How is this my life?

Best Friends Forever

The next few days were much calmer, after she soothed the anxious children. Amy felt bad that she didn't even think of what their reaction would be to hearing a gunshot and having the door lock automatically. Jamie didn't know there was a button for the shades over the windows so she kept all the kids on the bed behind her with only a knife for protection. After the last two days they all fell asleep after a nice dinner of tomato soup and grilled cheese. Andrea looked a little disgruntled while Amy showed the kids the touch screen control panel. She took the time to explain some of the functions to Jamie just in case she had to be locked in with the kids.

It shouldn't have surprised her when a large part of the group was packing up to leave the next morning. No one explicitly said that it was her fault but she heard the murmurs of the end of the world and were eager to get away while they were unarmed. Alot were just looking for their families and the older couples that came with T-Dog left him without even saying goodbye. However, there were no tearful hugs or promises to keep in touch. There were all strangers that had known each other for a week, even if Dale was being a bit of a drama queen about it.

With less mouths to feed, Amy decided to stick around camp with the children, which made the quiet quartet very happy. Jamie tried to act unaffected but in the face of care, food, and a laptop with minecraft she failed spectacularly. Emma and Billy were oddly attached and wanted nothing to do with the four other children at camp, which Amy thought was odd. They were still all crowded in her bed with Andrea on the couch, demanding Amy snuggle them while they cried. The young blonde spent most of her days with Andrea and the children fixing up the trailer and learning the intricacies of raising quail.

"Are we going to live in the woods?" Emma asked curiously.

They were all outside watching Amy and Andrea mount solar panels to the trailer. Billy and Emma were sitting at the table with snacks and coloring books. Jamie was trying to update a brand new ipod from the truck and Braden was giggling in an outdoor playpen in the shade. Apparently all the outdoor toys were baby toys which Emma informed her quite sternly she wasn't no baby after Billy turned his nose up at the heavy ass plastic car. Okay, so it was LIL TYKES and pink but it said not for under three!

"Maybe." Amy huffed, setting her tools back in their box before sliding down the side of the trailer. "Or maybe an island...or a jungle...or even an apartment!"

"I like having a bed wherever we go." Billy chipped in wisely, looking very satisfied with his picture of a blue hulk.

"Can we go home?" Jamie asked curiously.

"Where is home?" Andrea asked nonchalantly, but kept her eyes on her sister.

"Kings County." Billy answered swiftly, his large brown eyes focusing on his book.

"Dad kept our house after the divorce, Mom moved us to Atlanta." Jamie explained, the Ipod was forgotten on the table. "Mom crashed the car and we thought she was dead and we couldn't call anyone cause the phone didn't work and when we got to Dad's he didn't even want to know what happened and just made us sit in the other room and when she came ba-"

Amy stepped up, the girl getting more emotional than she had ever seen. Jamie did not refuse the comfort, suddenly bursting into loud noisy sobs. Billy moved next, wanting in on the hug and Emma joined last, not to be left out. While her younger sister was quietly cooing over the children, Andrea felt like an outsider, unsure of how to respond. She glanced to the side at Braden who was completely oblivious to anything outside of his soft blocks and mirrored activity wall thing.

"Your Mom gave you a chance." Amy spoke softly, having heard the full version already the morning after they were found. There were some tears but nothing like this. Pulling away so she could rest a hand on each Jamie and Billy's shoulder and look them in the eye. Emma rolled with it, still clinging to her hips. "She was brave and kind and wonderful, so you guys can make room for missing her. It's going to hurt for a long time but it wasn't your fault. You did the right thing, you got each other to your Dad's."