We Are Survivors (BOOK 2)

Chapter Seven

I walked back down to the living room, to find something to eat. Shawn was sitting on the couch, with a candle lit on the table.

"I need some grub." I said, trying to fill the silence.

He handed me a bag, "There's some in there." I grabbed an Apple out of it and started eating. "Are you okay?" Shawn asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He nodded at me. I figured he heard me having my melt down, but I didn't care.

"This place is locked up good, you can go get some sleep." I got up and went to leave, "Good night Lainey." Shawn said smiling at me, I smiled back.

"Good night."

When I woke up, the sun was already up. I hurried downstairs, Shawn was still asleep, and Shay was sitting on the floor fighting with a can of beans.

"Morning." I called to her.

"Morning." She replied, offering me some of the beans. I shook my head no, and went to speak, but I stopped myself. I could hear voices coming from outside. I peeked out the blinds, "Shit!" I hissed, spinning around to the others. "I think it's those men from the city!" There was a group of about ten walking down the street, carrying some big guns.

I shook Shawn awake, but covered his mouth before he spoke to loudly. "People. We need to sneak out the back." I whispered. He nodded in understanding, and got up.

"Anybody home?" I deep voice called from the street. Then we heard a crashing sound. They were breaking in the next house. We grabbed our bags and slipped out the door quickly into the back yard. We parked our bikes in the back just in case someone came by. "Through the woods." Shawn whispered.

We quietly walked through the woods. None of us said a word for two hours, we were too afraid that those people would find us. We walked through the woods until we came back out on a highway. Shay pulled out the map, "This road meets up with the one we were on. It's just a few miles down. Hopefully we will see another sign." We all got on our bikes, and headed down the road.

"Do you think those people were following us? Or did they just happen to show up?" I asked aloud.

"I don't know, I hope that it was just a coincidence." Shay said, with a disgusted look on her face.

"Hey." Shawn said, pointing ahead. "Another sign."

As we got closer to the bunker I began to panic. "Guys, what if we get to this bunker and it's full of people like those men?"

"I hadn't thought about that." Shay said stopping.

"We can hide out until dark, then go have a look. If we don't think it's safe, we will move on." Shawn suggested.

"Good idea." Shay said. I turned my head trying to listen, there was something rustling in the woods next to us. After a few seconds, a single Rotter stumbled out of the woods.

"Leave it." Shawn said, and we starting riding down the road.

An hour later, we topped a large hill and there it was. In the distance were the shiny, solar panels on top of the bunker.

"It's probably five miles." I spoke. And beyond the bunker, were clusters of sky scrapers. A city was a few miles past it. We were miles away, but the bunker looked larger than the one I grew up in.

I turned my head, to see a lake down a hill from the road we were on. "We can stay there until dark." I said, coasting toward it.

We dropped our bikes a few feet from the water. "Let's start a fire and boil some water. We need to fill up." Shawn said gathering brush.

After the fire got going, and the water was boiling, I stood up. "I'm going to take a dip."

I walked just out if sight of the others, and stripped off all but my bra and panties. It had been a while since any of us got to take a bath. It was time. It was instantly refreshing as I walked into the water. I stopped when the water was at my rib cage, and began scrubbing off all of the grime. I soaped up, then dove under water, washing it off. When I came back up, I seen Shawn in shorts, walking into the water.

I stood up, and watched his face turn red.

"Oh. Ill, uh... I'll go somewhere else." He was embarrassed because what I was wearing.

I couldn't help but laugh, "No, you can stay. Were both adults here." He made a face at me, then dove under the water.

When Shawn surfaced, he was a few feet away, and smiling. I couldn't help but smile back, I like it when Shawn is in a goofy mood. He dove back under, and I could see him swimming toward me. I turned and quickly started to swim away. Silently thanking Shay for teaching me how to swim at a swimming hole we found a month ago.

When I stopped, I was standing on the tips of my toes. The water was almost over my head. I watched Shawn pop up, and spin around looking for me. I laughed when his eyes landed on me.

We swam around for a few minutes then I swam closer to shore so I could stand up. Shawn followed and as soon as he got close enough, I splashed him. He began sputtering and coughing.

"Oh I'm sorry! Did it go up your nose?" I asked stepping closer. As soon as I did, grabbed me, and dunked me under. I came back up laughing, "You damn faker!" He grinned at me, and I realized his hand was still on my waist. Just holding me there, close to him.

I looked up at Shawn, our faces very close. I panicked as he came closer, I wasn't reading the wrong signals. He was definitely going to kiss me this time. I put my hand on his chest, and leaned my forehead on his, effectively stopping him.

"Sorry." He whispered.

"Don't be. I'm getting there." I looked up at him, "I just need some more time." He nodded at me, and I stepped back. "Now..." I trailed off, and splashed, sending a huge wave of water over him, then ran away.

The three of us cleaned up, and washed our clothes. It didn't take long for them to dry on the rocks we laid them on. It was a hot day. Now we are all sitting around the fire, eating fish that Shawn caught. We decided to wait an hour after sunset, then we will go check out the bunker.

We finished our food, and Shawn stood up, "I'm going on perimeter check." He said walking away. I watched him disappear, then I turned to Shay.

"I need to talk."

"Is something wrong?"

"No. I need some advice about Shawn."

She smiled at me, "It's about time!"

"Shh! I don't want him to hear."

She lowered her voice, "Okay, explain."

"Should I feel bad? Am I a horrible person for feeling something for Shawn?"

Shay's face softened, "I know you loved Aaden. But I don't think he would want you spending the rest of your life dwelling over him. You've had time to mourn, but if you need more time, take more. If you've had enough, then that's okay. You feel what you feel. I'm not going to judge you for moving on. And you don't need to beat yourself up for moving on either."

I smiled at her, "Thanks Shay."

"You're welcome. Did you get what you needed?"

"Yes I did... are you okay?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me."

I squeezed her hand, "I'm here for you, if you ever need to talk." "I know." She gave me a sad smile.

Shawn walked back up, catching our attention. "It's all clear."

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