The Journey The Only Survivors

Chapter VIII: The Sword and the Shield

Bryan rubbed his eyes as Flora set his breakfast in front of him. Capricia set a plate in front of me and then another next to Bryan and then one for Bella. She must already be up, just not in here yet.

"I'm still tired."

The kids were still sleeping back in our room.

"Well, that's probably because you stayed up all night with Bella," I said.

"How did you know about that?"

"I heard her come into the room and wake you up," I said. "Then I saw you sneak off together."

"Oh. . . but I didn't stay up all night with her." He took a bite of his fruit.

I swirled something that looked like spinach on my plate with my fork. "I know, but you needed your sleep last night. You haven't had much sleep lately, and neither have I."

"You're probably right."

"I may not be right about a lot of things, but this is one of them."

Bryan smiled. "So, do you want to know what happened last night?"

If I said no, he would know I was spying on them again. But if I said yes, I would have to endure the awkwardness of my brother kissing a girl. "What happened?"

"Well, I know this is weird, but. . . I kissed her."

I almost dropped my forkful of grapes for effect. "Do you love her?" I wanted to see if it was true. His eyes would give him away, one way or the other.

"I've never felt like this about anyone before." He was always good at sharing his feelings with me, if he was in the right mood. Given his lack of sleep, he was even more vulnerable right now. It was silent for a few seconds as I played with my breakfast.

"Do you think she's the one? They say you know right away when you meet the person you are going to be with for the rest of your life." I wanted to hear him say yes, partially because I was a hopeless romantic and partially because we needed Bella to get us out of this mess.

"I just feel like she is keeping something from us." He would never answer the question straight.

He saw it too. "I agree. She didn't seem like herself yesterday. Is she keeping something from us, or is she just uneasy about her father?"

"I would like to find out." Bryan nodded.

"Find out what?" Bella said, entering the room. She stretched and yawned before taking a place next to Bryan at the table.

"We were just saying how we would like to find out where the cell phone is," Bryan said. Lying was becoming too easy for all of us.

Bella glanced at her food and then pushed it away.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Bryan asked considerately.

"Fruit and vegetables don't sound very appealing."

I stifled a laugh. Fruits and vegetables were all Bryan and I ate the past couple days. I had stolen a large amount of fruit in the markets and handfuls of green vegetables. "Are you feeling all right?" Bryan asked. He took a drink.

"Just not hungry." She shrugged. "So, are we going to try to find the cell phone today?" She didn't make eye contact with Bryan, choosing instead to trace her thumb nail along a mark on the table.

Capricia and Flora came in. When they saw that Bella had pushed her food aside, they asked her if she wanted to eat something different. After Bella decided that she wasn't hungry enough to even eat bread, Capricia and Flora went back to the kitchen, leaving Bella's plate there just in case she changed her mind.