Sane

Chapter Eleven | Insane

A firm hand gets placed on my shoulder and I turn around, eyes droopy. "You should've slept." Forrest says to me, sitting down. I shake my head, and then look towards his stomach. "Let me see." I say quietly, and he nods, slowly lifting his shirt off. I unwrap the bandage carefully, to reveal a small wound. There's dried blood surrounding it, but it has stopped bleeding.

"It's better." I smile. Forrest tilts his head towards me, eyes on mine. He pulls the shirt back over his head, and I stand up. He does the same, reaching his arms around my shoulders, and grabbing my hands into his. He rests his chin on my shoulder.

"You need to sleep." He whispers in my ear.

Before I can answer, a loud 'knock' makes both of us jump, our heads spinning towards the diner door. I look up at Forrest, frightened. "Go hide." He says.

"No!" I shake my head.

"Yes!" He yells back at me.

I look to see Oakley slowly sitting up, rubbing his eyes. I glance at
Walker, who is rushing to the door. "Walker, what are you doing?" I hiss. She throws open the door, slapping the person on the other side in the face.

I quickly look to see who it is, and it's a male, too old to be a boy and too young to be a man. "Ow." He rubs the spot on his cheek where Walker hit him.

"Leave, Ashton." Walker spits, looking mad as ever. I am immediately confused.

"Walker, you know this man?" I ask.

She sighs, "He's my brother."

I widen my eyes as I look between the two of them. "What?"

"He's who you saw last night... when you were crossing the street." Forrest says, realization hitting him.

"You went out and talked to him last night, didn't you?" I ask.

"Yes, both of those are correct." Her brother says. I look at him carefully. He has sand-colored hair, grayish eyes, and looks very muscular.

"You don't get to say anything!" Walker shouts, anger boiling inside of her.

I look back and forth between them. "Why are you so mad at him?" I question. I would be happy to have him here if I were her.

Ashton opens his mouth to say something, but then shuts it when he sees the glare Walker is giving him. She groans out of frustration, "Leave Ashton. I can't handle this right now." She turns, walking to the restroom in the back of the diner.

Her brother does exactly the opposite thing, letting himself in the diner and closing the door behind him. "I'm Ashton." He says, reaching his hand out to me. I just stare at it, not making any move. Forrest steps in front of me and shakes the hand for me.

"Forrest." Forrest nods, introducing himself. I blink, and look into his eyes. He looks friendly. "Willow." I smile. He smiles back at me, his white teeth glistening.

I feel a small hand take mine, and I turn around, finding Oakley. "And this is my little brother, Oakley." I introduce, and Ashton smiles at him now.

He pushes past Forrest and takes a seat in one of the booths. I slide in next to him, curious. "Why is she so mad at you?" I ask. He looks shocked by my question but then sighs.

"We were orphans on the street and I left her." He admits.

My mouth drops. That's horrible.

"I was a selfish jerk, and I've apologized so many times. I think I just hurt her too much. Asking for forgiveness when you know you don't deserve it is hard. But I tried anyway." He explains, not making eye contact.

"Why come back now?" I ask.

"I finally put myself together enough to be a better man. When I left her, it wasn't because of her. It was because of me, and I thought she would be better off without me." He starts, and I raise my eyebrows at him. That is so false.

"I know, I couldn't have been more wrong. Once I left, I knew she would never forgive me. I knew she wouldn't want to see my face ever again. But I couldn't help but look for her once I found out about this apocalyptic thing. I wanted to make sure she was safe."

I turn and watch Forrest pick up Oakley for a piggy-back ride. I don't want to be on anyone's side, but I believe Ashton. I believe he wants what is best for Walker, even after what he did.

Walker comes out of the bathroom, and she looked like she had just ran a marathon. She was sweating head to toe, her white shirt damp. She looks up at us, and decides to sit across from us. I have a feeling I should get up, and give them privacy but Walker shakes her head at me, reading my mind.

"I'm leaving." She states.

"What?" Ashton and I say in unison.

"It's the best for all of us. Face it Willow, you didn't want me to come with you in the first place."

"But-"

"I have a better chance of survival if I'm on my own." She tells us. Ashton looks shocked, but he hides it.

"Alone?" I ask.

"Alone."

"I'm coming with you." Ashton says.

"No." She says, angrily. "What do you not get about the word alone?"

"I'm your older brother. It's my job to protect you."

"Well you've done a pretty sucky job at that so far, haven't you?" She glares, "Let's face it, Ash. You're not my brother. Brothers don't abandon their little sisters when they need you most. You have never and will never earn the title of 'my brother'."

My eyes widen, and I force myself to look at Ashton. His eyes are watery, his face tense. Walker stands up, grabs her backpack, adjusting her stocking hat. "Goodbye." She nods to all of us, leaving the diner.

I look at Forrest, who is staring back at me. What are we supposed to do?

He walks up to me, bowing his head. "It's probably best for us to leave this diner as well." He whispers. I slowly nod my head. I turn to look for Oakley, but I don't see him. "Where's Oak?" I immediately ask.

Forrest whips his head around, looking as well. "I was just with him, before I listened in on what Walker was saying." He explains. I run to the men's restroom, searching the stalls. Not here. Panic boils inside of me, as I sprint to the diner door, searching my surroundings.

"Oakley!" I shout, not caring if any Insane hear me.

I run behind the diner, finding him sitting there back against the diner. He shifts, looking uncomfortable. Forrest follows close behind me, gun in hand.

"What are you doing out here, Oak?" I ask, reaching for him. His eyes shoot up to mine, but he looks at me like he has no remembrance of my face. He scowls at me. I step back, confused.

"Oakley?" I ask. He starts breathing really hard, his hair falling into his face. Dirt is scraped on the side of his face, his eyes angry. He scrunches his nose up, lounging at me. I'm so shocked and confused. I put my hands up for protection. Forrest pulls him off of me, and he scrambles under his grip. He looks... No, this isn't happening. No, he's not.

He looks insane.