World Ashen

Chapter 2 - Jensen

Waking up on the floor of the church in a sleeping bag puzzled me at first, but after blinking a few times, I remembered the events of the day before. I sat up and looked around. The people who prayed the night before were gone, and so was Roger's body. Jadance and Ash played a hand game while Desi, Piper, and Jace were having hushed conversations.

They were already put the sleeping bags back into their go-bags, so I knew they were waiting for me to wake up. "Morning," I stretched, stood up, and put up mine.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Piper said, walking over to hug me. "From what I can see outside, the ash doesn't seem too thick. Doesn't mean it won't be a pain to travel in."

"At least that's somewhat good news," I said. "Alright, let's go."

Jadance looked at me with pained eyes. "What about breakfast? I'm hungry!"

"Right," I said to myself. "Listen, it won't be what you're used to, but it'll be something."

"When?" she whined, sticking out her bottom lip.

Piper crouched down to her level and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just give us a minute to figure it out, alright?"

Jadance nodded as Piper, Desi, Jace, and I went over to the side. "What are we going to do? The diner was probably picked clean last night by those guys."

"That's a good point," Desi said, not interested.

"Desi, just go watch Jadance and Ash, will ya?" I groaned. Why did I invite her to come with us? It just means there is one more mouth to feed.

"Sure," she said, seeming more relieved.

Jace didn't say anything for a good second. "We've got stuff in our go-bags. It'll hold them over until we get something else."

"That'll work," I said, "but where and when would we go?"

My brother shrugged, "not here."

"I know that. We could try the diner again. There aren't too many options."

Jace sighed, looking over at Desi and then at Piper. "Jensen and I will go over to the diner. You and Desi can watch the kids. I'm only asking you to stay here for your protection."

Piper nodded, "sure. And someone should at least be here if we need protecting."

"Jace, why don't you stay here as well," I said, catching what she was implying.

"I guess it would be safer if I was here too," he said.

"Believe me, it would be more heroic if you saved us if need be," Piper said as she took his hand. Jace wished me luck as I put on my mask and headed out of the church.

I knew the real reason behind Jace staying behind. He was the crazier one of us two. While we were in the army, Jace would talk about wanting to be commander of his group if crap ever hit the fan. Now that this has happened, Piper and I agreed to do our best to monitor Jace. To him, having power and control was a gold mine. He always saw himself as a leader and not a follower.

As I walked across the street and back to the diner, I realized how dark the sky had gotten and how cold the air was. Snow had fallen, making me extra grateful for putting coats into our go-bags.

Once I was at the diner, I pushed the door open with my foot while holding my pistol at the ready. Even though it was dark, it was still light enough to see. The building was empty, except for the dead bodies of the customers and workers. The gang from last night was gone.

I was still cautious in case I was wrong about the diner still being empty. Nothing was on the tables, meaning someone had to have at least taken the scraps. My first guess was maybe an animal had, but the dishes were fine.