You Can't Survive Alone

Part 4

Morning comes, post-nap

"Hey Ash, there's a guy at the door, says you met him last night?" It's Nick talking. Oh, that guy must be back. I was half-wondering if that had been a dream. I guess it hadn't been.

"Ok, I'll be up in a sec." I really didn't want to get up and go out of my warm blanket to see this guy, but I was the first one to talk to him and he would trust me. I get up, strap my sword to my back, and head out.

When I get to the watch hallway, the guy is standing there, talking to Nick. Ethan is completely different than what his voice sounded like last night. Late at night, he sounded ominous, maybe even borderline creepy. In the day, he's a guy with short brown hair and dark eyes, with a smile on his face. They stop talking when I walk in, and Ethan says, "So, I guess you're Ash? Nice to meet you."

"Hi, Ethan. So you're still serious about wanting to join this group?"

"Yeah, that would be nice. I'm not very good at this whole surviving thing so far, and still don't even have a weapon. I'm also more of a group-oriented person, and wouldn't be able to stand being alone to try to survive this thing."

"From what I've seen so far, you'd be a good addition to the group," said Nick, kindly. The way he says it makes me think of Zack, and then I get annoyed again. I feel like I need to go after him right now, but it wouldn't help him at all in my present state. I'm struggling just to walk a mile without collapsing because of my side.

"Great! What can I do to help?" Ethan seems like such a generally good guy, trying to be helpful.

"Do you know how to cook?"

The next day, in the Workout Room

I stood in front of a punching bag, which was spilling sand and cotton fluff where my sword had hit it. I was practicing with my new katana, and wanted to see how accurate I was with this thing. So, I attacked a dummy.

Nick ran in, looking kind of crazy and yelled, "We got power!!!" then ran back out. He ran back in again and said, "You really killed that dummy. C'mon, let's go to the kitchen. We can use the microwave now, and the stove, and the fridge, and the lights, and the heater... It's gonna be great!"

I didn't want to rain on his parade, but what would we do if we ran out of oil? Oh well. I decided to just follow him to the kitchen, and enjoy whatever food was set before me.

As we walked down the flight of stairs and through the main hallway, I realized that I was starting to recognize the places around me. I could find my way around in the White House now, without getting help from others.

When we walked into the kitchen, Aaron was making something on the counter. Was that... A pizza? I didn't think I would ever have a pizza again, but he was standing there with a flat circle of dough before him and half a jar of tomato sauce already spread on it.

"Are you making a pizza?" Jess asks in amazement as she walks in.

"Yup, and it's gonna be the best pizza you've ever had!" Aaron looked very professional in his chef's hat he had gotten off the peg by the door. He reminded me so much of Zack that my heart lurched in my chest. I need to find him; I need to.

"Where's Ethan at? I had thought he would probably be here when we got the lights on," Nick asks, confused.

"Maybe he's asleep or something. I don't know, want me to go check his bedroom?" I ask, wondering where he is too.

"If you would, that would be nice. Thanks."

I walk down the hallway and into the old, East Bedroom. That's the bedroom Ethan was given to stay in. When I walk in the door, the lights are off. I flip them on, but there isn't anybody in the bed. There is a mess of papers on the desk, and I flip through them to see if there was any clue to where he might be. Nothing looked very interesting to me, just a bunch of different medical stuff.