I met the Lancasters on the 6th day of my seemingly endless walk. By then my side killed and on top of everything I continued to discover a series of different small cuts, gashes and bruises all up and down my body as I kept on my journey. I guess you could say the 6 days leading up to the Lancasters were not the best I had ever had.
It was the youngest daughter, Beth, who spotted me limping along the road while she was hunting. I don't know why she felt the urge to take pity on me, another stranger, when the family's mother and wife was killed by strangers not but 7 months ago from what she has told me. She probably figured the limp would be enough to make me give up my weapons quickly. She was right though, and by the time her and her twin brother Todd flagged me down, I was on the verge of collapse.
Duane, the father and head of the house, was all but not too pleased to see me walk up the drive, Todd and Beth steadying me under the arms, but after some persuasion I was allowed to stay and heal for a week. I got better little by little, and became able to help around the house more.
Now, two weeks later, I am still around the house helping as much as I can with a gauze wrapped tightly around my torso to keep my ribs in places. By now the cuts I had have healed or at least scabbed over but it still aches my side to move.
I've bunked in the upstairs room with Beth as it was the only room with a spare bed. Beth uses the opportunity every night to get a conversation in attempt to befriend me (which I really don't mind, I like the idea of having a friend even for a short while) most of the time the talks are shallow, but tonight's is different for whatever reason.
"Can I ask you something?" She looks over at me as she asks.
"You already did, you might as well ask another one." I say it teasingly adding a chuckle. She returns it with a toothy grin that fades away fairly quickly.
"Are you going to leave us? And when you do where are you going to go?" Her expression turns serious with this.
"You act like I'm leaving tomorrow" I respond.
"For all I know you could be" she says, lending me a skeptical eye.
I sigh at this. I can't hide that I've got plans to go soon.
"Every morning I unwrap my gauze and stretch to see if my ribs still hurt to bad for the long trek." She nods, attentively. "I'd say in a couple more days I'm probably going to have to go. I won't take anything more then the weapons I came in with, if that's what your worried about."
She laughs wide sweeping chuckles. "If I was worried about that we'd have you blindfolded and binded to that old rocker in the living room." She chuckles to herself again and gives it a minute to die.
"I knew that you'd be leaving soon... I just, I'll miss you, as stupid as it sounds. Todd and John (her older brother) aren't really ones to put up with the chatter. It's just nice having you here."
We lie in silence for a couple minutes and from the corner of my eye I catch the trail of a tear sliding down her face. Jeez I think Please not now. She quickly wipes it away.
"Where are you gonna go?" She asks, finally.
"I have people I'm looking for. "
" Like family?" She looks up in question.
"No, like friends. I owe someone to find some people."
"Oh, I see.... I hope you find them then. But you know Todd will be a little heartbroken. He digs you if you know what I mean." She winks and shimmies in a funny little manner as she says that and we laugh. Todd is nice but the thought of finding love in a world like this seems all but unlikely. Absurd even. Love for me died with Rebecca, and I don't have much a desire to have it anyway. And with the thought I let sleep take over.
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Peace and Love,
Haylee <3
