SURVIVORS

Ch. 31~ Lana

Last time: King creature has a plan and Taylor and Myra were turned into creatures... You know what this means.

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The clock says 5:03am (which actually means 9:03am), when I hear talking from downstairs. I am confused for a minute as to where I am since I'm so used to waking up in the house across the street, but as soon as I feel Chase's arm around me and see him sitting next to me, I remember where I am, and for some reason can't stop smiling. Then I remember what happened the day before.

The smile soon drips off my face.

My stomach growls and I fling myself from the couch and walk toward the pantry. I notice the chill through the house, and suddenly a warm furnace sounds better, so I grab the handle for the basement and open the door as quietly as possible so I don't wake up Chase. The door is so loud that it scares me. I hear stirring from around the corner and I look to see Chase there, rubbing his tired eyes.

"G'morning sleepyhead," I tease with a smile.

"Hi," he says with a smile and a yawn. He follows me into the basement. The furnace lets off a flickering orange-yellow glow and makes the concrete enclosure seem cheerful. I spot AJ, Leila, Vicky, and Sarah in the corner, having a joke competition. Andrew and his group of friends sit in the far corner, playing some sort of game that involves a ball and a cup, and Mort, Lee, and Hank stand around Ty who's sitting at a little desk drawing on graph paper. As we reach the bottom and I get closer, I wonder what the heck he could be doing. Andrew calls the boys over and Mort, Hank, and Lee weave around the other kids to go talk to Andrew. I walk over to Ty.

"What's that?" I ask. he looks back at me to see who I am, and once he sees it's me, he picks up the paper and hands it to me. I see a variety of lists on the front and then a map on the back.

"Well, I had an idea. If we made the cure, then we need a way to keep ourselves secure because we can't cure the whole world at once with that tiny bacteria producer... we're gonna have to make trips... Maybe even across the ocean one day to send out the counter-bacteria. But the point is, we should really build a wall around the city. I've got it all planned out here," he explains. There are plans of where to get the materials and how long it'll take and measurements of all sorts scribbled out on the paper.

"Ty this is... kind of genius," I mutter, looking over the paper again.

He smiles goofily. "Really? It was just an idea if you don't want to do it," he says.

"Well it's not an idea anymore," I reply, handing the paper to him. "It's a plan." There is an explosion of laughter from where the girls are sitting and I go and see what's up, but before I can move, Kayleigh stands in front of me.

"Hi Lana I just wanted to apologise for yesterday I didn't mean to hurt you I just really missed Sam and I didn't know what side to take and all those kids were chanting and it was really hard to--" She babbles. I don't say anything. "I'm just... really, really sorry."

She looks so sad. I giggle shortly, and then try to keep it in. I'm just too happy.

She gives me a look like she was offended.

Once I see her stunned face I accidentally burst out into laughter, and eventually so does she. "I'm sorry," I laugh, "I really shouldn't be laughing!"

She holds her belly and cackles. "I'm just trying to apologize and you laugh at me?" She cracks up, tripping over the word "me."

"It's okay Kayleigh, really," I say, wiping laughing tears from my eyes. "I didn't realize you and Sam were friends."