Survive Or Die

Chapter 14- death brings people closer together

Its been months.
Months since any real excitement; and I'm enjoying every second of it.
I take a deep breath and look over the blue lake, glistening in the moonlight. I shove my hands in my jumper pocket and pick up a flat pebble. I skim it across the lake, causing it hop along the water. I hear a splash but it's not from my pebble, it's from further up. I duck behind a few bushes and peek through the leaves which makes it almost impossible to be silent. I catch a look of someones, a mans, bare back, shinning with water. He raises his hands above his head and more water falls down his back. He turns around and my breath hitches.
I silently curse myself for going for a walk the one night Carl goes for a bath in the giant lake.
He looks around, his eyebrows creased with curiosity and warning.
My eyes breeze down his body and I bite my lip. Droplets of water shine as they glide over his muscular body.
"Hello?" He calls into the night while glancing in my general direction. "Anyone there?" He walks out the water, completely naked, and hastily picks up an old ratted towel. He wraps it around his waist and starts walking towards my hiding spot. I scramble to get up but I'm too late. He pushes the bushes aside as I stand. I bump into his bare chest and he smirks. "Spying on me, Princess?"
I gulp and gawk at his barely covered body. "I uh... I... I was taking a walk," I try to straighten up and keep my dignity.
He eyes me doubtfully. "At night?"
"It's quiet."
He considers this and nods. "I'm uh gonna get dressed," he grins. I relax and smile as he turns and hurries away. I turn around and start back to my tiny house, my face turning deep red.
I close the rotting wood door behind me and glance around the small room. I let Judith pick out the perfect home for the time being. It's small wooden cottage that looks as if it had been deserted for years. I has three rooms, a bathroom, bedroom and a joint kitchen and lounge room. There isn't any power for the kitchen, only tap water which is good enough for us. I creep past the old, worn couch and try my best to avoid the creaking the floorboards and through the doorway as the door way torn off it's hinges by what I assume was Flesh Eaters. I peer into the bedroom where Judith sleeps soundly and I carefully close the door behind me. "Celia?" I hear a tiny, hoarse voice ask as I peel back the blankets to slip in.
"Yeah. It's me," I sigh and slip under the blankets.
She yawns and sits up. "Where did you go?" She says, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"For a walk. Go back to sleep, baby," I say softly. She lays back down and I brush the hair from her soft face.
"I'm scared, Celia," she whispers.
I smile softly and continue to brush her hair with my fingers. "I know. Can I tell you a secret?" I whisper. She nods hastily. "I'm just as scared as you are." I smile and she smiles back before yawning and closing her eyes. Almost instantly she falls asleep.

"Celia," I hear an urged whispers. My eyes snap open and I bolt up right, my alarmed eyes scanning the room while my hand instinctively grabs my gun. "Celia, someone's here. They want to talk to you." A smile tugs at the edge of her lips which immediately calms my nerves.
"I'm getting up," I yawn. I throw my legs over the side of the bed and slip on my coat. I grudgingly walk into the main room with Judith skipping around my feet, to find Isabella who has a large grin. I glance out the small window to see sky barely lightening up before sunrise. "This better be worth it," I yawn.
"Oh it is," she says excitedly and bounces up to me. "Guess who we found barely six miles away." Once she sees I'm not going to answer she continues. "Gonplei planted their little camp at a nearby village type thing. It's kinda cool. And there are a lot of them. The only thing separating us is a forest that, despite the obvious dangers, looks pretty easy to cross." She raises her eyebrows suggestively.
I rub my eyes and attempt to digest everything she just told me. "Don't... do anything irrational, okay? It's too early for this. Just leave it to me. Do they know where we are?"
She shrugs. "Probably not."
"Then lets keep it that way. Don't tell anybody about this and leave it to me. Pointer promise?" I offer a sheepish smile.
She purses her lips and rocks back and forth on her heels. "Uh... fine," she says defeated. "Pointer promise."
A small smile makes its way to my face. "Thanks. Now run along and get everyone set up for the day. You know, the usual. Hunters, scavengers, builders-"
"Yeah yeah, I get it," she mumbles and drops her head. She hurries from the house with a slam of the door.
"Does that mean Archer might be okay?" Judith asks, tugging at my sleeve.
I smile down at her and ruffle her gorgeous hair. "Of course he is."
She swats away my hand and frowns. "You shouldn't lie to me, you know," she says quietly.
I squat down so I can look her in the eyes. "I'm not lying," I say and I actually believe it for once.