I Have To Protect Them - Cleofis Drisen

Chapter Seven: Lost For Words Part 1

When we got to the church, about half of the town was there. We went up to the front and my eyes searched the group for the group that had left hours ago, but they weren't back yet. I saw Helena on her phone, probably trying to get a hold of Luke, except by her worried and concerned expressions her and Cassandra shared, I knew they were having no luck. My throat tightened and my breathing became heavy. We sat down behind them and beside Will. "Have you heard anything?" Greg asked Will, who responded by shaking his head, "no, I don't even know what's so important for us all to be here this late." I nodded and stated "if it wasn't important, Grizz wouldn't have asked." I could feel both of their eyes on me, but I was pulled away from reality by my whirlwind of thoughts and with each thought the knot in my stomach got tighter. 'What if someone got hurt? What if Grizz got hurt? What if someone died? What would I do without Grizz? What are we going to do? He promised everything was going to be okay, but what if it isn't? What if nothing ever will be again? What if we are stuck here? No parents, doctors, or supplies. We are so fucked!' My head started spinning and my breathing got heavier. Greg noticed my change in demeanor and he gently grabbed my hand. I just wished I could get a hold of Grizz. I texted, called, and nothing. I came racing back to the present when Cassandra asked Helena, "anything?" Helena shook her head and simply replied "he's not answering, neither is Grizz." Helena looked over her shoulder at me when she mentioned Grizz, like she was silently asking me. I shook my head no and both of our attention went to Harry we he spoke. 'God damn it , why did he have to open his mouth?' "They must be headed back here. That's why they wanted us together" he said, stating the obvious. "So fast? Twelve hours. Maybe they found something?" Kelly questioned from her seat on the steps at the front of the church. "Or maybe they found nothing. Why wouldn't he say if it was good news?" Helena asked to no one in particular. 

I noticed a look between Cassandra and Allie, which made Cassandra sigh. She stood up and tried getting everyone's attention by proclaiming, "listen, hey! Listen up! While were all here together, there are some things we oughta figure out. Before we rip this place apart and maybe you know start hurting each other. I don't know what the hell is going on, but maybe Luke will come back with some good news." A few people murmured to each other, but Elle was the only one that I heard clearly talk directly to Cassandra, "maybe? Of course he will." I shook my head and whispered "we don't know that. They would have told Helena or me if it was good news. I have a really bad feeling about all this." Greg glanced and me and nodded, then he continued looking forward. Harry sighed, "why don't we just wait and see, Cassandra." Man I wish he would just butt out sometimes. He really didn't need to insert his opinion when it wasn't warranted. "Because I would rather prepare for the worst before the worst happens" Cassandra stated, glaring at Harry and then she looked at Kelly when Kelly asked, "what does that mean? Prepare?" Cassandra shook her head saying "I don't know, specifically, but I think it means we agree not to just take things when we want, until all the food is gone and we starve." Cassandra sat back down and Allie raised her hand agreeing, "well I'd agree to that." Clark agreed with a yeah and Helena added, "me too." Harry looked around stating, "this is bullshit!" Will sighed, "Jesus man, what is your problem?", getting a few people's attention. Harry continued on his rant, while staring directly at Cassandra, "what are we agreeing to Cassandra? Which one of us gets to decide who gets what? Your friends?" Becca interrupted sarcastically, "it's called a democracy!" Harry turned to look at her, "I'm not a fucking idiot." "Could've fooled me" I hissed to myself, getting  a laugh from Greg, but he covered it with a cough, making me smirk.

Cassandra got back up and stood right in front of Harry, crossing her arms with a smirk. "How do you want to decide things? Every person for themselves. Then we're back where we started. Maybe you want to flip a coin to see who decides? You don't like democracy, how about random fucking chance? Call it Harry. Call it" Cassandra taunted, while pulling a coin out of her pocket. Harry chuckled, "I'm not going to do that." "Okay, okay. I'll call it for you. You get heads" Cassandra says, flipping the coin, catching it, and placing it on the back of her hand. "It's tails. Still think it's unfair? Best two out of three" Cassandra informs and she repeats her actions. "Tails" she whispers, then she keeps flipping the coin and gets the same result. Harry gets up from the table he was sitting on and comes closer to her. "Do it again" he commands, and she flips the coin four more times. Still heads. I could feel the tension in the room and I glanced around, seeing everyone fixated on Cassandra and Harry. I had no idea what was going on, so I leaned over to Will and asked "what's going on?" He glanced at me for a second, then back at Harry and Cassandra, meanwhile whispering "during the play they flipped a coin and it kept coming up heads more than tails. I nodded and realized that everyone was shocked that the coin was only coming up tails. This is so weird. Statistically a coin flip is 50/50 odds, so what's the chances it's only tails. Cassandra flipped the coin again and lets out a content sigh "heads." The entire room relaxed and Harry went back to sitting on the table.