Sane

Chapter Seven | Intruder

"What are you kids doing?" A deep voice says behind me. I stop in my tracks, letting go of Oakley's hand. I tug on my backpack strap, nervously turning around. My dad stands there with his perfect, blonde girlfriend, which also happens to be Oakley's biological mother.

"You were leaving, weren't you?" He says, glaring at me.

"Dad, I didn't want to-" I start explaining, not knowing how to say goodbye.

"Go then! If that's what you want to do, do it! Ill be better without you kids wasting away my money!" His coarse voice runs through the air.

"Dad..." Tears slide down my cheeks, not allowing myself to look at Oakley. He's five years old, and his father and mother don't even care about him. This is not how a child should be raised and treated. My heart breaks for him.

Leave! He shouts again, and I glance at Oakley's mom. She's smirking, her green eyes lighting up like the sun. I hope she's happy with how she ruined our family even more than it already was. I glare at her before stepping out the door with Oakley.

My eyes fling open, breath unsteady. I let out a big gust of air, reality hitting me fast.

My head whips to the big 'thud' that came from behind the wall the bed was up against. I quickly stand up, and rush to Forrest. I shake him violently. His brown eyes flutter open. "Willow?" He asks, confused.

"Someone's here." I whisper, eyes widening.

He got up so fast and ran to the door, putting his ear up to it. I listen too, and hear the sound of footsteps getting louder and louder. I run over to Oakley, pulling him out of the bed. "Come on, Oak. Someone's here and you need to hide." I tug on his arm. "You come too." He says.

"No, I need to stay and fight with Forrest." I violently whisper, time running out.

"Then I'll stay too." He smiles.

"I don't know what I would do to myself if something happened to you, Oak. So please hide. For me, okay?" I plead.

He nods slowly and runs into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

I turn back to Forrest who has pulled out his gun, ready to fight.

"On a count of three, I'm opening this door." He whispers at me, holding the doorknob shakily.

"Why would we do that?" I question and he just nods.

"One, two, three." He pushes on the knob and the door flings open with a creak. I watch as Forrest violently turns the corner, gun up. I follow close behind, and see no one.

He turns around, shrugging, "We're clear. Are you sure you-" A man comes flying out of one of the rooms, tackling Forrest. Forrest fires the gun but misses, now lying on the floor, being pinned down by the man. Forrest's gun slides out of his hand as he lays there, helpless.

"Will-ow." He chokes out, while the man hits at him.

I look down at the gun. The gun that I shot the little girl with. I can't do it again. I watch the man place his hands on Forrest's neck and the veins in his knuckles pop as he tightens his grip.

My eyes go back in forth between the gun and the man. Its Forrest's life, or the man's.

I kneel down and grab the gun shakily, pointing it at the man. I can't do this again. I don't close my eyes this time, and I watch as my finger pulls back on the trigger.

The man falls backwards, startled. He glances around him one last time. "I am sorry." He says, before his eyes roll to the back of his head and he's gone.

Forrest gets up from the floor, running to me, gripping the gun out of my hand. He has a huge bruise forming in the side of his cheek bone. "You're okay." He says, pulling my face away from the man. "Look at me." He whispers.

He moves a piece of my long hair out of my face, and I close my eyes.

Before anything else could happen, we both hear more footsteps. Forrest's eyes widen and he whips his head around towards the door.

An older teenager, maybe eighteen, walks in. She has short, dark brown hair, and she's wearing a navy sweatshirt and light jeans. She looks scared, but she hides it well. She has a backpack hanging around one shoulder, and her hands grip it tight when her eyes meet ours.

"You're human." Forrest says, tilting his head.

"Everyone is, its just the matter of if you took the stupid cure medication or not." She groans.

I take a step back, wondering if her intentions are good. She glances at me and sighs. "Sorry, I guess I'm not good with people anymore. My name is Walker." She licks her lips, eyes wavering between us.

We stand there in silence, too surprised to say anything.

"And you are?" She asks, annoyed.

"I'm Forrest, and that's Willow." Forrest introduces us, taking a step forward, reaching out his hand.

"The world is dying, Forrest, there's no time or reason for handshakes anymore." She sighs, pushing past him, and looking down at the dead man.

"Nice. You guys can handle yourselves." She raises her eyebrows. My eyes drop to the floor, ashamed.

"What are you doing here?" Forrest questions, annoyance in his voice. I eye the girl as she answers.

"Hiding, same as you." She leans against the wall, hands in her jean pockets. I fidget with the end of my tank top, wondering what to say, thinking hard on what's the best decision to make.

"Well, we were going to head out soon anyway. You can have the place to yourself. If you consider this safe." I add, glancing at the dead man.

"I have to admit, its better than the streets. You should see what they are doing out there. Literally every car and building is destroyed, and there's no sign of sanity." She shrugs, like its no big deal.

Forrest looks at me quizzically. I shake my head slowly. Don't do it.

"You could-" He starts.

"Come on, let's go." I interrupt him, walking back to our room.

"Willow." Forrest sighs at me. No, Forrest, she is not coming with us. We can't trust anyone. You must be as crazy as the Insane.

He turns to Walker, who is smirking, obviously knowing what's going on here.

"You could tag along with us if you'd like." He said it. He literally just invited a total stranger to join us.

"I don't think that's the best idea." I intervene.

"Why not?" Walker raises an eyebrow at me, making everything ten times more difficult.

"Because we don't know you and to be quite honest, I don't trust you. Therefore, I don't want someone I don't trust to be around me or my-" I stop before I say something about my little brother. I cant expose too much.

"Well, I guess I'm not tagging along then. Your paranoid friend doesn't want me to, so I will respect her wishes." She turns to Forrest. I look at Walker, and I can see right through her big eyes. She knows what he's going to say, and she's just manipulating us.

"Willow's okay." He says, not making eye contact with me because its too dangerous because of this death glare that's waiting for him.

"You can come if you wish. I just need to pack up my stuff first." Forrest makes the final decision, eyes on the ground, pushing past me.

This is not smart. In fact, it's plain stupid.