Population Wipe (Lumity, GL)

Chapter 4: Stick Together

(Willow's POV)

"Willow, Willow!" Gus shook me wildly, in an attempt to wake me. I jumped up, snorting in surprise as I wiped drool off of my mouth. I blinked a few times, feeling the side table for my glasses. Once I felt them, I grabbed them and put them on. I looked over at Gus, grumbling slightly. "What do you want, Gus?"

Gus looked very excited, with a wide grin on his face. "There's a whole barn we still need to explore! Come on, it'll be fun!" Gus ran out of the room, leaving me. I slowly got out of bed, then walked towards the door and closed it behind me. I rushed downstairs, still putting my shoes on. I grunted, nearly falling down a couple of stairs. Once I reached the bottom, I looked for Gus. He was outside, waiting on me. I opened the door and walked out, closing it behind me. He grabbed my wrist, yanking me along with him as he acted like an excited child. Which, he still technically is.

We walked to the barn, which was pretty... interesting. I looked around at all the hay on the ground and the old buckets covered in rust with dents in them. Gus had gotten out of my sight, which caused me to panic.

I searched and searched the barn, hoping to find him. But nothing, not a single clue. I even searched the fields, the farmhouse, and the shed that was really creepy. There was no sign of Gus at all. Maybe he was just hiding from me as a little game like Hide and Seek or something?

I hoped, anyways. I really worried for his safety in these times. He's an easy target for those... infected. I needed help if I was going to find him. So, I went into the farmhouse and looked for some help. Emira and Viney were snoring on the couch, Edric and Skara were playing with King...

Where was Luz and Amity? They weren't in the room they slept in last night. Maybe they went to patrol the area for infected? Maybe Gus found them and went with them. Maybe he went to find some food. Maybe he-

I suddenly snapped out of it, as Luz started shaking me. "You okay? You're sweating and you seem terrified." Luz asked, raising an eyebrow. I blinked a couple of times, looking at her. I glanced at Amity, who was standing in the doorway. "No, I'm fine.. I just need some help looking for Gus. He disappeared on me when we were checking out the barn and I don't know where he went." Luz grunted, her eyes slightly widening. She clenched her fists, sighing shakily.

"Let's find him. We don't want any more accidents happening. Come on." Luz marched out of the house, Amity moving out of the way. Amity followed behind Luz, and I went behind them. We walked for hours, searching for Gus. But nothing showed up. Not a single thing.

Maybe he'd gone back to the house? Was that even a possibility? Luz and Amity were searching so much, I was confused as to whether they'd ever stop. They'd search through everything, even the creepy shed... bushes with briars... The briars didn't help. They only left cuts all over Luz's and Amity's arms. They both got worried about each other rather quickly.

As we kept on searching, up until maybe around 8 or maybe 10? I couldn't remember anything too well ever since this entire thing started. We grew more hopeless with every tiring step. But we wouldn't give up on Gus, he'd been our best friend for years. The others were probably asleep by now, which wasn't a big surprise...

Hours passed, maybe it was midnight now. We searched every single inch of this area.. All except for.. The river behind the barn. We needed to search there, maybe he was just admiring the water? As we neared the barn, we stayed silent to listen for any sounds. All we heard was the quiet sounds of the river water. It was rather peaceful, and the sound of the water was very cal-

Before I could even finish my thoughts, the silence broke.

"AAAAGHHHHHH!"

Cliffhanger? Yes. Cliffhanger. :)