Dark Paradise - Joel Miller x OC

Sarah

This is the last chapter of this story and I'm not ok. I'll post another "chapter" after that where I'm babbling. Hope you'll enjoy this last one.

Photo by Ashim D'Silva on Unsplash

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Chloe shivers as she pulls the flaps of her coat tight against her body. The snow is falling for several hours, for the first time this year. She hadn't prepared for it and curses herself for not putting on warmer clothes that morning. She hurries inside the infirmary. Maria had sent someone to look her up.

"Hey Chloe.

-Hey, is everything ok?

-The patrol came in an hour ago, they found a little girl who wandered alone in the forest.

-Any signs of her family?

-Her uncle... They found him first. He and the girl were traveling to find a new home, and he got bitten. He took her to safety and then hurried to try and find someone to take care of her. He had a terrible fever when they found him, he was going to turn soon. They helped him end his life before bringing the girl back.

-Poor kid. What are we gonna do with her?

-That's why I called you. Do you think you could take her home? I would do it but... We're just starting to figure things out with Tommy. And we're not getting any younger... It's ok if you don't want to, we'll find another solution.

-No, it's okay. I can't keep this big house all for myself anyway, not when the city is growing like that. Let's go see her. What's her name?

-Sarah."

Hand on the door handle, Chloe freezes and turns to Maria, stunned.

"Are you kidding me?

-I swear I'm not."

Chloe sighs and opens the door. In the exam room, her eyes immediately fall on the sleeping little girl. She can't be more than six or seven. She has blonde hair that falls on her shoulders, slightly curled at the ends. She pauses for a moment, her heart aching. It all sounds like a bad joke. A blonde little girl named Sarah, strange coincidence. She discreetly pinches her arm to make sure she isn't having one of those weird dreams. But she doesn't wake up, and Eric turns to her and Maria.

"She just fell asleep. She's dehydrated and has probably not seen real food in a while. Other than that, nothing to report. No trace of bite or injury.

-You want to keep her under observation?

-No, I think the sooner we get her to a real house, the better for her."

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The child hadn't woken up for a second on the way home, snuggled up comfortably in Eric's arms. They put her in Chloe's bed, the only one in the house. The doctor auscultates Sarah again and gives some instructions to her now guardian before leaving the room. He stops as he walks past the second bedroom, seeing the workbench.

"You do woodwork?

-No, it was my husband. He was a carpenter before the outbreak."

She smiles when she sees the confused look on the other's face. Both were just children in 2013, far from having any profession. She explains to him while inviting him to enter the room with a wave of her hand.

"He was older than us, remember?

-Now I do. I can't believe I'm seeing all these guitars. I haven't touched one for so long.

-You're playing?

-Badly. But I like it."

She inhales slowly as he observes the instruments and score sheets. She walks over to the workbench, stroking one of the unfinished crates. Then she takes one of the guitars off the wall and hands it to the doctor.