To The Grave

Chapter 23. Winona. Day 112.

I stood in the water, looking through the water for more shells. A large wet wall knocked me down, a small scream being forced out of my lungs. I sat up gasping for air, water running out of my mouth. I moved my arms to flip my hair out of my face.

"What happened?" Randall asked from the safety of the sand.

I moved out of the water, ringing the water from my shirt. "There was a really big wave." I was shivering as I spoke.

Randall's arms moved, pulling his black hoodie off, passing it over to me. I took it carefully, turning around and tucking the dry jacket between my thighs. I pulled my wet shirt off, setting it on top of an old log.

The hoodie was warm and soft, covering the wet shorts I had on. "Thanks." I whispered. He turned back around, biting his lip.

He fidgeted with the sleeve of his shirt as he spoke, "It looks good on you."

I nodded, looking down to the large hoodie, letting out a small laugh. "How good?"

He moved his jaw in a nervous habit he and my brother had. "As good as it gets." I felt my cheeks burn.

He took a small step forward, moving his hand to touch my face. I shifted my weight onto my toes, closing my eyes.

"Who are you?" A voice shouted from behind us.

"Shit!" I opened my eyes to Randall turning around and pointing a gun to the two men each pointing one back.

They looked at each other, moving their guns down. "We don't want to hurt you." One shouted to us, moving closer.

Randall held the gun steady. "What do you want then?"

"We haven't seen new people in a while. Most people have been trying to go more south, where it's warmer." The hatted man said.

They were twins. Randall moved to stand in front of me. "It's not much better down south."

The one with a baseball hat nodded, "Where are you guys from?"

"Palo Alto." Randall still stood defensively.

"We have a group. At that hotel over there. It's not a lot, mostly people who lived here before the start. A few who got lost coming in from Oregon trying to go South."

"You're welcome to come back with us. We have food, water, we're trying to farm. We could use a lot of help."

"How much help do you need?" Marty's voice startled me. I turned to see him and Ferris.

"All the help we can get." One of the twins turned to face them.

"Let's go then." My mother's voice called out from behind my brothers.

It was a short walk to the hotel. I was covered in sand and sticky salt water. We finally arrived, walking quickly across the parking lot. The doors were covered in sheet metal. They moved open slowly, another man standing at the entrance.

A woman stood at the front desk, talking to a small group of people. She looked up, waving us in.

A man came out of a small room behind her, a large smile on his face. I shuffled the items in my arms, wishing Molly was there to pull the back of my sweater down without needing to be asked.

We moved over to the desk, following the twins over. "We found them a little further down the beach."

"Welcome to the Ocean View Hotel. This hotel has been in my family for 50 years. When the world started to break down, people came here and we've been here ever since. Fishing, scavenging, we're trying to farm." The man stated, his arm around the woman to display their happy relationship.

"Will you be staying with us?" The woman asked.

I looked up to my oldest brother, "We should talk about it, before we decide to settle down." He politely stated. He turned around leading us out.

The doors closed behind us, leaving us outside. "No one is actually considering staying at the Bates Motel, right?" Marty laughed out.

"Do you really think they have food?" I asked, looking back at the large building.

Ferris looked back at it. "Maybe."

"They live by an ocean, anyone can have food near the ocean." Marty sighed.

"I bet they have mattresses." Randall's mouth curled into a smile.

Ferris nodded, his eyes widening. "Did you see they have electricity."

Marty shook his head, his glasses sliding down his nose. "We've been doing just fine on our own."

"You call Slater and Dad dying, just fine. What about Molly? That's just fine, too?" The words snapped out of my throat.