Hope

Missing Link

He was screaming and I couldn't get to him. He was too far away. There were too any of them. He screamed once more and he fell silent as his voice gurgled into the sound of ripping flesh.
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I woke up to the smell of wood burning and and the sound of Carly crying. Cesar was nowhere to be seen which meant I had to tend to the crying child.

"Carly, Shh. it's okay. You're okay."

I tried to calm her as I picked her up and held her close. She was only six. She didn't deserve to go through this. No one did. And because of that I couldn't help but hold her as close as I could. This way, I could feel her heart beat. I hadn't felt someone's heart beat since this all started. Still, after being with them for four days, i was shocked that I wasn't alone.

Cesar hadn't ever gone off on his own since I had joined them. He had been too afraid to leave Carly alone with a stranger. Last week we found a girl, maybe 15 or 16 I don't remember, but we never found out her name. She didn't talk. we had left her and Carly alone long enough for us to hunt for food in an abandoned town and when we got back Carly had locked herself in a room and the girl was a crazy. Sure enough she was bitten and was missing an arm and, from the looks of it, half of her stomach. So, as you can tell, he didn't like to leave her alone. And the fact that he did, scared me.

"Cesar?! Cesar where are you?"

No answer.

"Cesar! Answer me!"

A rustle in the bushes sent chills up my spine and I immediately reached for my blade.

What I saw next made my breathing stop. 

Cesar came running through the bushes, gun in hand and a small boy on his shoulder. from the look on Cesar's face i'd say running was a good idea.

"get Carly! we gotta go!

After that, running was something we got used to. Never staying in one place for too long meant never being at risk of getting hurt but it also meant that we were putting Carly and the other child in danger no matter where we went.