No one left

Chapter 10

(Dipper pov)

Bill slowly stands up, him and I both keeping our hands up as the young boy keeps the pistol pointed at us. I see that it's shaking in his hands. The woman stands up and instead of talking, I see that she's signing to him.

It's okay, don't worry it's okay. She goes over to him taking the pistol out of his hands and puts it in her waistband.

"He's deaf." I find myself saying. She looks at me slightly surprised.

"Yeah, do you sign?"

"Yeah, a bit." I bite the inside of my cheek as I try to remember the right signs before signing. My name is Dipper, this is Bill. He smiles slightly before the woman ruffles his hair. Bill looks at me confused. "I told him our names."

"How the hell do you know ASL?"

"It was either learn this or learn french in high school. Figured this would come in handy more often."

"This is my brother Benny." The woman introduces. "I'm Wendy." She takes her backpack off and takes out some bandages wrapping them around her arm. "Sorry for trying to kill you guys, I thought you were with them."

"Well we're not." Bill says bluntly. "You trying to pass through here as well?"

"No, we were part of this QZ before it went to shit. Now we're trying to get out alive. I have a plan, but it's not safe to talk here. Come on."

She puts a hand on Benny's shoulder leading him out of the room. Bill and I share a look before following them out. We exit the apartment and head down a few flights of stairs.

"Where exactly are we going?"

"The building next door has an office we're holed up in. It'll be safer talking there."

"How do you know they can't get in there?"

"Because I'm the only one with a key."

"How did you get that?"

"Killed one of those fuckers. He won't miss it now."

We get to the main floor, passing through a part of the building that looks like a toy store. Wendy pulls Benny out of sight and gestures for us to get down. We crouch down as that armoured truck rolls past on the street. She lets go of Benny and we all stand up once it's gone.

"That fucking truck." She looks over at Benny as he picks up a robot toy. She goes over to him putting a hand on his shoulder. Put it back.

But why? It weighs like nothing and my bag is practically empty.

What is the rule about taking stuff?

We only take what we have to.

He sets the toy on the shelf before Wendy leads him towards the back door. Bill puts a hand on my arm.

"What were they saying there?"

"He wanted to take the robot toy, but she told him no."

Bill follows them to the back door. I go over to the robot toy and grab it, putting it in my backpack before following them out the back door.

Wendy leads us through an alley to the building next door. She leads us up a few floors before taking out a set of keys. She unlocks the door letting us into an office. Benny takes my hand as he leads me to what looks like a Boss' office with a big couch along one wall and a window overlooking the city.

Benny taps my arm making me look down at him. Want some blueberries? I smile with a small nod. I sit on the couch as he sits next to me taking a package of blueberries out of his bag. He holds the container in his lap as we share them. I glance over at Wendy and Bill talking on the other side of the room before I look at Benny again.

Benny, how old are you?

12. How old are you?

I'm 20. You were really young when this all happened then, right?

I was 7. I don't remember much about what the world was like before this. It feels like the world was always crazy.

Why are you and Wendy trying to leave so bad if this was your home?

Our parents died during the early days, so Wendy took me here. When the people here killed the soliders and took over, she said it was too dangerous for us to stay here. We've been trying to leave ever since. That was a month or two ago, we spent a lot of time hiding in the sewers but there was Clickers, it was dangerous for us with me not being able to hear them.

Where will you go once you two leave?

Wendy wants to find the fireflies. She says they seem to have a good cause and it will be safer there for us.

Me and Bill are trying to find them too. Do you know where they are?

No, I'm not sure if Wendy really knows either. She said that they are supposed to be located in the west. That's all she'll tell me anyway.

Bill knows someone who used to be a firefly. If you and Wendy would like to join us, we can all find the fireflies together.

I like that plan. He smiles up at me.

Do you mind asking me if you were born deaf?

I don't mind. I was born this way, have never been able to hear.

You and Wendy are really close.

She's taken care of me for forever. I had older brothers but they're gone just like our parents. Do you or Bill have any family?

I had a sister and two great uncles. I lost them all on outbreak day. Bill has a brother, but I don't know if he has any other family. He's not really big on talking about himself.

Benny coughs into his elbow so hard it has him hunched over. I keep a hand on his back until the coughing stops. Sorry. I was really sick for a while and am still trying to get better. It got a bit worse when we were in the sewers.

It's okay. I was sick too for some time.

I notice Benny rubbing his eyes. The kid looks tired. I gesture for him to come closer. He scoots over to me as I put my arm around him. He leans his head on me as he falls asleep.