When the World Comes Crashing Down

Chapter 4- Little Tobias

**

An old looking man with a long beard walked into the room with Daniel not far behind. That's where he went! I don't know why I care.

I looked to my left and saw three chubby kids kicking a boy in a different corner of the room. He was very little and cuts and bruises were visible on his small, fragile face. I stood up as fast as I could and shuffled towards him.

"Hey, get the fuck off of him!" I yelled pushing the kids back. The little boy looked so young. Definitely way younger than any other boy in the room.

"Why don't you make me?" One of the chubby kids said.

"Yeah, why don't we just kick you around too, cripple!" Another said. I winced at the nickname. I knew how weak I looked using my crutches to walk.

"Just pick on someone your own size!" I yelled in a loud and angry voice. None of them even jumped at my tone.

"How about you?" They started coming towards me, their hands in fists. I tried backing up, but I didn't go far with my crutches.

"Get away from them you little shits!" A loud voice came from behind me. Daniel. The kids quickly scurried away, scared.

"Being nice to me again?" I teased.

"Fuck off."

"Well then.." I whispered and he walked away. I walked over to the little boy. He was curled up in a ball with his face in his hands. I sat on the wall beside him and pulled him to my lap. He didn't fight back and relaxed into my legs. His head hurt my bad leg, but I ignored the pain.

"I'm Bree," I said gently. I ran my fingers through his dark hair. "What's yours?"

"Tobias. Tobias Harkey." He looked up at me and smiled. His whole face was bruised.

"How old are you, Tobias?"

"Seven." My heart broke. He was all alone at seven years old.

"Wow. You are very brave. Can I call you Toby?" He smiled and nodded.

"Alright everybody! Stand up!" The old beard man yelled. Toby stood up and helped me to my feet.

"Everyone pick a person to be your pair for the rest of this week. All you newbies will be put together as bunker buddies until further notice!"

Toby clung onto my leg. The good one.

The old man then guided us to our bunkers.

**

The bunkers were almost as run down as the apartment I stayed at with Daniel. Cheap wallpaper, hard floors, dim lights, comfy beds?

I bounced on the bottom bunk of mine and Toby's room. (on my butt of course) It was quite comfy. The bedding on the bunks were very welcoming. I could cuddle up in them and fall asleep right now.

My bed was a queen size, so I claimed it and Toby climbed up to the twin sized bed above mine. He seemed happy with it.

The kitchen was small, but functional and the living room had no television. Lots of board games though.

There was a small bathroom with dirty appliances, but the water was nice.

Across the bunker, there was another room, so I pushed open the door to see two girls checking out their beds. They screeched when I walked in.

"Sorry! I didn't know there was more people in my bunker," I said, hoping they were nice. A girl with long blonde wavy hair walked in my direction. For a second, I thought it was Cass. When she came into the light, I realized it wasn't.

"It's alright, hun," she said and walked out of the room. A younger girl with a black bun in her hair followed her out.

I made my way to the living room where the two girls were. I used my crutches to help me get onto the couch. I waited until they stopped talking to introduce myself.

"I'm Bree," I spoke, but my voice was still pretty scratched up. The girl with the blonde hair stood up.

"How about we play a game! We introduce our selves and say as much random stuff about our lives as we can!" I nodded. The dark haired girl smiled. Toby walked out of our room and sat next to me.

"I'll start! My name is Stephanie. I'm 16 years old. I'm from Alabama and I love to dance. My town was destroyed two months ago, but me and my friends know a way to the sewers, so we escaped. After a while, my friends died one by one. The last thing I remember was seeing how skinny I was. Now i'm here. I've been in here for about one month," The blonde girl said. She put on a fake smile, but I could see the tears forming in her eyes.

"I'm Ella. I'm 14 and I lived in Michigan. I used to do lots of boating, paddle boarding, and swimming. I was at my house when the men attacked. I was crushed my ceiling. That was almost a four months ago. I've been here ever since, waiting to heal. Most of my bones were crushed in the attack," The dark haired girl said. Her arms both had cats covering them. She didn't seem very hurt, knowing her family died. She's probably insensitive from being here so long.

"I'm Tobias, but you can call me Toby. I'm seven. It was my moms birthday when the bad guys came. They shot her through the window. I had to not cry, so the guys couldn't hear me and I hid under my stairs for 10 hours," he chocked up and little and tears formed in his eyes," I was awake when I was being taken here. They wouldn't let me take anything, not even my stuffed bear. All of the boys here picked on me. And when we picked bunker partners, nobody wanted me. I've been waiting for someone to take me with them for a long time. Then, a nice lady came with big crutches and scared away the bullies and now we are here." Toby looked at me and I wiped his tears.

"I'm Bree. I'm 17 and I'm from California. My dad was extremely verbally abusive, a drunk, and cheated on my mom. Me, my mom, and my little sister left him only a week ago."

I told them the rest. About the party. About Brayden. About Cassidy, the twins, and the others.

"The last things I saw was my best friends lifeless body. Right before I woke up, I had a dream and I saw her. She was petting my hair. Almost as if she was telling me everything will be ok." I wiped the remaining tears off of my face before standing up, using my crutches to make me stand up straight.

"Now we are all here! And we are gonna try our best to make the best of it!" I said. Toby stood up and hugged me. The other two did too.

RING.

A loud bell sound came on over a speaker in the ceiling.

"Lights out. Go to bed!" A harsh voice said. None of us thought twice.

I followed Toby into the bathroom. Everything we could need was already in there for us. I made sure Toby brushed his teeth and he held my crutches while I brushed mine.

I laid in my bed and made sure Toby was asleep before I closed my eyes and let me drift off as well.

**

a/n

oops! short chapter..