Risen from the Grave

Making the most out of a bad situation

Not long has passed since we met Alex and Owen, maybe a week at most? Alex turned out to be one of the sweetest guys ever, and him and Willie have clearly hit it off, but won't admit they're in love. Reggie has softened a little, but still barely speaks to anyone, though Julie seems to be pretty good at cracking his shell. Luke's as awesome as ever, and is in charge of keeping track of what we have. Dad and Caleb seem to be getting along, and we've managed to clear the infirmary for him, and he's started collecting data and searching for some kind of cure/vaccine. Tía has been hiding her grief well, but we don't have to gut to tell her we can hear her sobs at night. I've been trying to focus on resources more than anything else. We've made the cells quite cosy, and I don't mind sharing with Dad, even if he snores badly. Owen has been glued to Alex's side, which is fair enough, but we have been trying to coax him out. I've offered to teach him how to shoot properly (with permission from Alex first of course), and he seemed excited at the idea. "Okay, you need to aim before anything else,"I told him. We were outside on the field, and I'd set up some empty cans for him to shoot. "If you don't take your time and aim, you'll miss." He nodded, clutching the gun in his small hands. Once he'd lined up perfectly, I guided his finger towards the trigger and told him to pull. The loud bang echoed around the area, but the can did fall. I smiled, patting his head to congratulate him.

"How did you learn to shoot?"he asked me, sitting on a small hill. I sat beside him, turning over my own gun I'd got from the armoury.

"I don't remember, to be honest,"I replied. "It was ages ago. My uncle showed me, I think." We sat for a moment, in silence.

"Where's your mom?"he suddenly questioned.

"She's... she's dead,"I answered.

"Oh... sorry..."

"Where's yours?"

"Don't have one. I have a Papa instead." I nodded. Of course Alex is gay. Willie will be pleased to hear it, although I think most people have guessed by now.

"Hm, where's he then?"I corrected.

"Dunno. He went to get some stuff and never came back. Dad said we should just go 'cause it's not safe to stay in the city." He paused for a bit. "I miss him."

"I miss my mom,"I said. I reached out to pat his shoulder. "I bet your Papa will be very proud if he comes back and learns you can shoot like a pro. So how about we keep practicing?" Owen nodded and quickly got up, trying to aim the gun again at the remaining cans. I smiled, getting up after him and giving him a hand.

We kept on practicing until it started getting dark, so I lead Owen back into the cell block where everyone else was. Julie was in the corner reading a book, Alex and Willie were hopelessly flirting-but-not-flirting again, Caleb was talking to Tía, Luke was taking inventory and Reggie and Dad were nowhere to be seen. "Where's Dad?"I asked, walking over to Julie while Owen skipped over to Alex, tugging on his sleeve.

"In the infirmary with Reggie,"she replied. "Did you know he was at med school before all this happened? Him and Dad might be able to find a cure together."

"Good thing I gave him a second chance, huh?"I bragged. Julie sighed.

"Yeah, I suppose you were right. But still, please be careful. There's nothing stopping people from doing horrible stuff now, don't trust someone you shouldn't."

"I won't." Julie smiled at me, before returning to her book. I glanced around, my eyes settling on Luke, who was sat on the table in the centre of the room, counting cans. I went and sat beside him. "How's it looking?"

"Running low on canned food. We've got enough to last another two or so days, but after that we'll be living off of water,"he answered, looking concerned.