Walking Amongst Them (Among Us, Book 2)

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When I woke, Ben was no longer in the tent, and in his place, Trish was now sleeping. On my other side, Michael had his arm draped across his eyes. I knew he wasn't asleep, but I didn't try to talk to him either. If he didn't say anything, he was probably actually trying to sleep. He got so little sleep that I wasn't about to mess with any he was trying to get.

I unzipped the tent and was met with a cold breeze. I made quick work of climbing outside and zipping it back up to try and preserve the warmth in the tent. The tent that Abby was in, that Michael usually stayed in, had a portable heater than ran off of batteries.

Small snowflakes still fell, and the ground was covered in about two inches. I was suddenly grateful for the camp, even if it held my father and questions I wasn't ready to face.

"Kodi, want some oatmeal?" Ben asked from next to the fire.

I made a face but nodded, "What's the flavor of the day?"

He paused and checked the box next to his foot, "Um, plain."

"Figures."

He laughed and I took up my seat next to him on the log.

"One good thing about this snow is we don't have to gather water," he said as he scooped some snow off of the ground and stuck it in the pot over the fire to melt.

"Nice," I said, "I don't think I would have ever thought about that."

"Perks of having others to support you," a new voice said, as he walked over to the fire.

Part of me wanted to get up, to leave Ben and Marty to whatever conversations they might have. But Ben was making me food, and I didn't have anywhere better to be. I worked with Marty a few times, but during all of them I'd made it a point to be silent, letting him talk while I made noises as if I was listening.

"Good morning, Marty, want some plain oatmeal?"

"No," he said, seriously as he sat down across from us on the opposite log, "but I bet it's all we've got, isn't it?"

Ben just laughed.

I stayed quiet as I watched him scoop more snow into the pot to heat up.

"You're a quiet one aren't you? Paul's other daughter, right?"

I flinched, "I guess you could say that." My voice was clipped, and I rolled my shoulders out, trying to loosen up a bit.

He made a face, "I don't mean no disrespect."

I shrugged, not caring one way or the other. Ben coughed. I glanced at him and he gave me a 'be nice' kind of look that I'd seen Sam give Cody countless times.

"Anyways," Marty started, "Where are the others?"

Ben was the one who responded as he poked the fire and added another semi dry log, "Beck, Adam, and Elliot went out to see if they couldn't find some fresh meat, Sam is in the tent with Abby and Rian. Everyone else is asleep."

"You were on watch alone?" I asked, a little loudly.

He leveled me a look, "Well Michael was out here. Trish just went to bed about an hour or so ago. It's been quiet, we figured I was capable enough to handle it."

Zombies flashed across my memory, coming at us in masses. I remembered the way Mabel rose back from a gunshot wound. The way she bit into Chester's neck.

"We take guard in groups of two or more."

"With the snow there's probably not that many walkers out and about," Marty tried.