we meet again ¹ - the 5th wave

XXIX

by the time dawn approaches, we're miles away, hunkering beneath a highway overpass, where the kid with dumbo kneels beside zombie, applying a fresh dressing to the wound in his side. he's already worked on me, amélie, sammy and cassie. pulling out pieces of shrapnel, swabbing, stitching, bandaging.

then i heard zombie ask, "where'd you get the humvee?"

"got lucky," ringer said. "they moved a bunch of equipment and supplies to a staging area about two klicks due west of the camp, i guess in anticipation of the bombing. guarded, but poundcake and i had the advantage."

"you shouldn't have come back, ringer."

"If i hadn't, we wouldn't be talking right now."

"that's not what i mean. once you saw the camp blow, you should have fallen back to dayton. we might be the only ones who know the truth about the 5th Wave. this is bigger than us."

"you went back for nugget."

"that's different."

"zomvie, you're not that stupid. don't you get it yet? the minute we decide that one person doesn't matter anymore, they've won."

it's almost dawn. you can feel it coming. the world holds its breath, because there's really no guarantee that the sun will rise. that there was a yesterday doesn't mean there will be a tomorrow.

amélie was sleeping in my lap while toby was lying down next to her. amélie stirs in my lap. she dozed off; now she's awake again. "do you miss, tommy?"

i look down at her, softly moving her hair out of her face and smile sadly at her, "more than anything." i say sadly. a single tear goes down my cheek.

"me too." she says back now looking up at me. "it's okay. you don't need to cry. he wouldn't want that." she says to me kindly before reaching up and wiping my tear away, "hey mickey?" she asks.

i smile at her. "maybe when you wake up. you need sleep." i say to her softly, grabbing her smile hand and rub my thumb over it. "i love you." i tell her. i needed her to know.

"i love you more." she said back with a smile.

someone is coming toward us. it's zombie. i hurriedly wipe the tears away. he sits beside me, very carefully, with a soft grunt of pain. i look to him. and then look to his wound. i then reach over grabbing his hand. he intertwined his fingers with mine, and i look away looking up at the sky. it was cold. to the point you could see our hot breath.

"u wanted to thank you," he says.

"for what?" i ask.

"you helped me cope with everything."

i shrug. "you picked me up when i fell," i say. "so we're even."

i have a tear stained cheek, slight scratches sprawled on my face and zombie leans over and kisses me anyway. a light little peck.

"what's that for?" i ask, looking at him with soft eyes.

"why'd you grab my hand?" he asks back with a slight grin. i just smile at him. "that's what i thought."

amélie flipped over on her other side catching our attention. she looked cold. zombie took his jacket off throwing it over her small body.

"she's sweet." he says to me his voice quiet to not wake her up.

"she's a lot like our dad." i say to him still looking at her.

"tell me about him." zombie says grabbing my hand again.

"well. he was just genuinely a good guy. he hated violence, and he was surely a people pleaser. he loved making people happy, so flying a plane he got to see all the happy families going on these big family trips. he loved with people smiled. it was like his favorite part of life. but him and my mom argued a lot, so i practically raised her and tommy. my dad was my best friend." i say quietly. zombie just listened.

i looked to him and he was just staring at me. his eyes piercing into my features. oh god help me. im falling in love. when cassie and i were friends and all she ever did was talk about the infamous ben parish i absolutely hated him. a jock that every girl wanted. he was smart and too good looking. his smile was rumored to make a girl weak at her knees.

then i didn't understand why he was so popular to make girls fall in love at first glance. but now. now i know. my knees were weak and my heart was open.

i was slightly still cold and zombie scooted over so i wouldn't wake amélie up, he put his arm around my shoulder and i laid my head on his. and he laid his head on mine.

silence.