𝐀 𝐒𝐀𝐅𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄, marcus abbott.

a loss

. asp, m. abbott .

━━━━━ BEAU'S TINY LITTLE bare feet scurried across the concrete floor, little taps light enough to not create a loud sound.

y/n and reagen wondered around the ruined store. marcus sat on the floor, leaning his back on a shelf, his eyes half-closed. he had come down with a fever and needed medicine, which evelyn had begun looking for in the back of the pharmacy.

marcus let out a small, inaudible gasp when he fully opened his eyes and realized y/n was nowhere in his sight.

"where's y/n?" he signed to his mom when she walked back over with a pill bottle in her hand.

"y/n's with reagan, she's okay." evelyn reassured. she then took out one pill and gave it to marcus, giving him the bottle of water so he could swallow it.

reagan passed by the two, marcus frowned when he saw that y/n wasn't there. evelyn noticed his frown, turning around to see reagan. she smiled, "he's okay."

reagan nodded, subconsciously walking away on her tiptoes to go find beau.

y/n walked through the food isles, looking for any snacks that were in an easy reach. with one crinkle of the plastic that was a bit too loud, things wouldn't end well.

a granola bar was sitting on one of the empty shelves, other bags of food were further away from it, which made it a whole lot easier to grab it. y/n then pinched the sealed part of the package between her index finger and thumb. carefully lifting it, y/n quietly placed it in the pocket of her jacket.

marcus opened his tired eyes when he felt a presence sit next to him on the ground.

"i got this so we can split it later," y/n smiled, then pulling the granola bar an inch out to show him.

marcus weakly smiled, signing a thank you.

lights steps were heard from around the corner when beau appeared. he gave his cute little smile then waving the three over, before walking away.

"let's go find dad." evelyn signed. she and y/n helped marcus quietly stand up before walking towards that front entrance of the store.

lee and reagan were kneeled beside a duffle bag filled with gadgets and tools. evelyn tapped her husband's shoulder for his attention, then signing to him, "it'll be dark soon."

lee nodded. they started to pack up, but that is until beau walked right up to them. the five completely froze when they caught the sight of the littlest boy holding a toy rocketship, two batteries secured on the bottom.

lee slowly put his hands up in front of the boy, creeping towards him than taking the toy out of his hands. lee then took out the two batteries and placed them on the counter that was next to them.

"listen to me," lee signed to beau. "too loud." lee looked to evelyn before standing up and picking up his backs before walking out the door with marcus.

y/n gave beau a pat on the head and a small smile. the littlest boy smiled wide, holding out his palm in the air for y/n to grab and intertwine her fingers with his little ones. this was her way of telling him good job since he had willingly given up the toy without a fuss.

y/n let go of his tiny hand and put her backpack on her back. she began walking out of the store, she sped up her walking to catch up to lee and marcus.

after evelyn, reagan, and beau started to walk out of the store, everyone continued their walking on the white sand path. marcus had eventually started to get tired, quicker than usual, due to the fatigue of being sick.

walking across the large, red bridge, y/n stood on her tiptoes as she walked. she loved getting a view of the trees and the sky, especially when the sun was glowing down over them.

she looked back at marcus then pointed to two deer elegantly galloping through the tall grass, both pairs of four hooves barely even touching the ground before bouncing up again. marcus lightly smiled at the scene.

the walk was peaceful, the only sound was the wind and the leaves grazing the other.

all until a sound that was just a bit too loud.

lee suddenly froze at the sound, the rest of them turning around to see beau with the same rocketship toy, but now working sound and light with the work of batteries.

reagan furrowed her eyebrows in confusion when she noticed the horrified expressions on the faces before her. she turned around, her chest felt heavy at the sight.

lee quickly set marcus down at y/n's feet, running as fast as he could pass reagan and evelyn, whose knees were already weak at the sight of the baby of the family being hunted down by the creature rushing through the tall trees. everyone was hoping in their hearts that lee would get there in time.

but he couldn't.

. chavati, 2021-22 .