Again I don't own anything, except my characters

Chapter 2

Ava woke the next morning to voices talking in low tones; she slowly opened her eyes to see her brother sleeping soundly next to her. Rolling over and sitting up Ava noticed how Tom and Anne were sitting on the ground talking to each other. Anne noticed her first and gave her a kind smile.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Thank you "Ava responded with her southern taught manners. She really was hungry and needed to pee really badly. Ava really wished Evan was awake so she didn't have to ask them herself. She was feeling shy and embarrassed this morning. She saw someone out of the corner of her eye approaching and turned toward them, she recognized the boy from yesterday. Jimmy was standing there awkwardly shifting from foot to foot.

"Hey I'm Jimmy" he finally said. Ava thought he looked really cute standing there like that.

"Hey I'm Ava" she responded running her fingers threw her shoulder length brown curly hair. She could only imagine how bad she looked, her jeans were dirty and She had on one of Evans old hoody's. She stood up feeling really awkward.

"I thought you might be hungry and I was just wondering if you wanted me to show you where you can get something to eat." Jimmy rushed this all out. He had a slight blush on his cheeks as well.

Ava smiled at him and nodded her head yes but then she turned back toward Evan not sure if she should wonder off with Jimmy. She bit her lip and looked back at Jimmy.

"I am hungry but my brother…." She started but was interrupted halfway through.

"Go ahead and get something to eat with Jimmy" Tom said from his spot on the floor "I will let Evan know where you went when he wakes up.

Smiling at Tom, she fell into step beside Jimmy. As they walked toward the food area Jimmy asked her

"So, how old are you?"

"I tuned thirteen last month." Ava told him as they continued walking "How old are you?"

"Thirteen," Jimmy said glancing at her. "I'm glad that Mr. Mason and Hal found you. Your brother was pretty worried."

"I'm glad they found me too. Evan may be my only living family member left." She told him sadly. Jimmy felt sorry for her, his parents and little sister had been killed in the initial attack. As they continued walking Jimmy's hand brushed against hers by accident. Ava glanced up at Jimmy when that happened and saw him looking right back at her. She stopped walking and asked "Do you have any family left?"

"No, my family was killed in the beginning. "He told her, never taking his eyes off her face. He thought she was really pretty, even with dirt smudged on her cheek and her hair all over the place. And he really loved the southern twang to her voice. Blushing he asked "Where are you from anyway? I …well….I mean...your accent is so different."

"We are originally from Georgia. My Dad moved us here about six years ago." She smiled at him. He was really cute but he did have a huge gun and she always has been terrified of them. Shyly, she asked "So why are you carrying a gun?"

"Oh yeah. I'm a know help fight against the skitters"

"Skitters?" she said kind of confused. Tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, she looked up at him with a questioning look.

"The things that are taking kids. We call the skitters. What do you call them?" Jimmy was giving her a strange look.

"I just called the big green spiders," she said laughing slightly. Jimmy smiled at her .

"Well I guess they do look a lot like spiders." He started walking. Ava liked how Jimmy made her stomach feel like there were a million butterflies in there trying to escape. She walked next to him wondering what it would be like to hold his hand. When they reached the area with food Jimmy picked up two bowls and walked up to the lady serving. Ava kind of hung back a little waiting on him. He returned to her side a smirked "I hope you like oatmeal."

"Its okay'" Ava replied, in fact she hated oatmeal. They found a place to sit away from everyone.

The two thirteen year old talked about everything from favorite books to least favorite foods as they ate. Jimmy loved to hear Ava's voice and just wanted her to keep talking. They had finished there meal an hour ago. Ava by this point really needed to pee but she enjoyed talking to Jimmy so much that she didn't want to stop.

"Jimmy?" she asked quietly "Ummm…where do ya'll go….you know…to pee?"

Jimmy smiled at her and stood up. Reaching down he took her hand and helped her up. Keeping a hold of her hand he said "Come on I'll show you"

They walked outside and he pointed her toward some bushes. As walked that direction he hollered out "I'll be right here."

Ava smiled at Jimmy as she came back. He held out his hand to her and she took it. "We probably should get back to Evan." Jimmy told her.

"Yeah I have been gone a long time. He might get worried" she said still just standing there holding his hand.

Jimmy started walking her back toward her brother's cot. He was a little worried about the hand holding thing, because her brother was scary looking even with a bum leg. As they approached Evan's cot, they both saw the look he gave them.

"Oh no ….Not already" they heard him say to Hal and Karen who were sitting there keeping him company.

Both of the younger teens blushed at all three of the older teens stared at them. Karen smiled and said

"It's cute, Evan, they are the same age and there's not any other kids their age here."

Ava decided she liked the blonde after all. Smiling at her brother Ava and Jimmy took a seat beside his cot. The group made small talk about different things. Ava's hand never left Jimmy's.