I would love to thank Super8-Lover, siriusly cool48, NoelAnderson, and Katelle26 for reviewing chapter 5!
The room was divided. Joe sat alone with Alice on the back wall, Cary and Martin on the right wall of the room, and Charles and Preston on the left. Joe was the only one left still awake. He didn't understand how they could sleep, when he closed his eyes they would snap back open, like it was scarier to be asleep than awake.
Alice sat sleeping right next to him, with one of her arms linked with his and her head on his shoulder. It could be a reason why he couldn't sleep, but blamed it on the bright lights on the ceiling that they didn't have the power to turn off. They were bright, and continued on without a single flicker.
He was left to study the room, searching to see if he could find a way out, but the only other things in the room, other than a table pushed up against the wall by the only door with one chair, and the ever glowing lights, were four air vents, but they were too small for even Cary to even attempt to fit through.
One thing he wished was in the room was a clock. He had no idea what time it was, and wanted to see if the feeling that it must be late morning was right. It was night fall when he entered the building and several hours after were filled with panic before sleep came. Every hour one of his friends would fall asleep, until it was just him, left with a hypothesis about the time. All of this led to wonder about the unknown state of his father and what he would be doing. The only thing Joe could do was to try and imagine it.
He knew he would have started looking when he came home from a late night at work to find that his son wasn't there. Then most likely went to Charles' house first to find that the front door was smashed down, followed by running to the parents of everyone in the room, and discovering what he feared was true, then after that, Joe really didn't know. Maybe he just didn't know his father that well if he was unable of thinking how his father would find him, out in the middle of nowhere, with little to no clues for even a hint. He was deputy, now sheriff for the meantime, so he had his resources, but Joe felt like he couldn't put all his trust in his Dad to save them, he really couldn't. Joe wanted to, but accepted that this was going to be another thing that he would have to work through with just his friends.
As Joe sat there, he painfully remembered the times he saw his Dad cry, and Joe knew all were for his mother, but he was given one thought from this, would his Dad cry over him?
Joe sighed, pushing it all out of his mind, and continued to think of stupid and completely impossible escape ideas when Alice moved a little in her sleep. He couldn't help but give a small smile, the first one all night, thinking that maybe she talked in her sleep. She started to squirm, and attempt to fight off something that only she could see and Joe dropped his smirk understanding, that this was not a normal thing.
"Alice?" Joe whispered, not knowing if he should wake her.
She let out a small scream.
"Alice?" He said louder, moving her from his shoulder to the floor, and tried to shake her awake as her small scream changed to a loud, piercing, high-pitched cry.
What she was doing was scaring him to death. "Alice! Please! Wake up!"
She didn't.
"Joe! What's wrong with her?"Cary stood beside him and a screaming Alice, so did the others.
"I don't know! Nightmare maybe?"He couldn't think straight.
"Alice!" Joe shouted at her once more as she started to fight him away. Then her eyes finally shot open. She was gasping for breath and trembling. "Are you okay?"
She took a second before shaking her heard that she wasn't, and wrapped her arms around Joe.
"They're," she tried to steady out her breathing, "This one was worse than the others."
"I'm sorry," Joe said in comfort, "I'm sorry."
"What does she mean?" Martin stood over them, resting on his crutches.
"She's been, um," Joe look at Alice for permission to tell everyone in the room and she nodded, still keeping herself around him. "She's having these nightmares."
"What are they about?"
"Preston, I don't know"
"Alice, is the same one reoccurring or different ones?"
"Each one's, well they're," Her eyes kept moving from person to person, uncomfortable with what was going on. She pulled away from Joe and rested her back on the wall, crossing her arms. "I'm fine really. It's just a nightmare."
"Are you sure?" Preston asked.
"Yeah, it's okay." She said in a tone that made it obvious that she wanted to be left alone.
Joe watched everyone leave and go back to where they were before. He realized how everyone quickly gathered to help her.
"Hey Joe, I'm sorry." Alice pulled her knees up to her chest and folded her arms around them.
"Why?" He said sitting against the wall next to her.
She looked out ahead of her. "I'm usually not so helpless like I have been lately."
Joe knew that, she had always had a tough personality, one of the reasons she was so popular at school.
He looked toward her. "I think we're all a little helpless right now."
She agreed.
The room grew back to the familiar silence, and the only one talking at all was Cary, who was telling Martin about the one time he set fire to his math book. Joe heard Alice giggle every once in a while throughout the story he remembered vividly. Cary's parents were out of town, like they often were, and Joe was hanging out at his house after school. Cary started to rant about how math was a waste of time, ending in putting a lighter to his math book. The whole thing would have been an easy to put out if he didn't drop it on the floor, resulting in him burning half of his living room. Joe found it easy to laugh about it now, but not when it happened.
As Cary told how it happened, Joe didn't see the famed, firework holding backpack usually attached to his short, blonde friend. It must have been left at Charles house, but knowing Cary, he would probably still have something to create fire on him.
The interesting story was cut short when the door to the room was opened. The same man in the same suit walked in. He made eye contact with all of them before talking.
"I know, the night was rough, but how about some lunch?"
It wasn't until he said it that Joe discovered how starving he was.
Charles and Preston left the room first, then Martin and Cary. Joe slowly stood up from the floor with Alice and let her leave the room first. When he went out the door the man grabbed Joe by the collar and whispered in his ear.
"Don't you dare try to pull any monkey business like you did yesterday." He patted the bruise on Joe's cheek before pushing him forward.
Joe looked at his friends and was relieved that they saw nothing of what just happened.
It was long trip through the building until they reached a room that looked much like the middle school's cafeteria. The food they were given was even on trays and looked like the same thing they would have eaten at school. What was most surprising when they entered the room was that they wouldn't be alone. There were half a dozen people in grey sweats scattered around the tables. The people stared at them as they got food, broke into their three groups, and found seats. Joe ate some of the food, but found that he mostly just poked at it. Alice was doing the same. From across the cafeteria Joe could see and feel the glare he was getting from Charles. After some time Charles walked over the trash can to dump his tray and Joe left his table and went over to Charles to see what his problem was.
He was not happy to see Joe, but he didn't care. "I don't understand why you won't talk to me."
Charles didn't look at him. "Don't be stupid, you know why."
Joe shifted his weight from foot to foot putting his hands in his pockets. "Is this because of Alice?"
"Half of it, yeah."
"Just tell me what your problem is."
"Well first off, yes I'm mad at you about Alice. I told you that I liked her, and I thought you would back off and be my friend, like you always do, but look, you have her clinging all over you!"
Joe said nothing.
"But most of it is that you ditched me to hang out with her. You promised me before summer started that you would help me finish my movie, but no!" His voice started to rise and Joe quickly checked around the room to make sure they weren't gaining any attention.
"I am helping you finish your movie; I just took one afternoon for myself."
Charles scoffed and walked away, leaving Joe alone.
Joe sighed and met Alice by the door.
"Did you solve whatever is going on between you and Charles?"
"Nope."
She said nothing more about it, and he was extremely grateful for that she didn't.
One of the men in green escorted Alice and him back to the room. When they entered there were two cots and a battered deck of cards on the table that recently were added to the room.
Alice moved her eyes over the cot, then to Joe.
"I know you got no sleep what so ever last night, so take one before the rest come."
He was exhausted and really wanted sleep. "Are you sure?"
She laughed at him. "Yes! Now go to bed!"
Joe just smiled at her. She smiled back and threw her arms around his neck, and brought her lips to his.
It was a short kiss, but it still gave him butterflies, and knew that it always would.
"Go to sleep." She said stepping back from him.
He laid down on the cot, and she went to the table and picked up the cards. Joe thought it would take long to fall asleep, but as soon as he rolled onto the side facing the wall, he was out.
He should have known that it would have been better to stay awake.
Alright, thought I would update sooner, but wrote a completely different chapter 6 and the one here would be chapter 7.
The chapter I did write was from Jackson Lamb's POV, but I seriously sat there for days looking at it wondering if I wanted to add another POV through out the story. I really really wanted too but... I don't know. Give me your thoughts!
Review!
(And NoelAnderson... I am going to give you a smiley face : ), and I hope that my story isn't becoming to predictable!)