The Outbreak Chronicles Book One Survival Ties

Chapter 8

Sydney called everyone out for dinner. The smell of spaghetti and garlic bread drifted through the bus.

"Hope everyone likes SpaghettiO's and Texas toast." Sydney greeted as we followed our noses.

"Where's Thomas?" Sydney asked Angela.

"He refused to come out. He was saying that his head hurt and the lights hurt his eyes." Angela answered as she tore off a piece of her toast and dipped it in the SpaghettiO's.

Aaron shot a look at me that said we defiantly had to keep an eye on the boy, to keep the rest of our family safe. I noticed that Sydney was watching both Aaron and I, her eyes held a warning.

"Did Thomas get some sleep Angela?" Sydney asked as Sam and Tone finally came out of the front of the bus to join us. They both looked grim.

"Yeah he slept all afternoon but he says his head hurts now and the light makes him cry." Angela answered as she kept eating. She didn't see the look that passed between Sam, Tone, and Sydney.

"Well when you're done eating you can bring him some dinner. We'll give you some pain killers to give him, maybe that will help and he'll come out and play tomorrow." Sam told her.

"Yeah he'll love having dinner in bed! It'll be just like when he got sick at home and mom would bring him all his meals in his room. She'd read him a story as he ate and he'd sleep." Angela told us, it was the most she had said about her parents so far.

There wasn't any real conversation between all of us through the rest of dinner. Sawyer and Micah were talking quietly together. Angela finished as quickly as she could. She disappeared back into the room, bringing Thomas food and pain killers. Daisy was trying to engage Axel in conversation but he just kept staring off at where Angela went. Aaron was sitting next to me, but we ate in silence.

"Listen up." Sam said breaking the shell we were all in.

"Yeah?" Sydney asked.

"We all need to talk about what we are going to do about Thomas. If his symptoms are not just from what happened to him and healing then we have to be prepared for him turning." Sam responded as he looked around the room. Aaron looked at me.

"I thought he was getting better." Axel said, "That's what Sydney told Angela."

"He might be but some of the things he's doing right now are very similar to the symptoms the crazed showed." Tone answered.

"Then shouldn't Angela be out here to have a say in everything?" Axel asked, "It is her brother we are talking about and you lied to her."

"We didn't lie to her. We don't know what's going to happen and we don't want her to worry if it's nothing. It would be cruel to scare her." Sydney told him trying to calm him down.

"You're talking about possibly having to kill her brother and you waited till she wasn't in the room to do so." Axel said through gritted teeth. Aaron walked over to stand in front of Axel.

"Look Axel, everyone wants Thomas to be fine, but we have to be prepared to protect all of us if he isn't." Aaron told Axel as he kneeled down to look him straight in the eyes.

"Can you honestly say you could kill Thomas?" Axel asked him.

"Yes. If it came to that. To protect the rest of us, I could pull the trigger." Aaron answered. Axel spit in his face.

"You wouldn't kill Thomas would you?" Angela cried. She had come out of the room without us hearing her. There was no telling how much she had heard but she had definitely heard what Aaron had just said.