Maybe

Chapter 12

I made my way downstairs, carefully stepping without making a sound. I couldn't risk them finding that I was spying on them. I knew that they had some bigger plan in motion that they didn't just take us in for any reason. If Ethan knew I was on this mission, he would get mad at me for risking my life. That's why I didn't tell him. This also meant I didn't have anyone to watch my back while I risked my life. Oh well, sometimes you have to make bad decisions.

            I tiptoed to the last step and looked around to make sure no one was in the living room. I heard mumbling where I could only assume was the kitchen. I slowly stepped into the dark living room and made my way to the kitchen door. Someone was definitely talking in the kitchen, but I still couldn't hear him as well as I needed to. I cracked the heavy wooden door open and a sliver of light stained the carpet. I stayed as still as I could and tried to hear what the pair were talking about.

"And this was your big plan? To bring them both here where we have to feed them and keep them alive?" One of the men said

"Who said anything about keeping them alive?" The other man pointed out

"Why are you trying to eliminate the entire human race? Aren't we supposed to be working together to get past this?"

"Working together? Are you insane? As far as we know these could be the guys that killed our entire group just last week! It would make sense right? They are the only humans in the area for miles!"

"We don't know that humans killed our group, we weren't there."

"No, but Gray was there, he said it was humans, how they were attacked and he was the only one to make it out alive."

"Seems a little unbelievable to me." The first guy mumbled

"What did you just say?"

"I'm just saying. A human group attacks them all and Gray is the only one to survive? Why are we trusting him all of a sudden?"

"Because he is the only one that can lead us to the murderers so we can get our revenge! My wife was one of the ones that was killed! We have to get revenge!"

"I know, I know. But, we're getting off track, what is our plan with the new guys?"

"Oh don't worry, I have a plan for them."

            Suddenly, I felt someone laid a heavy hand on my shoulder. I gasped and turned around quickly, letting go of the heavy door I held ajar. The noise was loud enough to echo in the empty wooden house and I looked up to the one whose hand was on my shoulder to find a wide-eyed Ethan looking down at me. He grabbed my hand quickly and pulled me toward the stairs. We ran up fast and didn't stop running until we made it to the room that they had given me. Ethan shoved me inside as he quietly closed the door behind me.

"Get in the bed, pretend to be asleep." He whispered as he pointed to the bed

            I walked over to the bed and climbed between the filthy sheets. Ethan got in after me and we both closed our eyes, pretending to sleep.

"Ethan." I whispered

"Shh." He whispered while his eyes stayed closed

"But Ethan." I whispered

"Olivia, shut up." He said

            I sighed as I gave up talking to him and closed my eyes again. I could hear heavy footfalls coming from the stairs making their way to the second floor. I heard our bedroom door creak open until light filled the small room.

"I guess it was just the wind, they're asleep." One of the men said

            The door creaked close again until it was dark in the room. I waited until I could hear the man take creaky steps down the stairs before I started talking again.

"Ethan." I whispered as I sat up in the bed

"What?" He asked as he sat up as well "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked

"You put your life in danger, we don't know what these people are capable of." Ethan whispered harshly

"I'm in charge of my own life Ethan. We needed to find out more about these people." I said

"You can't just do that to me." Ethan said quietly

"Do what?" I asked

"Risk your life without telling me. I didn't know where you were Grace. These people could have killed you." Ethan said looking down at the sheets

"Why do you care so much about me?" I asked

            He paused before answering. I could tell he wanted to say something, but decided against it.

"Because we are a team, that's what we do, care about each other." He said

"I'm sorry Ethan." I said "I promise I'll tell you everything from now on."

"Ok, thank you." He said, "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, anything." I said

"Why were you so mad at me, back in the woods, before they found us?" He asked

"I wasn't mad at you Ethan." I said

"It sure seemed like you were." He said, "Did I do something?"

"No, you didn't do anything. It's embarrassing." I said

"I thought you just promised to tell me everything from now on." Ethan said

            I paused before answering.

"I didn't want to pull you closer to me in case... things went in the wrong direction." I said

"In case I died?" He asked

"In case either of us died. I don't think I could handle it if anything happened to you and I didn't want to die and leave you alone in this place." I said

"Well, it's our job to keep each other alive now." He said

            It was silent for several minutes before either one of us talked again.

"Ethan." I said

"Yeah?" He asked

"I think they're planning to kill us." I said

"What? Why? Why would they go through all this trouble to keep us alive just to kill us?" He asked

"I heard them talking. They are trying to get revenge on some people who killed a bunch of their group last week and they think we did it." I said

"That's crazy! How could two of us kill an entire group?" He asked

"I don't know, but I don't really think they care about who they have to kill to get revenge." I said

"How do they know humans killed them? There are walkers everywhere that have literally killed the entire human race." He said

"One of them survived to tell the rest. He's living here too and he's the only one who can identify who killed them." I said

"But, when he sees us, he'll know it wasn't us who killed them right?" He asked

"I don't know, they may just kill us to eliminate more competition." I said

"We have to get out of here." He said

"I know."

            Ethan left to go to his own room, thinking I wasn't comfortable with him sleeping in the same room as me even though we had been even closer in the woods. Whatever the reason, I let him go.