The Apocalypse: The First Year

Ghosts Of The Past

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"We don't mean any harm, we'll lower our weapons." A tall man says to Glen and I as we point our weapons at them. They're the first people we've seen since we left the cabin and Glen and I aren't sure if it's safe to trust anyone at this point.

"We don't want any trouble, we just want to pass." Glen tells the man, lowering his weapon. I see a little boy, I'm assuming is the man's son, peek from around his dad's legs at me.

"Are you two all alone?" The man asks.

"Yeah." Glen and I both nod.

"You both can't be a day over seventeen. Where are your parents?" The tall man asks and Glen and I both share a look but don't answer him.

"Did the virus get them?" The woman, standing next to the man asks. We shake our heads. "Zombies?" She questions.

"Yeah." Glen and I nod.

"We're sorry." She says and looks down at the little boy.

"I'm Tim." The man says, walking closer to us with his hand out for us to shake. "This is my wife Jo and our son Francisco." He adds as we shake his hand.

"I'm Glen and this is my little sister Spencer."

"Nice to meet you both." Tim says. "How old are you both?" He asks after a moment.

"I just turned sixteen and Spence just turned fifteen." Glen answers.

"And how long have you two been on your own?" Jo asks.

"I don't know." Glen shrugs. "Three months maybe."

"That's a long time for two people as young as you two to be on their own. Especially in a world like this." Tim says.

"We've been making it." I pipe up. Glen and I are no longer babies. We've been out here surviving everyday with no parents.

"I see." Tim nods and smiles. Everyone gets quiet for a moment before Glen breaks the silence.

"Well we'll just be on our way now."

"Why don't you two stay with us for the night and if you still want to leave in the morning my wife and I will be happy to give you some supplies and send you on your way." Tim says. Glen and I look at each other briefly, having a conversation with our eyes that only a brother and sister can.

"Sure." I nod.

"Great." Tim says and smiles as we all take a seat around the fire.

–

"That's my group." Ashley comes up next to me and says. Wait huh? "Kyla!" Ashley practically yells as a small brunette appears from behind my mom. She is limping towards us as Ashley runs and scoops her up.

"Spencer that's-"

"Yeah." I cut Glen off. Neither of us have moved. I think we're both still trying to figure out if this is a dream or not. Our parents walk towards us with a smile, before our mom takes off in a full sprint.

"Oh shit." Glen says suddenly.

"What?" I turn and asks him as our parent's get closer.

"I gotta tell mom and dad that I'm gay." He says and rolls his eyes. I can't help but giggle at him. We haven't seen our parents in over seven months and he's worried about them being upset that he's gay.

"I'm sure they'll be fine with it Glen." I shake my head and smile at him as he visibly releases a deep breath.

"My children." Our mother breathes out as she reaches us. I guess she's in disbelief too.

"Mom." I say as the tears begin to well in my eyes. I can't believe this is happening right now.

"Get over here and give us a hug." My dad says and neither Glen or I hesitate to do so.

"We've missed you guys so much." My mom says hugging us tighter.

"We thought you were dead." Glen says and I can tell he's about to cry.

"We got lost trying to lead the walkers away from you two, we've been searching for you ever since." My dad says.

"I told you." I tell Glen and punch him in the arm.

"Yeah you did baby sis." Glen smiles and wraps his arms around me tighter.

"We should get back guys." Tim says. Aiden and I got plenty of supplies.

"Amazing." Carmen says shaking her head and smiling. "Of course you would be out scavenging." She adds with an eye roll.

"Glen." I hear Aiden say from behind my parent's. Glen pulls back from our group hug, smiles at our parents before running and hugging Aiden.

"What's that about?" My dad turns to me and asks. My mother just smiles. Maybe she already knows.

You know what they say, mothers know everything.

"I'll let Glen tell you." I say with a smile.

"Are you guys held up in a house somewhere around here?" Tim asks us and I can't help but give him a warm hug before answering. Over these past months Tim has been like a father to Glen and I.

"About a mile that way." I point in the direction we just came from.

"Let's head that way. We're sitting ducks out here in the middle of the road." Tim says and Carmen leads the way back to house we just left.

"I'll be right back." I tell my parent's then run to catch up with Ashley. "Hey." I say once I get next to her.

"Hey." She smiles at me. "Those your parent's huh?" She asks.

"Yeah." I nod, glancing back at my parent's just to make sure they're still there.

"This is my little sister, Kyla, Kyla this is Spencer." Ashley introduces us and we exchange pleasantries. "Ky could you give us a second?" She asks her little sister who gives her a smile then limps up to a man closer to the front of the group.

"When you said that this was your group did you mean-"

"Yeah." She nods and smiles. "Your parent's have been apart of our group for over two months now. I don't know how I didn't put two and two together. You and Glen look exactly like them. Maybe if you would have told me your last name I could of guessed sooner." She adds with a smirk.

"I thought they were dead. After months of searching and nothing...I just knew that they were dead. I cried myself to sleep every night for months." I stop and shake my head. Willing myself not to cry. "But they're fine. This entire time they've been okay. And they've been looking for us." I finish and Ashley nods.

"When we met up with them they told us they were looking for their two children, we promised to help them look. We'd been doing that actually, until we got separated."

"This is just all too much." I say.

"What?" Ashley questions with a look of confusion on her face.

"I just...I can't believe we found them." I say and shake my head. I can't help the smile that appears on my lips when Ashley grabs my hand that was at my side and holds it in hers.

"Just because the world has turned to ugly, doesn't mean that good things don't still happen." She smiles and releases my hand. "I'm gonna go..." She trails off and nods in the direction of her sister.

"Okay." I nod as she jogs to catch up with her sister. I slow down to allow my mom and dad to catch up with me.

"Is Ashley a friend of yours?" My mom asks with a smile and she wraps her arm around me.

"Yeah, but she's just a friend mom." I say and shake my head.

"Better be." My dad says sternly but smiles right after.

Some things never change...