"It's getting dark," I remarked after another aimless day of trekking through the woods. My brother halted while yawning and stretching, narrowly missing the opportunity to smack Ben in the face.

"Where are we gonna tent?" Ben asked before quickly fixing his words and rambling. "I mean like tent as in where am I gonna put up my tent and where are you gonna put up you own tent. Not that I'm particularly interested in knowing where exactly you'll be when you sleep."

"We get it." I shook my head a bit before pointing next to a small dip in the ground. "I'm gonna set up over there."

"Okay," Ben shrugged his pack off and worked on pitching his tent some distance away from mine.

By the time we were done, it was pitch dark. I could barely see the outline of Rennie thanks to the moderate moonlight. Risking setting fire to the whole forest or attracting unwanted attention, I lit a small bonfire, relaxing in its' comforting warmth and flickers.

I sat there blankly for a moment, drawing my knees in. The fire in front of me was so comforting and small, but I could still hear the screams and the acrid smoke filling up my lungs. A small bundle of warmth leaned in next to me, putting his head on my shoulder. I smiled a little as he stared thoughtfully into the fire too. He was always the one with dad's looks, but mom's sharp wit.

I thought back to the day where it all started, instant regret filling me up. Now all I could hear were the screams of people, snarling from those monsters, and the blood rushing to my ears. A new presence settled down next to me on the other side, staring into the fire too. He sighed before turning to look at me.

"What're you thinking about?"

I watched the flames dance, casting shadows around us as Rennie snored softly in my ear.

"Just… stuff," I replied with a one-shoulder shrug. We sat in silence for a bit longer.

"You know, I used to be a doctor before all of this," Ben finally broke the quietness. "A really good one too."

"Yeah?"

"Surgeon, actually," he looked at his hands, currently all roughed up from the encounters.

I sat in silence for a moment longer before frowning, a sudden thought crossing my mind. "Aren't you twenty-two?"

"Yeah," he gave me a smug grin. "I graduated early and started my residency early."

"Ho-ly," I really was impressed at his achievements. "So you're telling me that you're some kind of prodigy stuck in the apocalyptic world?"

"Pretty much, yeah. What'd you do?"

"Just… this and that. I had to take care of my younger brother," I looked down at my knees, not exactly lying but not exactly telling the truth either. We sat in comfortable silence for a bit longer before I heard a strange sound coming from Ben. I looked over in confusion, only to see his face mashed against his knee, whimpering snoring noises emerging from his mouth. I stifled my laughter, just smirking before getting up quietly, carrying my little brother all the way to his sleeping bag. His brown mop of hair flared out a bit around his head as he mumbled something and curled up. I pulled up his blue blanket/cover-up so that it reached him up to his chin. Obviously, he would probably kick the whole thing away the next morning, but hey, at least I tried.