girl to the bone. The fire seemed to consume the oxygen around them, up until the point where Sophia felt like she was suffocating.
"My mom found a gun amongst all of the luggage left over. It was in the main entry way. She taught me to fight with clubs and other blunt objects. But, she always used the gun. Ren had his slingshot." The slingshot laid out next to the fire, the metal glinting in the fading light of the fire. Hours before, she had helped Ren collect small pebbles for the weapon.
"I got it from our uncle for my ninth birthday. Mom was so mad." He smiled lightly at the recollection, before his face hardened.
"We must have been there for about 2 weeks, eating our fill, getting some sleep. But then, they came." By now, Sophia could guess what happened, but didn't want to accept it either. It was a given, considering what had happened to the world she had grown up in. "One must have wandered in, into our room I mean. Ren was on the roof at the time, I was on guard."
"You didn't see it get past you?" Mind spinning, as far as she could tell, Bella was smart enough not to miss something like that.
"No." Voice ice cold, she let it go, not willing to get into an argument over that. "Mom brought down three walkers before she was over run, I had fight a few before I could make it to her. By then it was too late." With the world quiet, Sophia remained silent, sorry for their loss. Ren was sobbing silently beside her, his face shoved into a sweatshirt so he couldn't be heard, but his shoulders shaking were an obvious give away. Wrapping her arms around her new friend, she hoped she gave good hugs. Her mom had always given good hugs, ones that made her feel safe, especially when her father was angry.
"I lost my mom and dad." It felt like they were lost. Well, her father certainly was, not that she was sad about that. She had always had to see her mom get hurt, but without her, she felt lonely, even with two people beside her.
"I'm sorry Sophia. But we've got each other now." Bella smiled, moving over beside the smaller kids, hugging them. "We've got each other, and that's enough to fight." Bella's words rang through Sophia's mind for the rest of the night. Bella was right, they could fight together, so long as Sophia learned how to fight. She vowed that she would learn how to protect everyone she cared about, plus, anyone who needed her help. Because, after all, Bella and Ren had helped her, a complete stranger. Favors needed to be returned, who knows however many other people needed help, just like she did.
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