To be Seen or Heard

Chapter Two: A Whisper (pt2)

It wasn't easy convincing Isabella that coming out was our best option.

Our parents had explicitly told us that in case something dangerous happened, we were to stay under the stage until one of them came for us... But I won that argument in the end. Mostly because it had been hours, and neither one had come. And soon enough, we were all out.

The sight of a cooing and wide awake Eva squirming in her basket as I pushed it out into the open had more than one grownup curse under their breath. Something that made me and Isabella glare up at them angrily when it scared Camila enough for her to try and crawl back under the stage.

It wasn't easy going upstairs. The entire auditorium and the hallways were filled with the downed bodies of people I'd gotten to know very well over the last month and a half... poor Isabella gagged at almost every single one until she resolutely looked up at the ceiling instead. Still, every body we passed that wasn't my Mom or Dad or cousin's was like having a weight lifted off my chest and hope breathed into my lungs.

The sheriff and his people decided that the best place to hunker down in for the night would be the craft room -it was the only place without a body in it- and soon enough, they were all spread out around the room. The second after my sisters were all sitting comfortably together in a corner of the room I tugged onto Rick's arm.

"Can you help me now?"

He traded a look over my head at the mean man with dark hair, "We need to get everyone settled first, maybe find everyone something to eat and then I can take you around."

"What if we make a deal." I offered, fiddling with the buckles of my overalls, "You help me look for my mom now, and then I'll show you where we hid some of the emergency supplies."

"Why don't you just tell us where all of that is now?"

"Shane-"

"This ain't a game, Rick." the man, now revealed as Shane cut him off.

"Exactly." I piped up, "Those supplies are ours. We hid them. This is a trade."

Shane ran a hand through his hair angrily before shooting the sheriff an annoyed look, "Alright." Rick agreed, "Com'on. We'll help you look."

Triumph made a wide grin bloom on my face, I turned around to shoot Isabella a comforting look, "Stay here, look after the piojas, and I'll be back soon."

Isabella looked more than a little annoyed to be left behind again, but she nodded--knowing that this could be our shot to find Mamí and Alexander, "Vale. Be careful."

"Can I come?" Camila asked suddenly as she realized I was leaving the room.

"No." Isabella and I replied in unison. Camila pouted angrily but was quickly roped into whatever it was that Olivia was playing with.

The sheriff took the lead as we walked out into the hall; he went towards the right, but stopped when I tugged on his belt, "Wait. Can we go the other way?"

He looked confused, and Shane seemed a little bit more than annoyed, "Alright, kid."

"The janitor's closet is this way." I jerked my head in the other direction as I started leading them to said closet.

"And why are we going to a closet?" Shane asked in a weird tone.

"Cause the door automatically locks when it closes, it's usually propped open with a cinder block... but if you're inside when it's shut, you can't get out." I explained, "There's only two keys that open that door. Mamí has one of them. That's why, if los muertos ever got inside, us kids were supposed to go hide under the stage or in the closet. Mamí was upstairs when..."