Breathing the Dead ~ H.S

Chapter Forty-Six

Dark, heavy clouds were looming across the sky that morning – making our entire surroundings seem grey & gloomy as we dragged the bodies of our friends out of the camp and towards an untouched plot in our graveyard around the corner – since they were too special to us to just be buried along with the other walkers we'd killed over the months. Harry & Liam were in the process of digging seven holes in the dying grass – while I sat on my old tree stump and carved our friends' names into our best pieces of wood.

Sacrificing our best building supplies wasn't something we usually did...but this time it was different.

These people meant so much to us...and all of a sudden, they were gone.

I felt tears stinging my eyes at the little dedication I was carving into the last piece of wood with a carving knife Liam had found in Greyfort.

R.I.P

Doting parents,
Caring friends,
Loyal Teammates.

You will be remembered forever.

I let out a whimper and threw the carving knife to the ground once I was done with it. I then tossed the wood on top of the pile of nameplates I had already created – burying my face in my hands and fighting back the sobs that were threatening to come out.

"Laura?"

I let out a gasp and looked up immediately – my eyes widening as I saw that Eric had come to the graveyard carrying the baby basket that held the sleeping Lilly.

"Eric, w-what are you doing here..?" I tried my best to hide the shakiness of my voice, "I thought you were picking apples."

"I was," Eric replied softly, "but...Lilly started making noise and I thought she was going to cry...so I wanted to bring her to you & Harry."

"OK. I'll keep her here," I took the carrier from him and set it down next to me, "thank you, honey. But now you can go back inside and keep harvesting, OK?"

Eric didn't move. "But...I want to stay here..."

My eyes widened, and I shook my head. "No...Eric...y-you can't see this..."

"It's OK," Eric bit his lip, "I...I can handle it..."

"Eric-"

"I don't like being in the camp by myself. I...get scared..." he admitted quietly, "I want to stay with you, Laura."

Without any warning he climbed onto my lap and wrapped his arms around my neck – resting his head against my shoulder and sniffling. I bit my lip and draped my arm around his shoulders – keeping the other arm free so that I could use it to reach down and gently rock Lilly's carrier.

"Oh, Eric..." I let out a sigh.

"Love?" Harry came over to me with a worried look on his face, "What's wrong? Is Eric OK?"

"He's just a little lonely," I replied, "he...wants to stay here for a while."

"Oh," Harry bit his lip, "Laura, I don't know if that's-"

"I already tried suggesting otherwise, Haz," I interrupted him, "he won't take no for an answer."

Harry sighed. "I suppose that's understandable..." he crouched down in front of Eric and rubbed his back, "hey...are you OK, sport?"

Eric turned to look at him – and my breath hitched as I realised that he had been quietly crying this whole time. A look of concern immediately washed over Harry's face.

"Oh no," Harry bit his lip and extended his arm, "come here, Eric."

Eric jumped off me to hug Harry next – and Harry wrapped his arms tightly around the distraught ten-year-old while looking up at me worriedly over his shoulder – causing me to return the same expression.