Chapter Twelve
“W-What?” Jack breathed. Skye and Jack were like brother and sister. “W-Who found her?”
I bit my lip.
“Hannah was the one who found her.” Landon squeezed my shoulders.
Jack looked to Landon with heartbroken eyes. “Permission?”
Landon nodded. Jack opened his arms and I walked over to hug him. He wrapped his arms around me and I buried my face in his shoulder.
“I’m so, so, so sorry,” He cried quietly as we held each other close. I felt his heart against mine, beating a mile a minute.
I pulled away from him enough so that I could look him in the eyes.
“It’s okay,” I smiled through the tears, “I’m okay.”
It turns out Iris' house had turned into a bit of a lodge. With an insane amount of cots, food, and generators, that house seemed to be ready to house the entire Tinkering House. She lived in the richer part of the island, so her house was a bit bigger than the rest of ours. About 20 people lived there other than Iris, Ashton, and Jack. Leigh Anne even lived there, which I was glad to hear about. I was even happier to see her.
“Hannah?” She called from the living room. She came bounding into the room, her fiery curls billowing behind her.
“Leigh Anne!” I grinned, welcoming her embrace.
“You’re okay, too! Do you know if anyone else survived?”
I had wandered by myself while the others were getting a grand tour of the house.
“Yeah, I’m here with Landon, Paul, Jamie, and Milo.” I smiled.
“And Skye?”
I sighed. It was going to be like this every time one of us was seen. Skye was the social butterfly-- there was no one in the Tinkering House who didn’t like her or who wasn’t able to even tolerate her, at the least.
“What’s wrong?” Leigh Anne placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Nothing,” I smiled, swallowing back tears, “Nothing at all.”
We all sat down for dinner. It was the first time I had ever eaten anything besides eggs, bacon, biscuits, or salad.
And it was absolutely glorious.
There was almost everything from pasta to steak. I myself took some mac and cheese and a bit of chicken. Jamie had salad, Landon had steak, and Paul had chicken too.
I was seated next to a short girl with dark blonde hair that began straight at the top, and gradually made its way down in ringlets. She had it up in a ponytail. She had hazel eyes and lightly tanned skin. She was thin, with features so delicate that she looked sometimes like a porcelain doll.
“Hey,” I smiled at her, setting my glass of water down on the table. There was quiet, polite conversation in the air around us.
“Hello,” She grinned back at me.
I bit my lip, feeling the uncomfortable atmosphere creep up my back.
“So, I’ve never seen you around here before. You new?”
“Yeah, I’m here with Milo, Paul, Jamie, and Landon.”
“Oh, how’d you guys make it out?”
“Good, I guess. We didn’t get hurt.”
“Where were you guys staying?” She picked at her steak with her fork, letting steam escape from its hot meat.
