Searching For Home

Scavenging

"You done there yet?" I heard Gavin say.

"Yeah, I should be." I say, writing a few more words into my journal before shutting it closed and putting it back into my backpack as well as my pencil.

We were stopped in an alleyway behind a dumpster to take break from the non-stop running we had done since our encounter at the school. Gavin decided to keep watch while Bella and I sat against the wall, preoccupying ourselves with the journals we both had.

"Alright, so we need to get our priorities straight first." I said, pushing my notebook and pencil back into my backpack, which felt a lot lighter than I was used to. "Obviously, we need to find our families and go from there, but is that really all there is to it?"

"Water and food. We could try looking for some as we search for our parents so that we at least have something on us." Gavin offered, his eyes not leaving the end of the alley way. He paused, seeming to get lost in thought again. "And some sort of self-defense. The sight of you fighting off that...thing gave me a big enough scare already." He added, his voice more mellow.

"Is it really safe to carry any kind of self-defense?" I said in a hushed tone as I walked in front of Gavin so he could hear me more clearly.

"With everything that's going on, I think it's the only thing that could keep us safe. We'll just have to be careful." He replied, looking down at me and reaching out to give my shoulder a squeeze.

"Look, we're going to be okay." He said after a while, pulling me into a hug. "I don't know what's going on around us, but the fact that I have you and Bella makes me feel a whole lot better. As long as I have the two of you, I know I'll be okay." Gavin spoke softly.

A few seconds later, I felt another body against my side, Bella's arms wrapping around Gavin and I as much as she could. We didn't say anything for a while, just standing in the alleyway hugging each other was what we all needed. No words were needed in that moment to comfort each other from the horrors we had seen earlier, only each others presence was needed.

"What do you say? A little roadtrip to the nearest convenience store to stock up on food and supplies?" Gavin asked, pulling away from Bella and I.

"Can we buy a lollipop while we're there?" Bella asked innocently.

"Of course." Gavin said, giving her a little smile while ruffling her hair.

Only problem was that there weren't any lollipops left by the time we got to the nearest convenience store. Matter of fact, there was hardly anything left.  Shelves were nearly wiped clean and people were in complete chaos, arguing over supplies and even fighting over some of them.

"Okay, we all need to stick together." I said, immediately grabbing Bella's hand, Gavin taking her other one soon after.

Avoiding some of the ruckus towards the front of the store, we opted to scope the back, looking for supplies as best as we could. All that turned up after about ten minutes of searching was a small bottle of ibuprofen, a can of Arizona green tea, a pack of beef jerky, a chocolate bar, and some salted peanuts.

"Maybe we'll have some better luck at the other convenience stores in town?" Gavin said, obviously trying to instill some kind of hope in us.

Even then, we were only able to find two cans of sodas, three cans of energy drinks, another pack of beef jerky, a few cans of Pringles, and some gummy worms. Most of what we were able to find were things that had fallen underneath shelves or hidden all the way at the tops and were hard to reach, so Bella had to be hoisted onto Gavin's shoulders to reach the higher items.

"That's the last convenience store before we reach either of our houses, do you think we should just go straight there?" I asked, my hand still grasping Bella's small one.

"I think it's our only option for the moment. Besides, the sun will be going down pretty soon, I'd rather us be inside our houses than out here." Gavin answered, pausing before he spoke again. "And...I don't know if it'll be possible or not, but do you think you'd be able to somehow convince your parents to stay over with us? It's just that...after what happened earlier, I don't think I could stand you being out of my sight." He said, his eyes never leaving mine.

My parents were never really the type to let boys sleep over, which was completely logical in every aspect. Matter of fact, the only sleepovers I've ever had were always at my cousin's house, so needless to say, I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to convince them.

"I can try to ask, but no guarantees that they'll say yes." I spoke after a while,  leaving us in to walk in complete silence.

The sun setting left long shadows in the strangely deserted road, a chill settling over my body even though it was only spring. It also didn't help that I was still in my school uniform, which was now covered in sweat from all the running we've been doing today.

"Its too quiet." Bella said after a while, breaking the silence.

She was right. It was weird to not talk at all after everything that had happened. Is it because Gavin and I had an unspoken agreement to protect Bella's innocence from everything around us or was it because we were scared because we weren't even completely sure of what was going on ourselves?

"Gavin, can I talk to you for a second?" I asked, stopping to a halt.

"Yeah, I'm right here."

"No, I meant just you." I spoke softly.

"Bella, can you give us a second? Keep walking ahead of us, just don't go too far." Gavin said after a while, his eyes trained on Bella's figure.

"This thing going on between us...us wanting to keep Bella's innocence protected, we need to be more straightforward with her." I stated, beginning to walk again once Bella was out of earshot.

"I know, but I can't help myself. She's my little sister, what am I supposed to tell her? 'Hey, there's a bunch of zombie-like creatures-"

"-don't call it that." I interrupted.

"-roaming around that could potentially kill you or turn you into one of them, but don't worry, your big brother and his friend will protect you'? Because I'm afraid that's not how it works." He said, half-speaking under his breath.

"I know, I know, but sooner or later, she's going to get exposed to the truth and I don't want her to find out the hard way." A pause. "I know she means the world to you. I would never suggest something if I didn't think it was beneficial to our survival."

"I realize that. I just barely got a glimpse of you pushing her out of the way earlier when that...thing attacked you guys earlier." Gavin looked down at the ground for a second, clearly lost in thought, before looking down at me. "And I'm really grateful that you pushed her out of the way, Mars, but it also scared me to see you fending for yourself. That's why I really want you and your parents to come back with Bella and I to our house." Gavin's blue eyes were clouded with worry, his eyes searching mine as if to try to read what I was thinking.

"I promise I'll try my best to convince them, but you're going to need to help me with that...I'm not exactly good with words sometimes." I admitted, letting out a sigh.

"And you're right, by the way. We can't just keep hiding what's going on from Bella. I mean, she already saw some of it earlier, she's probably got a lot of questions for us." Gavin responded.

I smiled. "Good, 'cause we'll probably have to tell her sometime soon anyways."

"Gavin? Marissa?" Bella called out. "There's a problem."

That's when we all heard the coughing.