A Light That Never Fades

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     The culinary room inside turned dim as midnight creeped upon them. They all anticipated moving on to a different location of the campus after looting the cafeteria, anywhere that can guarantee their safety. Samy noticed her little brother from afar fiddling around with the knife she had given him earlier. It made her feel slightly sick as she was still having mixed feelings about Zane carrying around a sharp weapon.

    All of the teens were either seated or pacing around the classroom, the group had fairly decided earlier that it would be best to wait till the sun went down before heading to the cafeteria. Fabian had proposed this idea to the group since according to him, their presence can easily be hidden amongst the sick in the darkness if they were to tread quietly and not cause any noise. Nettie had given it some thought and agreed to follow this proposition of his.

    "We shouldn't wait any longer, let's leave now that the time's right", Nettie commanded. She walked over to the door, she was fully prepared to fight against any sick teen that dared to run in her way. She grasped onto the sharp blade of hers tightly. Amina and Alyssa followed right behind her like the 'puppy' friends they were. Everyone else listened, a new feeling of fear was spread amongst the group as neither of them knew whether or not Fabian's theory would work. Not to mention the fact that they all were scared regardless about what the possibilities could be if anyone were to get hurt, or worse...if any one of them got bit. They didn't want to lose anyone, they've all come to realize just how close they've gotten since the lockdown began.

    Samy walks over to Zane, she crouches down to him so that her brother could focus directly on her gaze. "Remember what I had said earlier, don't use this knife like it's a toy"

    Zane rolls his eyes, he hates having to be reassured of everything now as if he didn't know about these things already. He was aware that Samy was only trying to guarantee his safety, but it consistently annoyed him nonetheless. She never bickered about anything like this before the outbreak, or even paid attention to him matter of fact. This was still new to him, having her sister's full attention centered onto him now that the world has gone in flames. Zane wonders if this is the same sister he had once before who drowned herself in booze all the time.

    "I know. Can you please stop repeating this to me?", Zane assures his sister, annoyance being hinted in his voice as he spoke. 

    Samy raises her hands as if she's surrendering, "Alright alright". She stands up and guides her brother to meet back with her friends, "Also stay-"

    "Stay close to you at all times, yeah I get it!", Zane says frustratingly. Maia notices his irritated behavior, she places her hand on his shoulder to keep him steady. "We mean it Zane, things could get dangerous once we leave. We must make sure to stay together and not separate again", Maia affirmed to the little boy. Zane's angered face expression softens after hearing her calm words. Zane admitted that Maia was a lot better at playing the role of the preservative sister here than Samy herself, he did not want to say this in front of Samy of course knowing that would probably hurt her feelings.

    He feels a hand land on top of his head and glimpses above to see Winston smiling down at him. "We got this, don't we Z?", he says. Zane nods at him in self-confidence.

    Samy spots Tommy a few feet away who stood there shakingly, she could vividly see the small blade he held in his hand that he had chosen hours before as his weapon choice. She wondered if Tommy would have the courage to defend anyone or even himself as they all try to survive this epidemic. Samy hadn't forgotten about him letting Gavin take Zane away. She could forgive him if she wanted to as she is aware that Tommy is not a bad person at all, but a coward.