"How long til he's up?" Cee questioned, motioning over to the sleeping man. She sat perched by the window, a kitchen timer sat on the windowsill. Bright blue eyes kept a scan on the school courtyard, keeping a lookout for her brother to return from the supply run. Cee was dressed in a white tank top, ripped black skinny jeans, blue high top converses, and a blue varsity jacket to top it off.
Penny looked up when the silence was broken, before walking over to the man and looked him over. Penny was dressed in a pair of light pink sweats, and nothing else. They hadn't stepped out of bed that morning yet. "It's hard to tell, not sure how much energy he spent versus how much he took in. Could be a few hours, to a few days. He should live though."
Cee nodded, her eyes stayed scanning the courtyard, but her hand extended towards her friend and offered a thumbs up. Nearby her, Sophia laid in a sleeping bag, sound asleep. "At the teacher's desk is leftovers from breakfast, if you want any." Cee added as an afterthought, she didn't have to look up to know Penny made their way over to the food.
"Thanks." Penny tossed over his shoulder. A silence fell over the two as they ate the breakfast, which was oddly shaped homemade bread with canned cranberry sauce and pigeon meat from when Penny went hunting.
"How long you think Jay'll be gone?" Cee broke the silence, Penny paused mid bite. Penny thought for a moment before shrugging, even though he knew Cee would not take her eyes off the window until her brother got back.
"Not sure, give him two more hours." Penny responded, finishing up his meal. Cee nodded, acknowledgement. A small silence dwindled again, before a soft groan broke it. Penny glanced over to see their little guest waking up from her slumber. They walked over, and placed a plate of the breakfast in front of the little girl. "Morning Sophia." They greeted.
"Mornin' " Sophia responded, tiredly. She offered a small thank you smile for the food, before going into eat. Penny walked over to their bag, and pulled on a plain black shirt for the time being. They walked over to the slumbering man, pressing a finger to his neck before sighing. They felt a pulse.
"Get ready." Cee called over her shoulder, she pulled the window open and tossed a ladder over the edge. Penny walked over with a bucket attached to a rope, tossing that over the opened window while keeping a hold on the end of the rope. From the ground, Jay tossed a smile up at the two, before dropping his duffle bag into the bucket, and making his way up the ladder.
"Hey Soph, your up." Jay smiled at the little girl as he entered. "I brought a game for us to play while we watch for the big guy to wake up." Sophia perked up, walking over to where the three of them stood around the bags Jay brought back. "I hope you like Monopoly." Jay pulled out a spongebob themed Monopoly game board from the duffle bag. He smiled softly when Sophia's face lit up a bit.
"I've never played…" Sophia answered sheepishly, while Jay gasped, instantly leading the little girl back towards the open floor.
"Well then, you definitely need to learn." Jay worked on taking the pieces out, telling Sophia what each thing did, and how to use them. Cee and Penny looked through the bag, taking what was needed at the moment, while leaving what wasn't needed at the moment.
The two joined Jay and Sophia who had set up the board to play. Jay animatedly explaining Sophia how to play the game, while Cee and Penny sat and played along with the game, smiling as Sophia seemed to relax with them.
It was night, shades and cardboards were pressed against any windows in the room, keeping any survivors nearby from catching sight of the lights emitting from the candles littering the room. Jay sat with Sophia, drawing away on the pads Jay found on his supply run. Cee sat by the large candle, cooking away squirrel for dinner, and Penny was looking over the map to figure out where they were gonna go if the unconscious man never woke.
The groan caught Penny's attention first, their stormy grey eyes fixated on the man laying across the desks. A few seconds past before Penny caught sight of the man moving. They made their way over to the man, catching the attention of Jay and Cee. "Hey?"
Jay sat up, keeping his blue green eyes on the scene while making sure Sophia kept her attention on her drawing. The unknown man groan again before brown eyes fluttered open. The man seemed stun, just staring up at Penny before moving to get up, seeming almost frantic.
"Hey, relax. You'll pull out your stitches." Penny pushed the man back into a seating, who stayed, staring up at them shocked. "We didn't save you so you'll bleed to death." They deadpanned.
"You...You saved me?" The man stuttered looking around the room, eyes landing on Sophia, who was now looking at the scene a tad bit worriedly.
"Mostly thanks to Dumbass one and two, but yea." Penny nodded. "What's your name?" There was a pause in the conversation, everyone's eyes stayed trained on their new guest.
"Language." Cee popped in before the man could answer, motioning her head to Sophia. "Kids are present." Jay laughed, while Penny gave her a pointed look.
"I'm Otis." Otis answered, giving a chuckle at the light heartedness of the group. "I need to get back to my group, my wife she'll be worried-"
"Is there a Rick in your group?" Penny cut in, glancing over at Sophia who looked hopeful.
"Rick? Yea-He's there with his group…" Otis trailed, Penny noted how he wasn't mentioning something, but let it slide for the time being.
"Are they still looking for a little girl?" Jay cut in, everyone's attention was now focused fully on Otis.
"A little girl?" Otis paused, thinking back to his encounter with the Grimes' group before nodding. "Yea, yea they were. Um, her name was-"
"Sophia?" Penny supplied, earning them a nod.
"That's it, is that her?" Otis asked hesitantly, looking over at Sophia again. The smile that spread on her face told him before Penny nodded.
"Why did you say his group, instead of our group?" Cee butted in, earning a confused look from everyone. She sighed before continuing. "You said Rick's there with his group, not our group."
"Oh… It's because they are just staying there. There was an accident, his son was shot. Hershel, our vet, is fixing him up and then they're on their way." Otis answered, before his eyes widened. "I need to get back, I need to make sure his son made it!"
"You'll be able to get back, We'll even help." Jay butted in, earning a grateful smile from Otis. "Penny just needs to check you over and make sure you're in any condition to move." Penny moved forward, checking over all the wounds and questioning Otis. Jay was ripped out of his thoughts by a tug on his shirt. He turned to be met by the worried expression of Sophia.
"Carl's been shot…" Sophia whimpered, tears glistening in her eyes. Jay felt a pull on him, feeling bad for the little girl.
"Hey, it's okay." Jay turned, leaning down to be eye leveled with the little girl. "I can promise you Carl is perfectly fine and alive."
"How do you know?" Sophia questioned, her eyes held her doubt. Jay leaned in closer, glancing around suspiciously to catch the girls attention.
"Don't tell anyone, it's a secret." Jay whispered, earning a wide eyed look from the girl. "I know these kinds of things, I'm never wrong." It took a moment for Sophia to believe him, a smile sliding on her lips and hope fluttered into her green eyes. Jay returned the smile, hoping that he was right about this.
It took a few hours before Otis and Sophia fell asleep, leaving the other three free to talk. Jay, Cee, and Penny made their ways up to the roof to discuss what exactly the plans were for the day.
"Do you think they can be trusted?" Cee asked, leaning on the ledge of the roof.
"They or him?" Jay asked, raising an eyebrow at his sister. Cee shrugged, glancing between Jay and Penny and was met with the same confused look.
"They, him, her, all." Cee responded nonchalantly.
"Sophia can be trusted." Jay spoke in, giving his sister a look. "I trust Otis, I won't know about the others until I see them."
"Sophia isn't the only her in the group, Otis mentioned a wife." Cee corrected.
"That wife falls under them." Jay retorted.
"Penny goes by them." Cee retorted, motioning her head to Penny. "Besides, they can have members like that. Plus we only know how many are in Sophia's group, not Otis' "
"So far we know there is three more to that. His wife, him, and this Hershel." Penny butted in.
"There could be more." Cee added. "They could have more kids, or old folks."
"That's why Penny said 'so far' " Jay rolled his eyes.
"Anyways." Cee ignored her brother's retort, looking over at Penny. "What's the plan?"