Dawn of the Others

Chapter 13

"Is that Chris?" I asked automatically as we pulled into the large compound. He was wedging himself through a rather high window in what looked to be an escape effort. Everyone in the car watched him with shock as we came to a stop. I jumped out as quickly as my body would allow and began to yell across the small open space between us.
"What are you doing?!" I called to him in confusion. He looked up faster than I had ever seen as his hand slipped off the window sill and he tumbled down to the ground in the least graceful way possible, landing flat on his back with his arms flung out. I rolled my eyes as he quickly got back up, dusted himself off and headed towards me, seemingly unaffected by the hard drop.
Before I could stop him he had me wrapped up in a tight hug with his head buried deep in my shoulder. I groaned a little at the pressure but refused to pull away, I had missed him and for a moment I thought I wouldn't see him again so I was determined to savour every second.
"I was so worried about you." He whispered emotionally, taking a second to enjoy having me back before pulling away a little and holding me at arms length. "You look like shit." He commented with a crooked smile and a happy sparkle in his eyes.
I chuckled and shook my head at him, "Thanks, bro." I replied sarcastically.
Chris's cheeky smile faded as his eyes drifted over to where our father had gotten out of the car. He looked just as shocked as I had been, but there was an anger in his eyes that I wasn't able to relate to and didn't quite understand. He glanced back to me and I stopped him before he could make any accusations as betrayal flashed across his eyes.
"I only saw him on the drive back, I don't know anything either." I reassured him, I didn't want him to think that I had been keeping anything from him and this wasn't a small matter to have hidden from him.
He nodded ever so slightly and turned his angry gaze back to our father. "You have some explaining to do." He said pointedly, venom lacing his words.
Our father merely nodded and motioned for us to follow him inside with the tilt of his head. "We'll get your sister settled and taken care of and I'll explain everything I can." He said with a sigh. Emotions swirled in his dark eyes and for a moment it looked as though he was going to say more but he kept quiet. I started limping after them and Riley immediately slipped her head under my arm without a word to take most of my weight. Normally I would have been more than opposed to having help but I had missed her too much and I was in no state to make it very far on my own. I could feel her warmth against my side and it soothed me more than anything else ever had, I had missed having her close.
We walked down a long, empty hallway before ending up at a room with a younger looking man standing at the door. He turned as we arrived and his face paled when he saw Chris. "I'm so sorry boss, I swear he was in there a second ago." He defended desperately, roughly running a hand through his hair.
"It's alright, he's a hard one to keep ahold of." Our father said with the wave of his hand. "Go get some supplies for us and I'll forget about it."he offered as he opened the door for all of us to pile in. Riley gently placed me on the soft bed as the young man instantly complied and disappeared down the hall with a quick "Yes sir."
I stared at Chris, curiosity getting the best of me once everyone had fallen quiet. "How'd you get here?" I finally asked.
When he heard me speak his eyes moved from our father to mine, softening before he spoke. "I found the map at the cabin and followed it here." He admitted. "When you didn't come back for a couple days I started to worry." I wanted to smack him for putting himself in so much danger, but it was also incredibly sweet that he was willing to come all this way to find me, I didn't have many people that would do that.
"What about you?" I asked, turning to our father. "You left us to be in charge here?" I couldn't hide the hurt that laced its way into my tone despite my efforts to sound monotonous. My brain searched for reasons to justify his actions but they all fell short just as they always had when I thought about him.
He rubbed the back of his neck as he sat down at the small table off to the side of the room. "It's complicated." He mumbled, deep in thought as he tried to figure out what to say to the children he had left alone in an apocalypse. "It was safer for you if your mom and Beckett kept an eye on you and I stayed away. The things I was wrapped up in at the time would have put you guys in danger and I couldn't take that risk, especially when there wasn't any kind of law enforcement anymore." He paused. "They have been taking care of you, right?"
My mind stopped for a moment as I realized he didn't know about moms death, as much as I hated his choices I knew he still cared about all of us and I didn't want to have to tell him. "Beckett has been looking out for us the best he can." I said, taking a breath before breaking the news to him. "Mom died about a year ago." I chocked out, watching as his face fell and his eyes became slightly glassy.
He was quiet for a long moment before asking, "How'd she die?"
It almost sounded as though he didn't want to know but I answered anyway. "A couple of infected got through the walls while she was out gardening. She didn't even see them coming." I said simply. It was ironic that the woman that barely ventured past the neighbours house had been the one that died of the infection. I knew she couldn't have survived her whole life within the small radius around our house, but I had thought I would have more time to coax her towards freedom.
I could feel Riley looking at me but I didn't dare meet her eyes, the conversation was making me uncomfortable and I hated the vulnerableness that I felt. Chris played with his fingers as a few tears fell from his eyes, he roughly wiped them away as though he was disgusted by the idea that they were there. He had always worshipped our parents and I knew he missed mom terribly some days. Hopefully things would turn out differently with our father.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there." Dad said quietly, guilt and regret clouding his eyes as he spoke. As much as I hated him for leaving I also understood, if the last few days were any indication of what could have happened then maybe he had been right to keep us safe.
The tension in the air was broken as the younger man returned with a load of supplies, bandages, bottles, towels and boxes were piled precariously in his arms which he dumped onto the bed with relief.
"Thanks Dean, you can go." Dad said gruffly as he cleared his throat to hide the obvious emotion in his voice. Riley immediately began sorting through everything and pulled out the antiseptic and a small towel from the messy pile.
"I'll leave you to get cleaned up." He sighed as he rose from the chair and headed toward the door. "You coming, kid?" He asked Chris gently as though he was trying not to scare him away. Chris looked hesitant but also interested as he slowly headed for the door to follow dad. I was glad that he was willing to give dad a chance, as much as I loved caring for my brother I knew he needed more of a family than just me.
The door closed softly behind them and I was left alone with Riley for the first time in almost a week. Nervousness climbed its way up the back of my throat as I glanced over at her, a lot had happened since I last saw her and anything that I thought to say seemed meaningless now.
She pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to me as she dosed the towel in antiseptic, waiting for me to drink a little before moving towards me with the towel. I leaned into her warm hand as she held the side of my face steady so she could work. It reminded me of the dreams I had of her when I was waiting for rescue, only this was real and the feeling of her hand was clearer than I could ever remember it being. She began dabbing gently at my face, cleaning the blood and dirt away as I held in a grunt.
"I'm sorry." She whispered as my face scrunched up in pain.
"Don't be, it'll be worse if you don't do this." I reassured her, trying to hide the pain better as she worked her way around my sore face. Her hands gently smoothed my greasy hair back off my forehead before she moved to take my jacket and shirt off, looking to me for permission. I simply nodded and moved my arms to make it easier for her to slide the heavy jacket off and pull my shirt up over my head. A gasp left her mouth as she took in the sight, my sports bra left very little skin covered and the large gashes and bruises were more than obvious. My skin looked like a canvas of blues, purples and reds and the paleness of any skin left only proved to make the colours look worse.
"I'm okay." I mumbled causing her to look back up to my eyes, tears filling her own. "I'll heal."
She frowned deeply and I could see her jaw clench as she tried to rein in her emotions and focus on cleaning me up. She was silent the rest of the time and I laid there as she cleaned and wrapped me up without a word.
"Thank you." I said as she finished and moved everything over to the table. She hadn't spoken in a long moment and I missed the ease with which the conversation used to flow. "Are you going to talk to me or is this how things are going to be now?" I asked, forcing her to look at me and address the weirdness that hung over the room.
She seemed surprised that I called her out so plainly, but it already felt like I had wasted enough time and I wasn't willing to let the staleness sit between us any longer. The bed creaked as she moved to lay beside me, wrapped me up in her arms and holding me tightly as she sighed.
"I just don't know how to deal with almost losing you." She finally admitted, "I know that I technically only just met you but it drove me nuts not knowing where you were or if you were okay. I care about you more than I'd like to admit." She said with a sigh, pulling me impossibly closer as she settled into the bed.
I smiled at her, my cheeks warming as I registered her words. "I care about you too." I whispered to her. Her mouth turned up into a beautiful smile as she looked down at me lovingly, leaning down to touch her mouth to mine in a soft kiss. I melted at the feeling, relishing the firmness of her lips and the warmth of her hands around me as we held each other. I deepened the kiss, placing my free hand on her face and tilting it down towards me. "I'd show you how much I missed you if I wasn't so sore." I said quietly, surprising myself at my sudden confidence.
Her eyes turned darker and she smirked a little. "I would like that, but unfortunately you need your rest." She replied sadly.
A frown tugged at the corner of my lips, but I knew she was right. "You'll stay with me though?" I murmured, not wanting to be alone just yet.
"Of course, babe." The words left her lips smoothly and I liked that she seemed to want to stay just as much as I wanted her to. I settled in with my head on her chest and let the sound of her rhythmic heartbeat and soft body calm me. This was all I had wanted for days and I could barely contain myself as it sunk in that I was once again safe. I knew that Riley wouldn't let anything happen to me and for the moment all the people that I cared about were safe and sound.
"Wait," I suddenly wanted to ask something, "There was a woman there the first day I was taken and she wanted to know about the club... who is she?" I inquired hesitantly.
I felt Riley stiffen under me and she didn't say anything for a long moment, long enough that I started to think she wasn't going to at all.
"I promise I will tell you everything, but that's a long story and you need rest right now." She finally answered. "Is that okay?"
I sighed but nodded, as much as I wanted to argue I was exhausted and laying on her chest listening to her heartbeat wasn't helping that.
"Okay, but I'm not going to forget about it." I muttered as I snuggled back into her side.
I felt her chuckle, "I don't doubt that."