Uniting the Pack

Chapter 10

"Hi Uncle J. I'm back. I brough someone with me." I couldn't tell him about the whole lone wolf thing. I can't bare to lie to him. We kind of justl met, and starting off with lies is not my first choice. "I'm a lone wolf." Em said it for me. I'll say something now. "Can she stay with us? You know, become part of our pack." I spoke up, and now all I can do is hope it goes over well. "Fine." he responds. Wow, that actually worked! Yay! I have a friend in the pack now!
Friends. Best friends. An image of Mandy's lifeless body flashes across my mind. I can hear her scream. It replays in my head again and again. I can never forget that. I will never forget that.
Back to now. Em's staying with the pack. "Thank you so much Uncle J!" I exclaim. I hug him, and he doubles back at the sudden movement. He doesn't fall over, but he has to take a step back to regain his balance.
I release my grasp from my uncle, and decide I should show Em around. "Come on, I'll give you a tour." I show her where we eat, the table, and then took her where we sleep, which is also where we hid last night.
I show he where I slept, on a ledge in the back of the room, and ad a sleeping bag to the ledge. "Presenting your bed." I say as I hand gesture towards the sleeping bag. "Thank-you so much!" she replies. She's so happy to have a place here. I like that in a friend. And now she's like my sister. She's part of the pack.
One of the men in the pack comes down to us. "You're uncle's gone hunting. No,it's now safe with the Hunters out there, he knows that. But he really just needed to get fresh air, and we are running a bit low on food." the man informs me. "Doesn't he know that it's dangerous? The Hunters could be anywhere." I respond. I can feel Em cringe next to me when the word "Hunters" leaves my mouth.
"Sorry" I whisper. "It's okay." she responds. She knows that that word will be mentions multiple times around here, and never in a good way. But she never liked them, she was neber one of them.
Uncle J still isn't home by dinner. The rest of the pack is getting worried, but I have faith in my uncle. But, we still eat dinner in silence. My birthday hasn't been all that bad I met a new friend, and now she's part of the pack! But, Mandy's not here.
Mandy. Just mentioning her name makes my stomack churn. Yet again, I hear that scream again. An image of her lifeless body flashes across my mind. I miss her. Back to reality, she would want that. She would want me to be happy.
Flashforward to now, dinner. Turkey and water. Yay. I want to spark a conversation, but I know no one here but Em. I don't neccersarily want to have a real conversation with any of these people.
After dinner, a quiet, quiet dinner, Em and I go to the sleeping room. We lift ourselves onto our ledge, and sit with our backs against the wall. Silence comes over us until Em says "Where do you think your uncle is?" I don't want to talk about it, I'm getting worried. But I can't just end the conversation. Not just like that. I manage a weak "I don't know, let's play a game or something."
She puts her hand on my shoulder. "I know you're worried, I won't push." And we sit in silence until peolpe come in to go to bed.
I lay in bed, and look at the ceiling. I cannot sleep. Where is my uncle?