sinful | s. walsh

XVII.

"We will make this work, I promise."

XVII.

Jade's Pov

The sun was out in full force as always as me and Andrea sat on top of the RV. Although we were supposed to be lookout, there wasn't much activity so we started talking about our favorite places to eat at before the world went under. Our conversation had me craving juicy burgers and cheese fries, and most certainly milkshakes. My stomach started to growl and I realized we probably shouldn't be having these kinds of conversations anymore. I mean what was the point in talking about shit that we'd never get again?

"Hey, Jade?" I look down to see Glen blocking the sun from his eyes with his hand as he looks up at me.

"Yes?" I ask, fanning myself with a magazine. I was starting to sweat a little which had me missing the cool shower I took this morning. At one point we were begging for hot showers, now with this heat, the cold showers were craved.

"We're going on a run, figured you might want to come along." He says making me say a quick bye to Andrea who laughs at my urgency to go. I climb down the ladder and then jump off half way down.

"Maggie coming?" I ask as we walk through the tents, on our way to mine to grab my pack.

"Yes and so is Shane." I'm surprised to hear Shane's name but my heart flutters at the idea of being able to be ourselves with Maggie and Glen. I had been worried all day about what him and my dad got into an argument about. I know it was about me with the way Shane looked at me when it was over. Something happened and I hadn't had a chance to ask him. That and I figured it best to keep my distance after the argument they had, not wanting to accidentally set my dad off.

I snatch my pack from my tent and we walk over to where Maggie and Shane are waiting. We seem to draw attention from my dad and mom as they walk over too, confused as to why we all have our backpacks.

"What's going on?" Rick asks, looking around at all of us, hands now on his hips.

"We're going out for a run. We could do with more food and...feminine products." Glen flushes as he says it but me and Maggie laugh.

"Would have been nice if you ran it through me." I can't fault my dad, after all he is our leader. But runs were something we should be doing more often and something that honestly shouldn't be up for discussion. I was also slowly starting to realize that I did not need my parents permission to attend these runs, what I did or didn't do was not their decision. 

"With all due respect, Rick, I don't have to run anything by you. And my daddy could use some more stuff from the pharmacy." Maggie interrupts. She had a point, we were on her dad's farm, she was not part of our group.

"He just meant we would've liked to know. Especially since our daughter is going." Lori says and everyone looks at me. Giving them the courtesy of letting them know where I was going was something I knew I should be doing though.

"Well, we're going. We'll be back in–" I try to finish my sentence but Shane intervenes.

"A few hours." My face mirrors my parents who looked confused. Our runs were usually not more than an hour, maybe even two tops.

Maggie explains, "I think we've cleaned out the nearest stores. If we go up another two miles we'll hit another strip of stores. It shouldn't be overrun."

"And if it is?" My dad asks.

"That's why we asked Shane to tag along. We're going to check it out and if it's not safe we'll come right back." Glen tells them. They seemed to have this all figured out before they even asked me. I don't mind though. Lazy days like these could be nice but they could also get really boring real quick. I liked going on runs, it gave me a bit more purpose, more responsibility. It also was a reminder that although we were sitting comfortable and safe at the farm, the world outside of the farms perimeters was still riddled with the dead. It wasn't something we should ever forget.